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Closing the Town’s Achievement Gap Through “Greenwich Parents as Teachers”

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By: David Rabin

Every year, scores of Greenwich children begin kindergarten at a distinct, quantifiable disadvantage from their classmates. Though all Greenwich residents are entitled to the privilege that is our impressive public school system, it is the first three years of a child’s life that are the most important when it comes to learning* and a child’s long-term education. As a community, shouldn’t we ensure every child in town has the opportunity to start kindergarten on a level playing field?

Achievement gaps occur when one group of students outperforms another and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant. We developed GPAT to tackle this inequity specifically. For the last three years, the Greenwich United Way has been hard at work developing and implementing a program that aims to close this gap – Early Childhood Achievement Gap Solutions (ECAGS). It is a two-pronged approach consisting of a pre-natal to three years old portion – Greenwich Parents as Teachers (GPAT) – and the Pre-School Instructional Coaching (PSIC) prong for 4- and 5-year-olds. A high-quality, evidence-based program like GPAT makes it possible to overcome the achievement gap that students may begin their academics with.

The GPAT home visitation program is a free and voluntary early intervention program that serves low-income families and their children, from birth (prenatal) to age three. Recognizing how critical prenatal care and the first three years are to a child’s development, GPAT utilizes a nationally recognized, 35-year-old evidence-based home visitation model, Parents as Teachers (PAT), to partner with families and support parents and caregivers in their children’s development. During the most critical learning period of life, GPAT delivers the necessary programming to ensure children receive the best start possible.

To implement GPAT, we partnered with Family Centers because of its unique position to provide additional wraparound services to address participating families’ needs, such as health services, counseling, workforce development and classes for English Language Learners (ELL). GPAT is staffed by two full-time, bilingual Parent Educators (PE) who are trained as Certified Parent Educators to provide parent education, developmental information and family support to parents through personal home visits to promote the healthy development of children. They are supported by two part-time supervisors who have also been trained in the PAT curriculum.

GPAT currently serves 38 families with children – from newborns to toddlers and preschoolers up to 35 months old. In even the brief amount of time we have been up and running, among just this one group, our educators have identified: seven developmental delays, two hearing problems and three physical health delays – all of which could significantly hamper a child’s education and progress if left undetected or ignored. But with the identification and understanding of these potential issues, the children have received specialized services specific to their needs. Evidence shows that early intervention can change a child’s developmental path for the better and improve long-term outcomes for the participating children, families and communities at large.

The impact of GPAT can best be understood through the positive effects it has had even when conducted virtually, not just through in-person home visitation. Even in a pandemic, when instruction and support are done remotely, the encouraging influence the Parent Educators have on the lives of the parents and children is incredible. Take, for example, the single mom who gave birth in April and struggled with the early days of parenting compounded by symptoms of postpartum depression. The isolation of the pandemic further intensified the normal struggles and sadness any new parent faces. Turning to GPAT, the new mom was matched with a Parent Educator who served as a dedicated resource for the very purpose of helping the parent to parent. By improving the lives of participating families, GPAT improves the lives of the children. Though they were only able to work together virtually at first, the new mom and her PE turned around a difficult situation by establishing a strong bond – a relationship that will continue to reap benefits for the child as she begins school in a few years and throughout her academic career.

Our goal with GPAT is for our participating at-risk children to be at least on par with their non-at-risk peers as they enter kindergarten, preparing them to succeed throughout their lives. High-quality early education is proven to break the cycle of poverty. Our data shows that GPAT is working. Now with three years of success under our belts, it is time to scale it up to include more children to better prepare them and their parents for a higher quality life. For the first time ever, closing the achievement gap in town is within our reach. With your support, we can make it a reality. Greenwich Parents as Teachers is the solution to a brighter future for these families and our community.

Your call to action? Support our “Drive to 425.” I am available for your questions and suggestions; call me to discuss ways you can join this effort.

*zerotothree.org

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