Our Partners
Department of Early Learning (Washington)
The Department of Early Learning (DEL) works every day to help Washington's children get ready for school and life. Created by Governor Chris Gregoire in July 2006, DEL is the first Cabinet-level agency of its kind in the nation. Their work focuses on children's earliest years of life, offering information and resources for children's first and most important teachers – parents. In their words, “Every day, we are honored to take action that inspires the world to discover, love, and nurture the greatness in all children.”
www.del.wa.gov/
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
In 1996, Dolly Parton launched a new effort to foster a love of reading among preschool children and their families. She wanted to insure every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income. She decided to mail a brand new book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier County, Tennessee until the child turns 5. The program has been such a success that many other communities clamored to participate. In 2000, Dolly revealed a plan for other communities to provide the Library to their children. At the close of 2007, 732 communities across North America were participating in Dolly’s Imagination Library.
www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/howworks.php
Family Reading Partnership
The Family Reading Partnership is a non-profit community organization that promotes early literacy. They are a broad-based, locally grown coalition of individuals, businesses, schools, libraries, and other organizations. They have joined forces to "create a culture of literacy" by promoting family reading practices throughout their community in Ithaca, New York. The Family Reading Partnership strives to incorporate family reading awareness, encouragement and books into networks and services that already touch the lives of families.
www.familyreading.org/index.htm
First Book
First Book is a non-profit organization with a mission to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. They provide an ongoing supply of new books to children participating in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs. Founded in 1992, First Book leverages the work of local heroes who reach children through existing literacy programs in settings such as Reading Foundation Chapters, Head Start centers, libraries, soup kitchens, churches, housing projects, and afterschool initiatives.
www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.674095/k.CC09/Home.htm
Northwest Evaluation Association
The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a non-profit organization, engages in ongoing, supportive relationships with partnering school districts and education agencies throughout the United States. With over 3100 partner districts, NWEA fosters a community of educators that is dedicated to improving teaching and learning. NWEA provides products and services to measure and promote academic student growth and school improvement. These include accurate assessments, timely reporting, classroom resources, scientifically-based research, and ongoing professional development.
www.nwea.org/about/index.asp
Reading Revolution, Fletcher's Place
Reading Revolution trains teachers and develops products to help children learn to read. Fletcher's Place is a program for teaching reading fundamentals to children ages 3-5, and reading mastery for children in kindergarten through early elementary school. Their developmentally appropriate reading and spelling classroom curricula engages young children through DVDs, games, songs, and activities. Every skill required for reading is broken down to its fundamental elements. Parents and/or teachers are given fun and multi-modal games, songs, videos, and activities to teach those fundamental skill elements.
www.readingrevolution.com/
Reading Tree
Reading Tree is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own books. Reading Tree supports children's literacy by getting books into the hands and homes of children. They place and maintain book collection bins in communities across the country. By collecting and redistributing gently-used books, they support literacy programs by providing an ongoing source of books to children in disadvantaged neighborhoods, schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, international community libraries, and family literacy programs – such as the Reading Foundation.
www.readingtree.org
Talaris Research Institute
Talaris Research Institute works to improve the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from the prenatal period through age five by providing parents with tools to raise their children effectively. Talaris is dedicated to advancing knowledge of early learning and the important role parents play in this development. They focus on translating early brain and behavioral development science into easy-to-understand tools and information for parents and anyone who regularly interacts with parents and their children: parenting educators, childcare workers, health professionals, and the like.
www.talaris.org/index.htm
Thrive by Five Washington
Thrive by Five Washington champions positive early learning opportunities for every child, from birth to age five, so that they are ready to succeed in school and thrive in life. It is a statewide public-private partnership that works with parents, early learning professionals, communities, philanthropic organizations, businesses, and government to develop a sustainable system for statewide early learning improvement. Thrive by Five Washington promotes community-based, market-driven solutions that will expand access to early learning opportunities for all our state's children.
www.thrivebyfivewa.org/aboutus.aspx
