The Early Childhood Investment Corporation, assuring solid returns on solid investments.
Great Starts HERE SPRING 2012
It’s All About Quality
A Look at Michigan’s New Great Start to Quality System
Great Start to Quality BY TERI BANAS
A rating system that improves early childhood development services and outcomes for Michigan’s families
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ichigan has always focused on its natural resources to spur economic growth. Now its economic rebirth relies more than ever on the state’s youngest “human resources”—the next generation responsible for economic prosperity. That’s why the state’s new Great Start to Quality effort to improve all early learning and development programs using a star rating system is critically important to Michigan families and economy. This new tiered quality rating and improvement system will help early childhood educators—those working in child care, preschool and Head Start programs—improve the quality of their programs while helping families find the best early learning settings for their children. With Phase I recently launched, Great Start to Quality promises to help guide precious public and private investments in the development of very young children. The rating and improvement system is tied to Michigan standards for early learning and development programs, awarding quality stars from one to five with five being of highest quality. And while the rating will help families find quality settings, it is the improvement side of the system that holds the greatest promise for Michigan. Improving quality is both about improving the readiness of children for school, and strengthening a vital part of
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Michigan’s workforce. And that, according to Karen Roback who is overseeing the effort, is about economic development. The Early Childhood Investment Corporation is implementing Great Start to Quality on behalf of the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start, which oversees public early learning and development programs. Roback is Director of Early Learning Innovation for the Investment Corporation. “Research tells us that early learning is more than a billion dollar industry in Michigan even after years of public sector disinvestment,” said Roback. “Imagine the potential for growth.” Once fully implemented, families throughout Michigan will have an honest, consistent assessment of program quality—consumer information they currently lack. Early learning educators also gain the benefits of a consistent set of standards on which to assess and improve their programs as well as to objectively distinguish the quality of their services for children and families. Families having choices and investment based on standards and high quality is a winning proposition for Michigan’s youngest children, assuring them access to high quality early childhood development, which has proven to be the foundation for success in school, career and life. Indeed, the experience of other states underscores the benefits of moving toward market-driven investment. Most money spent on young children prior to school is spent by families—on child care, health care and early childhood developmental services. “Families make investments in these early years knowing that they will pay dividends for the rest of their children’s lives,” Roback said. The potential impact is great. There are nearly 11,000 early learning and development programs in Michigan licensed or registered by the state, including licensed child care centers and family homes, state-funded Great Start Readiness Programs, preschools, and federally funded Head Start programs. “Michigan is taking a big step forward with Great Start to Quality,” said Helen Blank, a national expert in child care and early learning issues with the National Women’s Law Center. “It’s an important element to building a high-quality early childhood system. Great Start to Quality sets up a road map towards excellence for early childhood educators and will help focus the state’s efforts on improving and expanding its investments in early learning.” In addition to licensed early learning and development programs, there are thousands of unlicensed, publicly subsidized family homes providing care for tens of thousands of Michigan children. Great Start to Quality addresses these providers and also supports their efforts to improve
quality although the process is somewhat different than that of licensed early learning programs. For both, however, quality improvement is anchored in individualized improvement plans involving training and technical assistance along with strengthening family and community bonds. “Underneath all of this will be a huge cultural shift,” said the Investment Corporation’s Joan Blough, Senior Vice President of Great Start Strategy and Evaluation. For years, child care has been seen as babysitting or day care, a simple work support for low income families. Conversely, preschool learning programs over the years have seen modest growth with lawmaker support. But with public resources stretched, efforts to maximize public investment have landed squarely on the side of research that says that states ignore the importance of child care as a learning environment at their peril.
