Invest Early, Early Childhood Initiative. Year 9 Evaluation Summary

Invest Early is a comprehensive early childhood collaborative of four school districts in Itasca County, Minnesota, that serves young children and their families with risk factors that may impede school success. Wilder Research, in conjunction with the Invest Early leadership team and staff, is conducting a longitudinal evaluation of the program. Annual reports document the implementation and assessment of Invest Early and outcomes for the service system, families, and children. Highlights of this year nine summary include: (1) Invest Early is having county-wide impacts. The proportion of children receiving early childhood screens before age 4 has increased from 26 percent prior to Invest Early to 41 percent this year. Moreover, the early childhood workforce is more educated; (2) Invest Early serves higher-risk and underserved populations. Seventeen percent of the children served this year are American Indian, up from four percent in 2006-07. American Indian children make up 8 percent of the child population in Itasca County, indicating Invest Early is reaching this typically harder-to-reach population; and (3) Invest Early prepares low-income students for school success. At the end of the year, 79 percent of all the Invest Early participants were in the normal range of development in all domains assessed on the GOLD assessment. In addition, kindergarten entry results are the highest they have been in five years, with Invest Early students outperforming the low-income comparison group in the language and literacy domain. [For "Invest Early: Early Childhood Initiative. Year 8 Evaluation Summary," see ED612507.]