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Success by
Third Grade

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Success By Third Grade

Success by Third Grade is a collective impact movement in Franklin County, Ohio.

In our role as the backbone agency, United Way of Central Ohio helps coordinate partners and leverage our multi-sector network to move the work forward. This dashboard communicates the ongoing work of Success by Third Grade and our progress. We invite you to explore, learn and take part in the movement to ensure that every child in Franklin County is on a pathway to success once they leave third grade.

We know there are many ways to measure success. Our focus is on improving early literacy. In that context, we look at indicators of Academic Achievement and indicators of Quality of Life. Our north star is increasing the percentage of students reading proficiently in the third grade English Language Arts (ELA) state test. As in many communities, there are deep disparities in reading proficiency across income, race and ethnicity in Franklin County. That’s why we center equity in our work and focus on reducing gaps in proficiency between the county’s lower performing and higher performing school districts.

Cut the Gap image

Progress to date

Academic Achievement

Predictors of Third Grade Reading

Kindergarten readiness and chronic absenteeism rates are predictive of later academic outcomes, including third grade reading. We monitor these as part of the Academic Achievement indicators, and work closely with school districts and community partners on these priority areas.

Kindergarten Readiness

Click here to learn what schools and community partners are doing to ensure that kindergarteners are ready for school. The following graphic shows Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) trends. (Source: https://reports.education.ohio.gov/overview)

Chronic Absenteeism

Click here to learn what schools and community partners are doing to reduce chronic absenteeism.  The following graphic shows chronic absenteeism rates for participating districts (combined), with Franklin County rates as a reference line. Click here for definition of chronic absenteeism and more information.

Quality of Life

Here are just several of our nonprofit partners working in the Quality of Life areas of Family Stability, Food Security, and Health and Wellness. For a complete list of partners helping to move the needle on both Academic Achievement and Quality of Life, go to our Funded Partners list.

Jenis
United Ways
Jenis
Cardinal Health
Clearstead
United Ways
Jenis
Cardinal Health
Clearstead
United Ways
Nationwide
Nationwide
Family Stability

 

Siemer Institute : Helping families remain in their homes

Success by Third Grade has expanded United Way’s relationship with the Siemer Institute to address challenges related housing stability. The graphic below shows the highest concentration of eviction filings overlap with participating Success by Third Grade districts. Research tells us that children who live in a stable home environment with fewer disruptive moves perform better in school.

 

Tax Time : Connecting families to financial resources

Tax Time is an initiative led by United Way of Central Ohio that brings together a coalition of nonprofit, business and government organizations working to provide free tax assistance services and connect clients to financial resources. Since 2007, Tax Time volunteers have prepared over 189,000 returns, returned nearly $200 million in refunds, and saved clients $40.2 million in tax preparation fees. Too often, households that are already struggling are not able to maximize their refunds due to tax preparation fees or unintentionally failing to claim the maximum amount they are eligible for. Tax Time offers a solution with free tax preparation for eligible households and has a proven track record of getting the maximum allowed refund for clients.


Food Security

Success by Third Grade collaborates with districts, agencies and nonprofits to fight childhood hunger. We know that hunger can directly impact a student’s attendance, school readiness, and test scores. Across participating districts, food security challenges and responses vary. Some partner agencies provide meals before, during and after school, while others send weekend backpack meal kits home with children to make sure they don’t have to go hungry on non-school days.

Click here to learn more about the state of childhood food security in central Ohio.

Health and Wellness

We understand that non-academic barriers are closely related to a student’s academic success. That is why United Way of Central Ohio is financially supporting over 30 local nonprofits that address childhood health and wellness as part of Success by Third Grade program investment. These programs, aimed at improving social-emotional, mental, behavioral and overall physical health of students and families, are making a difference. In our list of Partners below, click on “Improved mental and behavioral health” or “Improved social-emotional health/learning” in the list of Outcomes to see which organizations are doing work in these areas.

ALICE in Focus

United Way of Central Ohio is leading the way in Ohio as an ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Restrained, Employed) partner.  ALICE households have incomes above the Federal Poverty Level, but below the basic cost of living threshold.  The following map highlights that Franklin County contains high rates of children living below the ALICE threshold. Success by Third Grade uses the latest research on ALICE to inform our work, align resources and advocate for this growing population. Learn more about the ALICE here.

