Helping agency staff members better serve
the educational needs of their young residents
Building Blocks for Success
Through this literacy program HCEF is providing agency staff with free use of Renaissance Learning 's on-line software:
Star Reading to assess the reading level of resident children and
Accelerated Reader – with its 100,000+ popular chldren's books – to encourage reading and improve reading skills.
Not unexpectedly, given the circumstances of the children's lives, a great many of them are seriously deficient in reading and comprehension. Once the program is in place in participating shelters, the intake process will include an assessment of a child's reading level. This information is made available to the parent and can be made available to the child's public school teacher, but it also helps the shelter staff of an after-school program to direct the child to books appropriate to his or her capabilities.
Learning Center staff and volunteer tutors will be encouraging the children to read and to take the on-line quizzes that test how well they have understood what they've read. The Renaissance Learning software tracks each student's progress and awards points for accurate completion of the quizzes.
Funding for the program came to HCEF from The Pittsburgh Foundation, Ayres Foundation, Dominion Foundation, US Airways Education Foundation, John E. and Sue M. Jackson Charitable Trust, William V. and Catherine A. McKinney Charitable Foundation, and Robert and Mary Weisbrod Charitable Foundation.
Anti-Violence Initiative
Having received feedback from shelter staff that violence issues are as pervasive in the shelters as they are in local schools and communities, HCEF recognized a need to provide anti-violence education to shelter staff, mothers, and children. Training focuses on personal safety, conflict resolution, anti-bullying techniques, positive behaviors, and the effects of violence on child development and health. Interested shelter staff receive an anti-violence curriculum designed for a school-aged population by Safety Kids, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization.
Charley Check-First teaches children not to go anywhere with anyone without checking first – focusing on lures, safety person/safety house, home alone skills, emergencies, observation skills, buddy system, and the power to say "No."
KC Koala teaches children to be kind and caring – with a focus on self-esteem and tolerance, conflict resolution, and bullying.
Funding for this HCEF program came from the Roy A. Hunt Foundation
Systems Advocate Project
Throughout 2007, Dr. Peter Miller, Assistant Professor in the Duquesne University School of Education, conducted an initial study to investigate the enrollment process and communication lines between shelter staff (including case workers and child advocates) and the local schools. He found that many shelter staff do not know proper protocol and procedures for quickly enrolling newly resident students into school and that staff perceived resistance to registration from the schools. Dr. Miller is helping build the relationships between shelters and schools that are necessary to meet effectively the educational needs of children experiencing homelessness.
Funding for this project came to HCEF from The Pittsburgh Foundation and Hillman Foundation.