Explanation
Mayor Ginther’s vision for Columbus, America’s Opportunity City, is that every child is ready for kindergarten. Kindergarten readiness is a multidimensional construct reflecting young children’s preparedness for instruction in areas related to both academic and social-emotional skills. Children who arrive to kindergarten with limited readiness in one or more of these areas face challenges in the transition into the kindergarten setting, and are susceptible to academic achievement over time.
Participation in quality early childhood education can provide an important mechanism for developing children’s school readiness; likewise, certain intentional parenting practices, such as shared book-reading and numeracy discussions, also can support school readiness. However, not all children have access to quality early learning programs and/or intentional parenting practices.
Because of this, we have partnered for the last four years with the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at Ohio State University on the Summer Success program, a four-week intensive summer readiness ‘camp’ for children without prior ECE experience and those who may not have sufficient supports at home for developing key readiness skills.
Before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department and the Crane Center planned to expand the program with cohorts in Linden and the Hilltop, and one cohort in the South-Western City Schools District. However, due to continued social distancing guidelines, the programming will be 100 percent virtual and will include blended-learning opportunities featuring video chats with explicit instruction provided by Summer Success teachers, parent-mediated media experiences, and home- learning resources.
Therefore, the Department of Education requests permission to contract with the Crane Center to provide this crucial work.
This contract is being awarded pursuant to Chapter 329, which allows for the City to negotiate not-for-profit s...
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