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Starting Smart and Strong

Starting Smart and Strong

Building Robust Early Learning Systems

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  • Approach
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Resources

Read more about Starting Smart and Strong, a community-driven commitment to ensure that every young child living in Fresno, Oakland, and East San Jose grows up healthy and ready for kindergarten.

Community Toolkits

  • Resilient Oakland Communities and Kids (ROCK) Toolkit: Lessons in Healing Centered, Trauma-Responsive Early Education | Oakland Starting Smart and Strong
  • Toolkit for Implementing the Language Learning Project | Language Learning Project, Fresno Unified School District. More at pollstrategies.org
  • 10 Promising Practices in Early Learning for Black Boys: Action Toolkit: Materials and tips for improving early learning outcomes for Black boys | Oakland Starting Smart and Strong
  • Promising Practices Portfolio: Strategies for Supporting Boys of Color and their Families for Improved Early Years Outcomes | Oakland Starting Smart and Strong

Policy Reports 

  • Stronger Teaching and Caregiving for California’s Youngest | New America
  • Lessons from Three California Communities on Strengthening Early Childhood Education | New America
  • A Three-Year Retrospective. What We’ve Learned and How We’re Driving Change | Early Learning Lab
  • Incorporating Anti-Racist Principles into Preschool Classrooms | New America
  • The Impact of Strong District Leadership in Early Childhood: Lessons from California | New America
  • Extracting Success in Pre-K Teaching: Approaches to Effective Professional Learning Across Five States | New America
  • Leveraging Data, Catalyzing Action. Case Study Report on Starting Smart and Strong Communities’ Use of Data on Children’s Well-being | UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities
  • Three Golden Rules for Improving Early Childhood Systems | New America

Foundation Reports

  • Lead, Advise, Witness: Shifting Mindsets to Achieving Impact at Scale | The Foundation Review
  • An End to Business as Usual: Nurturing Authentic Partnerships to Create Lasting Community Change | The Foundation Review
  • Assessing Change and Deepening Impact in Early Learning Systems: The Formal-System Self-Assessment Tool | The Foundation Review  
  • Embedded Technical Assistance | The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
  • Supporting Community-Led Systems Change | Engage R+D, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
  • Evolving for Equity | Engage R+D
  • Co-Creation – Approaches to Sharing Power in a Place-Based Initiative | The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Starting Smart and Strong was created through a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to Engage R+D.

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