“ We need to have more people … understand that child care is early learning. It needs to be a learning environment of the highest quality.” JOAN BLOUGH Senior Vice President of Great Start System Strategy & Evaluation Brain research confirms that the early years, prenatal to 5, are the most critical time for early learning and development because 90 percent of a child’s brain growth occurs before kindergarten. For all children and especially children with high needs, studies show that two years of high-quality early learning and development starting at age 3 can prevent achievement gaps by building the health and foundational skills necessary for success in school. “We need to have more people, the general public and policy makers, understand that child care is early learning; that it is the environment, outside of the home, where children spend most of their time before coming to school,” said Blough. “It needs to be a learning environment of the highest quality.” For now, Great Start to Quality experts say the initiative’s focus must target where limited dollars can do the most good—helping children most at risk for school failure. “There is a reason why this is called Great Start,” said the Investment Corporation’s Roback. “If we can get young children off to a great start in school and life, there is no end to the contributions they will make to Michigan’s rebirth and economic vitality. It’s just the smart thing to do.” SPRING 2012 / GREAT STARTS HERE
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Achieving Quality
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reat Start to Quality, Michigan’s new tiered quality rating and improvement system, will help early childhood educators – those working in child care, preschool and Head Start Programs – improve the quality of their programs while helping families find the best early learning settings for their children. It is a star rating system of progressive standards of quality improvement with a continuum of five levels of quality for licensed early learning and development programs and three tiers of quality improvement for unlicensed providers who care for state subsidized children. Licensed programs enter the system at Level One, which means they have complied with state licensing requirements. Moving up the quality continuum is voluntary. To demonstrate or seek high quality, program educators begin by completing an online self-assessment based on Michigan’s quality standards for early learning and development programs. Michigan’s quality standards address: • Staff qualifications and professional development • Family and community partnerships • Program administration and management practices • Program environment and health practices • Program curriculum and instruction All licensed early learning programs can access resources and workforce training opportunities to improve quality through 10 regional Great Start to Quality Resource Centers. Licensed programs serving children
with high needs also can access consultation to improve quality. Quality on-site ratings are expected to be published in December and are anticipated to be a welcome tool for families looking for the best early learning setting for their child. For unlicensed child care providers who serve statesubsidized children, there are three progressive tiers of quality improvement: Such providers (who are enrolled in the state’s Child Development and Care Program administered by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start) enter Tier 1 after successfully completing training focused on health and safety of infants and young children. Again, moving up the quality continuum is voluntary. To seek quality improvement, unlicensed providers can access training through the Great Start to Quality Resource Centers. After completing 20 hours of training, unlicensed providers can request LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5 on-site consultation from a Great Start to Quality Licensed Early Learning and Resource Center to develop Development Programs a quality improvement plan and continue their quality improvement journey.
Great Start to Quality Continuum
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TIER 2
TIER 3
Subsidized Family, Friend and Neighbor Providers
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Great Start to Quality Rooted in Collaborative Learning
BY TERI BANAS
The road to Michigan’s tiered quality rating and improvement system, Great Start to Quality, has been paved with input, experience and innovation. In 2005, a small group of statewide early childhood leaders developed recommendations for a quality rating system for the state’s licensed child care providers. In 2008, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation convened an advisory team comprised of state and local early childhood experts to take another look at how to design and implement a quality rating and improvement system reflecting where young children spend their earliest years.
In 2009, led by the Skillman Foundation, an assessment, rating and improvement system for child care centers was piloted in three low-income Detroit neighborhoods. The following year it was expanded to three more. In late 2009 and spring of 2010, Kalamazoo and Kent counties created targeted pilot initiatives around improving quality. The Kalamazoo work served eight home-based and 24 center-based early education programs in Kalamazoo County. Its focus was on overall quality improvement. The Kent effort was focused in a concentrated area of Grand Rapids where the highest numbers of state-subsidized providers were found. Its focus was to build early childhood language and literacy skills, and to help providers improve their skills and resources. In 2010, the Early Learning Advisory Council identified as a priority the development of a tiered quality rating and improvement system. ELAC designated the Early Childhood Investment Corporation to lead and convene the development of a new design for it. With help from The Build Initiative, which aids states in their development of early childhood systems, the Investment Corporation convened stakeholders to take a new look at the 2007 recommendations. As a result of that work, new recommendations were developed and published in November 2010. All of these projects continue to inform the new statewide system designed to improve all of Michigan’s early learning and development programs while helping families find the best early learning settings for their children. Below are two providers who benefitted from the Skillman Foundation work in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood.
