Tri-University Research Team Notes Significant Learning Gains in Saturday Academy Participants

The Dalton-Whitfield Archway Partnership recently facilitated Saturday classes for families of three-to-five year old children at the Mack Gaston Community Center. These classes were designed to promote school readiness skills and empower parents to serve as their child’s first teacher.

An evaluation of the pilot by researchers from the University of Georgia, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and the University of West Georgia indicated that participants experienced significant gains in school readiness skills, oral vocabulary, and an improvement of the family home literacy environment. Thirty families participated in the pilot study. Over 80% of participants were Spanish speaking only, and all classes and information were in a bi-lingual format. Parents reported a desire for more classes.  In addition, they indicated in a survey that they are reading more with their children, have a better understanding of child development, and now have a better understanding of all that they can do to help their children at home. An article highlighting the program's success and published by the Daily Citizen Newspaper can be read here. Pictures of the program can be viewed on our Facebook photo albums here.