Focus Areas

Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten Transition

Connecting early childhood and K-12 systems to develop strategies that improve kindergarten readiness.

Kindergarten to First Grade Transition

Supporting collaboration between early childhood, Kindergarten and first grade to maintain grade level proficiency.

Interrupted Learning and Learning Loss

Working with districts and community partners to mitigate learning disruptions (such as suspensions, unstable housing, delayed enrollment) and learning loss (such as “summer slide”).

Attendance

Working with system leaders to address the underlying issues related to attendance, including strengthening the relationships our districts have with the Stay In The Game network.

Activities by District

Columbus City Schools

District-wide:

The Summer Literacy Partnership: a collaboration between the Columbus City Schools Department of Academic Success and the Columbus Metropolitan Library to share literacy tips that community partners may choose to use in their summer programming. Community partners have attended monthly meetings to discuss what is helping and where there are gaps and needs.

Region 1 (West Side):

  • Over 100 STEM kits and translation services from the YMCA were connected to out-of-school-time programs SPARK and Highland Youth Garden.
  • Facilitated a Columbus Metropolitan Library (Franklinton branch) back-to-school party with supplies, immunizations and kindergarten readiness material.
  • 4,200 students were provided with high dosage tutoring technology through a new linkage with ParichuteConnect.

Region 3 (South Side and Near Eastside)

  • We are surveying Region 3 principals to learn more about the students attending these schools. This is part of an ongoing dialogue with schools and helps us in our regional approach to CCS.
  • Engaged the Dominican Sisters of Peace, many of whom are retired teachers, to write personalized notes to all 35 staff members of Trevitt Elementary. The handwritten letters congratulated the staff for their accomplishment in exiting academic emergency status.
Groveport Madison Local
  • Supported Groveport Madison School Board’s Educational Trust, which was formed to eliminate lunch debt, support performing arts and athletics, and support community programming.
  • Linked the district with necessary resources and information to update their free and reduced lunch program.
  • Connected Nationwide Insurance and PetSmart to the district as corporate supporters, providing hygiene kits and 150 new backpacks.
  • Aligned the district’s participation in Stay in the Game, a state-wide program to improve school attendance.
  • Working with the district to establish a Groveport Madison Welcome Center, envisioned to be a centralized source of information and resources to support students and families.
Reynoldsburg City Schools
  • Collaborated with Bank of America to secure funding to provide technology to students in need.
  • Worked with the district’s communications team to establish a district calendar that can better leverage volunteer resources.
South-Western City Schools

Focus Area: Pre-K to K Transition

Organized and facilitated the district’s first convenings of early childhood education (ECE) centers. These new collaborations connect ECE providers to the district with the goal of improving the transition to kindergarten. Four categories of action came out of these conversations:

  • Collaboration/facetime between systems: This category emphasizes the importance of direct interaction and collaboration between early childhood centers, pre-k programs, and kindergarten programs within South-Western City Schools.
  • Staff training/education: This category focuses on providing training and educational opportunities for staff members in both early childhood centers and kindergarten programs.
  • Caregiver/parent training/education: Recognizing the critical role of caregivers and parents in a child’s transition to kindergarten, this category highlights the need to provide them with training and education to support their children’s successful transition.
  • Data sharing and communication between systems: This category emphasizes the importance of effective communication channels and data-sharing practices between early childhood centers and kindergarten programs.
Westerville City Schools
  • Working with the district to establish a HeadStart program.
  • Planning a Community Partnership Network meeting with the district and school board to connect service providers to the district.
  • Secured a donated bus from COTA for expanded service delivery of The Big Bus, an organization that provides afterschool tutoring for students, preschool education resources, and language learning for students of immigrant, refugee, and new American families.
Whitehall City Schools

Focus Area: Attendance

  • Secured gift card donations to incentivize student attendance during Whitehall Summer Academy.
  • A collaborative effort involving United Way, the Educational Service Center, and Whitehall City Schools resulted in the creation of a new District Attendance Manual.
  • Ongoing: Monthly community partnership meetings facilitated by Success by Third Grade. These meetings serve as a platform to review the four focus areas and discuss progress and challenges within the district. District administrators, community partners, and service providers participate.

Partners

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