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“I’ve seen a difference in the kids and I’ve seen a difference in the staff. With the research-based curriculum we use, I see more engagement going on between the staff and children. And I see a lot more independence among the children.” SONYA BRANNON, licensed early learning and development center director in Detroit
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s Michigan’s tiered quality rating and improvement system, Great Start to Quality, gets under way, there are questions certain to generate conversation among Michigan’s early learning educators. In particular, “What does highquality early learning and development look like?” and “How does it make a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers?” Sonya Brannon, a licensed early learning and development center director in Detroit, already has made a rigorous journey into the world of improved quality as one of 120 enrolled participants in a threeyear pilot quality improvement program in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood. Working with a mentor, Brannon, who serves mostly low-income families, was able to assess quality areas of her small business and identify areas where she could improve. She learned she needed to establish a daily curriculum, encourage better interactions
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between her staff and children, and improve play and learning spaces outdoors. With help from the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Michigan® scholarship program, some staff members were able to access higher education opportunities. Others were supported with workforce training through the Great Start to Quality Resource Center. A $1,000 grant from the Max M. and Marjorie Fisher Foundation made it possible for Brannon to install proper outdoor fencing and purchase toys for her outdoor play area. And the best part? “I’ve seen a difference in the kids and I’ve seen a difference in the staff,” she said. “With the researchbased curriculum we use, I see more engagement going on between the staff and children. And I see a lot more independence among the children.” Today, Brannon mentors and works with three early learning and development programs, two in-home and one center.
Partners working to improve early childhood development in Michigan
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reat Start to Quality is an example of the innovations we can expect to come from the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start. The Office was created last fall by Executive Order of Gov. Rick Snyder and, as a starting point, has brought together the state’s early learning programs — child care, the Head Start State Collaboration Office, Great Start Readiness Programs, preschool, special education, and Early On. The Early Childhood Investment Corporation was asked to implement the rating and improvement system for Michigan’s early learning system because the Office of Great Start looks to the Investment Corporation to maximize Michigan’s early childhood development efforts through research and development, innovation and quality assessment. As an independent, publicly owned nonprofit, the Investment Corporation has the ability to link local communities with state government and bring together the public and private sectors to assure that solid investments in early childhood development produce solid returns for all in Michigan. “The Office of Great Start will promote standards and accountability models that bring together different funding streams and programs in order to make a sensible system for Michigan’s young children and their families,” said Susan Broman, Deputy Superintendent of the Office of Great Start. “We are fortunate to have such a strong partner in the Early Childhood Investment Corporation to undertake this and other work vital to building early childhood development supports and accountability for our state.” Toni Hartke, director of the Wayne Great Start Collaborative, has been closely involved in the Brightmoor pilot project and has served on a design committee for Great Start to Quality. The Wayne collaborative is a diverse group of community leaders focused on giving their community a strong voice in creating an early childhood development system that works for them. She said “peer to peer” learning by early childhood educators like Brannon is going to play an important role in Great Start to Quality, along with training and support from Great Start to Quality Resource Centers. This will lead to the ultimate goal—getting children ready for kindergarten. “Too many children are coming to school who are just not ready,” said Hartke. Hartke believes that once quality ratings are public, parents will start demanding quality which, in turn, will motivate many programs to consider how they can become a high-quality program. That’s what happened to Ursula Graham. When Graham moved from Ohio to Detroit four years ago and started searching for a program for her one-yearold son Alexander, she knew she had to go “outside of
the family.” She also knew she wanted the best quality care she could afford—a nurturing atmosphere that would support her toddler’s early learning and development. “I was working 40 hours a week. I wanted someone who would be a partner in helping me raise my son,” she said. One early match didn’t last. “My son was fed and took naps, but that was about it.” Graham and her husband decided a change was in order. “I didn’t want him watching television all day. I wanted him to have the experience of education, which is what I liked about Gwen Shivers,” Graham said. Shivers, whose home is licensed for 12 children, is “constantly going to school,” Graham said. “To me, those things meant she was motivated and taking her craft very seriously.” Shivers, a certified Child Development Associate, participated in a pilot quality improvement program in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood, one of the city’s targeted areas for urban revitalization and home to many children with high needs. “Having those classes taught me a whole different way of teaching my kids,” Shivers said.
