EDC Receives W.K. Kellogg Foundation Award to Launch First 10 Network
EDC has been awarded $200,000 in support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to build a network that will foster cross-site learning to propel the growth of its successful First 10 initiative. Launched in 2019, and guided by the vision “all children learn and thrive,” First 10 assists school-community partnerships in taking action to improve outcomes for children ages birth through 10 and their families.
In First 10 sites across the country, community partnerships are working to address educational inequities, improve the quality of teaching and learning, coordinate and deliver comprehensive services, and deepen partnerships with families in culturally responsive ways. Over the next two years, the new grant will enable EDC to connect and convene over 25 First 10 sites in Alabama, Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island—and engage new sites as the initiative grows.
“First 10 communities are doing really exciting and innovative work,” says David Jacobson, EDC principal technical advisor and First 10 leader. “The timely support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will help us significantly advance their efforts. We look forward to providing sites with opportunities to collaboratively problem-solve and share their learning as they implement the First 10 model, strategies, and practices.”
To launch and sustain the First 10 network, Jacobson and his team will deliver a series of online learning events. The series will include presentations by First 10 leaders, feature experts in early childhood systems change, and focus on relevant topics, including:
- Strengthening partnerships with families with young children
- Launching community-wide parenting campaigns
- Implementing comprehensive transition to kindergarten plans
- Designing joint professional learning for prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers
- Combining explicit anti-racism training with First 10 initiatives
- Accessing and making effective use of federal funds
- Promoting continuous improvement by gathering data and monitoring progress
The network activities will also include an ongoing online community of practice and publication of success stories and lessons learned to inform the field.
Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, EDC has been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.