Dayton, Ohio — The purpose of the upcoming roundtable is to address ways to improve access to early education in Dayton by removing social and economic barriers.

The “Partnering to Provide Greater Access to Early Childhood Education” event will take place on Tuesday 27 September at the Eichelberger Pavilion in the Carillon Historical Park.Discussion — Sponsored Early Education Nonprofit Waterford.org — 8:30am to 10:00am

Based in Utah, Waterford.org uses a combination of state, federal, and charitable funds to set up online early education programs in communities across the country.

Attendees at the invite-only event include elected officials, educators, and community leaders. The conversation centers on identifying and overcoming the barriers that prevent children from having equitable early access to quality learning experiences.

Dayton Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims Jr., who will join the main panel, emphasized the importance of providing a quality of life for residents as young as 3 and 4 years old.

“We need to ensure that we do everything we can to ensure that our youngest learners are sent to school ready to engage academically and socially,” he added. “This requires a multifaceted exploration of all possibilities. At community roundtables, the right people he Let’s gather in one room.”

Studies show that children’s brains 85% to 90% of adult size by age 5 — before stepping into a kindergarten classroom, according to the organization First Things First.

“Their brains are like sponges for the first five years of life. What we can do to get them on the right track before they start school is positive,” says Waterford.org. said Kim Fischer, National Spokesperson for

According to her, the goal of early education is to lay the groundwork for young children aged 3 to 5 to excel not only in kindergarten, but throughout their academic career.

“To learn letter recognition, number recognition, letter sound recognition, etc., the child needs to walk into a kindergarten classroom with a foundation,” Fisher said. “It will not only allow them to learn faster, but it will give them confidence and ability.”

Fischer took note of studies that show that when children are confident, they perform better in school. However, some students enter kindergarten after falling behind in terms of intellectual development, and it is difficult to catch up.

“Some children have already started reading letters and putting them together to form words, while others don’t even recognize letters yet,” Fisher said.

“This makes it very difficult for kindergarten teachers to decide who to teach,” she added. “It’s at that moment when a child feels insecure, can’t raise their hand, and starts seeing them fall behind in schoolwork.”

early this month, Dayton Public Schools Receives Low Marks on Report Card from Ohio Department of Education.

Dayton Public Schools earned a 1-star out of 5-star rating in three categories: grades, graduation, and early literacy. The Early Literacy component measures students’ reading development and proficiency in grades kindergarten through third grade.

While 99.8% of the district’s third graders met the reading requirements for fourth grade, according to the report card, only 39.5 were proficient in the reading portion of the state’s English Arts test. It was just %.

The Department of Education noted that school districts need “significant support to meet state standards” in each of these areas.

DPS earned 2 stars and ‘Bridging the Gap’ in progress. This demonstrates the district’s success in closing educational disparities among student subgroups. The district’s graduation rate is 71.4%.

Andy Myers, president and CEO of Waterford.org, noted that these issues are not unique to Dayton. He highlighted recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics that points to a “shocking decline” in reading skills for her 9-year-old in the United States.

“Early education can do so much to offset that,” he said, adding that the expected 100-plus attendees will “dig toward that end” during the event. He added that he was planning to.

Other panelists on Tuesday include Elizabeth Lori, Dayton Public Schools Superintendent, Shauna Adams, University of Dayton Associate Professor of Early Education, Dayton Board of Education President Will Smith, and Beth Hess, Director of Learning. . Groundwork Ohio, state early childhood advocacy group.

Fisher said representatives and decision makers from other education-focused organizations, such as Head Start, will also attend.

During the course of a 90-minute working session, the group delved into the early education resources currently available, assessing how they are being used, potential barriers to access to them, and how they can be used successfully. Identify what is preventing it from being implemented.

As part of the dialogue, Waterford.org will explore community-specific ways to introduce online early learning programs. Known as Waterford Upstart, this digital tool teaches children the fundamental skills they need to excel in reading, math and science.

According to Fischer, Waterford.org’s goal is to work with existing programs to fill in gaps.

One of them is the Preschool Promise. It is a non-profit organization funded by Montgomery County, the City of Dayton, and local philanthropists that helps prepare young children for kindergarten.

Robyn Lightcap, executive director of the Preschool Promise, will deliver opening remarks on Tuesday.

“While we have not had many opportunities to work with Waterford.org in the past, we are excited about this event and are discussing partnership opportunities in Montgomery County.