Toni Hartke, director of the Wayne Great Start Collaborative, believes that once quality ratings are public, parents will start demanding quality which, in turn, will motivate many programs to consider how they can become a high-quality program. SPRING 2012 / GREAT STARTS HERE
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What National & State Experts Are Saying
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isa Brewer-Walraven, who leads the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start work on child care, said a quality improvement system that takes into account a wide range of child care and early learning settings—licensed and unlicensed—is badly needed in Michigan where half of subsidized young children who are cared for outside of their homes are in unlicensed care. “Whether or not children are publically subsidized for early learning opportunities, we need to be reaching all children and strengthening this important developmental time leading to school entry,” she said. “This is particularly important given the amount of time children spend in child care from the time they are born until they walk through the schoolhouse door.”
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indy Buch, who leads the early learning spectrum work in the Office of Great Start, believes improving the quality of preschool programs is fundamental. She knows first-hand the impact that preschool has on kindergarten readiness. From her perspective, Great Start to Quality is an accountability and improvement tool whose time has come. “In the past, Michigan only had two levels of quality—health and safety safeguards and minimal quality required by licensing standards—and the very high quality required for Great Start Readiness Program implementation,” Buch said. “Great Start to Quality provides a staircase from licensing minimums to very high quality, and supports to climb up those stairs to help all children in Michigan enter kindergarten safe, healthy and eager to succeed in school and in life.”
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usan Broman, Deputy Superintendent of the Office of Great Start, said all of Michigan’s young children need opportunities for high-quality learning experiences in all the places they spend time. “Michigan families consider their children’s early education and child care placements ‘schools’ for young children and places the children will flourish in their development, whether they are called child care, preschool, or Head Start.”
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rogram quality standards are important, according to Great Start to Quality Assistant Director Denise Smith. “For example, there is direct evidence and credence that the more professional development a program leader has, the more benefit they’ll be able to create in a good learning experience for children. We believe that all these standards combined really do make for a strong and quality program.
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“We have to hold programs to a standard and then help them get to it. That’s why this system is really critical to making sure that happens and that someone is working with the programs.” “For me, it begins with setting uniform standards, as Michigan has done, so that our children can have the highest quality care and opportunity for early learning whether they are attending Head Start, the Great Start Readiness Program, private preschool, a child care center or a licensed or registered home.”
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mong those who have been working with the Early Childhood Investment Corporation at the regional level on early learning quality improvement is 30-year veteran Ella Fabel Ryder, from Kalamazoo. Fabel Ryder said acceptance of the change has been growing, though she admits some programs have needed convincing. “It seems overwhelming right now because some of the measures are pretty tough for those who have been doing this work for a number of years. We’ve had providers in this work for 34 years. Now we’re saying, what you’ve been doing is not good enough. But I tell them, we now know more about learning and cognitive development than we did 30 years ago.”
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nother regional partner, Robin Benson, from Alpena, said the new program provides a transparency that is important for everyone. “Great Start to Quality is structured in a way to show programs all aspects of quality and how to reach those levels. Previously, we were able to show them components of quality programming, but never really had a way to show them a comprehensive view of what a quality program looked like. That’s good for everyone.”
