Overview

Virginia Commonwealth University in Partnership with Richmond Public Schools

• Enhancing the Preschool Environment
  Consultation with Head Start preschool educators and school district administrators ensures high-quality, language-focused and print-rich learning environments. ELLCO and CLASS observation results guide our enhancements of classroom environments and teaching practices.
• Professional Development
  Our intense, multi-tiered professional development program includes the following: weekly classroom-based coaching, monthly staff development sessions, and a graduate-level early literacy certificate program available to teachers, instructional assistants, and administrators.
• Fostering Family Involvement
  Our family literacy team supports families in developing language- and literacy-rich home environments through monthly literacy events, neighborhood and home visits, and take-home books and literacy-related materials. Systematic implementation of the Raising-A-Reader™ program also serves to enhance the home literacy environment.
• Screening and Monitoring Assessments
  Screening and progress monitoring of children’s early language and literacy skills is completed using various assessment tools, including PPVT-4, PALS PreK, TOPEL, Pre-LAS, COR, and curriculum-based measures.
• Supporting Use of Research Based Literacy Materials
  Richmond Public Schools Head Start uses the Houghton Mifflin PreK curriculum within the High/Scope framework. Additional early literacy materials are provided to enhance and extend curriculum implementation.
• Classroom, Home, and Community Libraries
  Sets of high quality children’s literature allow each teacher to establish an abundant classroom library based on theme, season, and children’s interests. Monthly theme-related books are provided for each child to keep in the home library in addition to the Raising a Reader lending library book bags, which children borrow and return each week. Community libraries coordinate book displays with curricular themes and provide staff for storybook reading activities during family literacy events.

The Literacy Institute
Address: 3600 W. Broad St. Suite 669, Richmond, VA 23230-4930 Phone: (804) 828-6272 | Fax: (804) 828-7539 | Email: contact@theliteracyinstitute.org