Quality Improvement Project
Now in its tenth year, the Niagara Quality Improvement Project has been working within Niagara Phase III “Transition to Kindergarten”. Funded by The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation the program focuses on strengthening both academic and social-emotional transitions for children entering kindergarten from various early childhood preschool and home-based settings throughout Niagara County. With this new funding, the Niagara QIP has an opportunity to make an even greater impact in the larger early childhood community; reaching more than 6,000 children entering kindergarten in Niagara County’s 10 school districts, their families, and early educators over the next three years. Funding is also provided by the Children’s Guild Foundation for the QIP Mentor position.
Explore Our QIP Programs
OUTCOMES
Since its inception in 2010, the QIP Phases I and II has elevated the quality of care and early education for 1,529 young children and those who care for them in 30 Niagara County center-based child care centers.
DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENINGS
A key component of the QIP is developmental screenings of children prior to entering Kindergarten. The QIP has adopted the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) to screen the motor and social emotional development in children. We are in the process of transitioning to not only use the ASQ but to also link them directly to our partners at Help Me Grow WNY and their ASQ database.
In the Year Three, ASQ screenings conducted in seven QIP affiliate child care centers and two school district’s pre-k are in the HMG database and has a total of 884 children screened one or more times during the 2019 calendar year. Chromebooks were purchased utlizing money from a grant from the United Way of Greater Niagara for each participating child care center identified in need of technology to ensure a more efficient system of entering the screenings into the HMG WNY ASQ database.
The total number of children screened below reflects only those in a Year Three Pyramid Model Implementation Classrooms. It is worthy to mention that in addition to the 1,124 children screened in these classrooms, another 316 children in child care centers have been screened using the ASQ.
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# of Children Screened in Pyramid Model Practice-Based Classrooms (N=1,239) |
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Developmental Screenings |
Total |
Percentage |
|
Children Screened |
1,124 |
91% |
|
Children Screened using ASQ-3 & ASQ:SE-2 |
619 |
55% |
|
Children Screened using other Developmental Tools* |
505 |
45% |
|
Children Already Receiving CPSE Services |
72 |
6% |
|
Children Identified for Referral/Resources/Supports |
88 |
7% |
|
Children Referred to CPSE/CSE based on screening results |
55 |
5% |
*Denotes children screened using a tool other than ASQ as follows: 25 – Niagara Charter (Prekindergarten), 350 – Niagara Falls City School District (Kindergarten), and 130 – Niagara Wheatfield (Kindergarten).