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erry Cobb, director of the National Learning Network for the BUILD Initiative, has observed Michigan’s efforts to build a quality rating and improvement system for years and has been “enormously impressed.” So impressed, in fact, that she predicts initiatives such as the development of the Michigan Office of Great Start and the creation of the cost-effective online self-assessment will become models for other states to follow. “The work under way at the local level, particularly in building strong parent leadership, is groundbreaking. Michigan has been able to move ahead more quickly than other states because of this infrastructure and the strong leadership that has been created.”
New Features for Great Starts Here! To help you stay on top of cutting-edge news and practical information on a variety of topics pertaining to early childhood, Great Starts Here previews four new features in this issue. In this and subsequent issues, we will run articles and news under the headings, netWORK, capitol CORNER, your VOICE, and reSEARCH. NetWORK will spotlight the valuable work underway across the Great Start Network—the Great Start Collaboratives, Great Start Parent Coalitions, and Great Start to Quality Resource Centers. You will also find new insight into early childhood efforts under reSEARCH. Important budget and legislative developments out of Lansing and Washington, D.C. will appear under the popular capitol CORNER heading. And your Voice will offer pieces that illustrate the important work that we all do as we raise our voices for early childhood. — Teri Banas, editor, Great Starts Here
reSEARCH
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f you missed them the first time around, here are some noteworthy articles of interest on early childhood research and studies that were recently published. The achievement gap: A new study suggests that classroom behavior problems may be an even more significant factor than family income on students’ test scores as early as kindergarten. Links Between Young Children’s Behavior and Achievement: The Role of Social Class and Classroom Composition, published by the journal American Behavioral Scientist, examined data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, an 11-year U.S Department of Education study that tracked more than 14,000 kindergarteners across 900 private and public programs for more than 10 years. The authors discovered that student attention problems had a bigger impact on their academic performance than family income level. The research also found that classmates of students with attention problems demonstrated poorer test scores. The study concludes that addressing attention problems in early childhood could help many children make academic gains throughout their school careers. The study was published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Abecedarian Project revisited: We can improve the odds for poor children—with early education. Poor children who attend a high-quality early learning and development program as early as infancy reap long-lasting benefits, including a better chance at a college degree and steady employment, according to a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill study that followed participants from birth to age 30. The latest findings from the Abecedarian Project, published recently in the online journal Developmental
Psychology, are from one of the longest-running early learning studies in the United States. The latest data from the participants, at age 30, show that those who received early education were four times more likely to earn a college degree. The study mirrors the findings of the landmark HighScope Perry Preschool study which spanned four decades. The study looked at the effects of high-quality early care and education on low-income 3- and 4-yearolds in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It showed that adults at age 40 who participated in the Perry preschool program in their early years had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school. Overall, the study documented a return to society of more than $16 for every tax dollar invested in the early care and education program. “That’s the take-home message, that you must not ignore the early years,” said Frances Campbell, a senior scientist and lead author of the study. “Because what you do to enhance a child’s development when he is very, very young has very long-term implications.” Babies who lip-read: There’s new evidence that quality face-time with a baby or toddler is critical for speech development. Florida scientists have discovered that starting around six months, babies begin shifting from intently looking at eyes to studying mouths. “The baby, in order to imitate you, has to figure out how to shape their lips to make that particular sound they’re hearing,” said developmental psychologist David Lewkowicz of Florida Atlantic University, who led the study. “It’s an incredibly complex process.” SPRING 2012 / GREAT STARTS HERE
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netWORK BY BRENDA BRISSETTE-MATA
