The Early Learning Opportunities (ELO) Act - Child & Family Studies

Evaluation of the Early Learning Opportunities Act
Reflections
The ELO project implemented in Pinellas County, Florida, reflected a focused and persistent
effort on the part of many individuals from numerous agencies to support the skill development
of childcare providers to work effectively with young children in childcare settings. In a relatively
short period of time, these partners were able to develop, deliver, research, and evaluate
training for this skill development. This was a complex effort that required the collaboration of
many stakeholders over a period of time, but was one that was worth the effort.
This was certainly a first step toward developing a community training system for childcare
providers that reflects research on the early literacy and social/emotional competencies needed
for young children to become successful students. Specifically, this effort addressed these
competencies by offering college coursework and instructional materials to the individuals
providing their day-to-day care. These training activities were reinforced by a coaching
component, which facilitated transfer of training from the college classroom to the workplace
setting. Finally, an optional parent support component was offered in an effort to involve families
and provide additional, individualized support.
This project not only educated childcare providers on the current research on promoting
literacy skills and healthy social/emotional development in young children, the project used the
current research to promote learning in childcare providers during the training. Thus, the
coaching component was included to assure that participants had opportunities to observe,
practice, and receive feedback on the new skills in their daily work places. This commitment to
effective training methods helped to improve both the attitude and ability of childcare providers
towards applying these evidence-based instructional methods in their classrooms or home
daycares.
The ELO project in itself is just a beginning because effective training is not a series of one
time events; it is a lifelong process. ELO has created an opportunity for community members to
continue the development of these training efforts as they appear to be promising practices,
even if not yet entirely supported by empirical findings. The challenge remains, in that there is
much to do to ensure continued training efforts to present childcare providers with opportunities
to gain knowledge, skills, and competencies in these very critical areas. As revealed in this
evaluation, training efforts such as this one can secure opportunities for children and their
families to gain knowledge, skills, and competencies as well.
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida – page 38