Our Approach to Narrow the Achievement Gap in Greenwich:
Achievement gaps occur when one group of students (e.g., students grouped by race/ethnicity, gender) outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant (i.e., larger than the margin of error).
(source: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/gaps/)
Greenwich United Way launched the Early Childhood Achievement Gap Solutions (ECAGS) program in May 2018, with local impact partners Family Centers and Greenwich Public Schools. This research-based two pronged approach to narrow the achievement gap focuses on two core components:
- Home visitation (Ages birth – 3) – With our impact partner Family Centers delivering the Greenwich Parents as Teachers (GPAT) program utilizing an evidence-based home visitation model, Parents as Teachers (PAT), serves low-income Greenwich families and their children, ages prenatal to 3. We currently have served 42 Greenwich families since we started enrolling families in July 2018.
See the impact the program has had on the life of a GPAT family.
- Intensive Instructional Coaching (Ages 3- 5)– The pre-school instructional coach utilizes the Jim Knight coaching model, with support from an early childhood consultant, for the Family Centers pre-schools, which serve a large percentage of low-income families with children between the ages of 3-5. We serve approximately 200 pre-school students annually in this part of the program which started in September 2018.