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hen the Early Childhood Investment Corporation offered local communities a chance to match $3 million in American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds last year, Great Start Collaboratives across Michigan used the opportunity to stimulate private investment for high quality early learning and development program scholarships for vulnerable 3-year-olds. With strong community support, particularly from community businesses, these local groups of early childhood leaders, who are working to make early childhood development programs and services work better for families, raised matching funds and made quality early learning and development accessible to more than 800 Michigan children. These same children will benefit from public preschool programs as 4-year-olds. “Evidence supports that most vulnerable children benefit from two years of high quality early learning experiences, which is why the scholarships focused on 3-year-olds,” said Director Karen Roback, who leads Early Learning Innovation for the Investment Corporation. Local Great Start Collaboratives used a variety of ways to leverage funds. Midland County Great Start Collaborative is one example of how a community made the most of its connections to benefit young children thanks to a special group of community women. “We initially applied for a $100,000 grant,” director Erin Lauderbach said. But, encouraged to try to raise more money, they set their target on a $120,000 grant. “We began with a firm commitment from the United Way in Midland County for $57,500 and went from there. There was a Community Foundation grant written by the Midland Kiwanis Club, $20,000 from Dow Chemical Co. Foundation and donations from the Midland Area Community Foundation and the Midland County Youth Action Council. Just short of the last $10,000 needed to reach their goal, and unsure where they would get it, an unexpected phone call changed everything. “We have an amazing group of 100 women in town, The Midland 100 Club,” said Lauderbach. They get together quarterly and talk about community things they should support. I didn’t know that one of their members made a presentation about our effort to raise money for preschool scholarships. The women vote on what they want to do and then each woman writes a check for $100. We received exactly the $10,000 we needed.” The grant has made it possible to pay full tuition for 74, 3-year-olds at seven preschool sites in Midland County.
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“We wanted our most vulnerable kids in the highest quality settings,” Lauderbach said. An ad-hoc committee that included an education specialist, Head Start representative and other members of the Midland Preschool Partnership helped set the criteria for evaluating quality. Of the seven sites chosen, five are part of the Midland County Quality Preschool Partnership and two are private, faith-based preschools that had not been engaged in Great Start work before. Licensed sites that were selected had to have no substantial violations and use Michigan Department of Education approved research-based models. Final sites are in a wide variety of locations making it possible for parents to select based on their needs. “Some parents choose a site because it’s close to where they live or work or because it’s where they worship,” Lauderbach said. Sites selected to receive the funds also agreed to take part in the Great Start Collaborative work. “It’s been a great way to engage new people.” Income factors and risk factors were also used to determine the 3-year-olds who would receive the scholarships. “It was devastating, of course, to not be able to fund every child,” Lauderbach said, noting that 50 children were placed on a waiting list. “But it was helpful because we are able to identify the children who need preschool and we can now help them transition into a high quality early learning and development program for 4-year-olds.” Lauderbach credited their success in meeting the project’s goals to the strong collaborative atmosphere that exists in Midland County. “We are all working to see that Midland’s children have a quality preschool experience to get into, and be ready, for kindergarten.”
capitol CORNER
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n the decades-old struggle to maximize the state’s early childhood development system, advocates earned an important win in Lansing last month. Both state Legislative chambers followed Gov. Rick Snyder’s call to adopt a $12.5 million supplemental bill that provides immediate funding for two important assessment and improvement tools. The supplemental provides $9.25 million to fuel Michigan’s Great Start to Quality tiered quality rating and improvement system for all early learning programs (child care, Head Start and Great Start Readiness Program) and $3.25 million for a statewide kindergarten status assessment. Both initiatives support efforts to get concrete data about return on early childhood investment in Michigan. The Governor has strongly supported a Michigan built on data and measurement. Moreover he has expressed a vision for education that is seamless and integrated, starting before birth and continuing to age 20. Other bright spots in the Governor’s FY 2013 budget: A $34 million request to phase in expansion of the Healthy Kids Dental Program so that more children receiving Medicaid will be able to get dental care as well as a $25 million increase to expand Medicaid and MiChild coverage to include the treatment of autism for children under 6. Apart from those welcomed boosts, funding for other early childhood programs including Michigan’s preschool initiative, Great Start Readiness Program, and local community supports remain flat for next year in Governor Snyder’s proposal. Legislators began budget talks with the state budget office and state departments in late February. Discussions and hearings for the FY 2013 budget which begins October 1 are well under way. Unlike prior years, the budget process is happening simultaneously in both chambers. With elections in the offing, there is talk of the FY 2013 budget being completed by June.
your VOICE BY TERI BANAS
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hen parents speak, people listen. It is a perspective integral to building a comprehensive early childhood system in Michigan as 25,000 parents (and counting) within Michigan’s statewide Great Start network of community leaders and families give voice to the needs of young children and communities. To help them assume strong decision-making roles in their communities, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation has been working with parents across the state in a “Parents Partnering for Change” program tailored for parents participating on Great Start Collaboratives. Michigan’s 54 local Great Start Collaboratives, with support from their Great Start Parent Coalitions, identify needs of young children within communities and implement plans to address them. Community leaders and organizations involved in early childhood development make up each collaborative and maintain 20 percent parent members. “Parent members bring the customer perspective and feedback to the work, resulting in more impactful decision-making,” said Holly Wingard, who works with Great Start parents across Michigan. “In the training, we address core skills that support parents in leadership roles that help them become more involved in decision making.” Monica Bihar-Natzke of Macomb County, the mother of six children, ages 2 to 8, said the training gave her practical advice on working effectively with others, starting with identifying her own communication and leadership style. “One of the main purposes is to find out what kind of leader you are, and how to adapt to other people’s personalities and qualities,” Bihar-Natzke said. “By knowing yourself better, you can interact with others better. The training was really in-depth and explored things you don’t normally think about.” Bihar-Natzke said she’s emotional “when it comes to my kids,” but she learned emotional arguments alone will not be persuasive with school officials. An attempt to persuade school officials to provide her eldest daughter with additional speech therapy initially was unsuccessful. “They knew my daughter was having one hour of speech therapy after school, but I knew it wasn’t enough,” she said. Instead of emotional arguments, Bihard-Natzke presented factual knowledge of district procedures allowing for school-day therapies, while adding that investing in children early on decreases the costs of intervention later. She ultimately prevailed. The training also has been available to leaders of the more than 70 Great Start Parent Coalitions. It was adapted from parent leaders working with the Michigan Public Health Institute. Bryn Fortune, director for Parenting Leadership for the Investment Corporation, was a member of the original state-level work group that identified core leadership skills in parents. The effort was inspired by parents of children with disabilities. “This effort is part of a long-standing initiative to support the development of strong parent voice and leadership,” Fortune said. “In any quality work, we need to understand the unique expertise parents bring. They are not only the customers but the key decisionmakers for all programs and services their children partake of prior to coming to school. “We can have the best high-quality program in the world, but it won’t have an impact on a child’s early development if the key decision-makers, the parents, don’t want that program,” she added. “We have to be very clear. The parents make the decisions about their children. That’s why their voice, and parent leadership training, is so critical for best outcomes for children.”
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Great Starts HERE Editor: Teri Banas Writers: Brenda Brissette-Mata Teri Banas The Great Start Initiative is a statewide effort to provide parents with the early childhood development resources they need to prepare their children for success in school, career and life. As an independent, publicly-owned nonprofit, The Early Childhood Investment Corporation helps Michigan rebuild its economy by delivering better education, health and economic outcomes through effective early childhood development. 112 E. Allegan • Lansing, MI 48933 www.greatstartforkids.org
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Make a difference in the life of a child and the future of our state. Be a part of this statewide event. 20,012 early childhood supporters will call on Lansing to let lawmakers know that early childhood investment is a priority. Go to http://starpower.greatstartforkids.org and make your voice heard. Every opinion matters, every voice counts.
http://starpower.greatstartforkids.org