Project Early ID

Project Early ID was launched in 2005, with three-year funding of $395,500 from The Abell Foundation. With the goal of solidifying literacy skills in early childhood students, the pilot program aimed to prevent reading difficulties (and referral to special education) through early intervention in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade. A final grant of $46,000 was approved for the 2008-2009 school year.

To achieve this, Project Early ID used a three-tier “response to intervention” (RTI) model to deliver services to children who demonstrated weaknesses in early literacy skills, particularly those related to phonological processing. Beginning with a cohort of pre-kindergarten students in two Baltimore City public schools, the project worked with three cohorts of students through first grade and compared findings to similar students in other schools. Project Early ID later expanded to six city schools.

Additionally, Project Early ID employed a full-time reading interventionist who initially conducted informal assessments of the entering pre-K students. Children who had difficulties meeting the classroom teacher’s instructional reading goals were given more intensive instruction. Tier 2 of the RTI framework offered small group (1:4) supplemental instruction daily for 20 minutes during 30-day cycles. At the end of each cycle, the classroom teacher and the Project Early ID reading teacher decided whether the students returned to Tier I in the classroom, stayed in Tier 2, or proceeded to Tier 3 for more intensive (1:1 or 1:2) instruction. At the same time, Project Early ID staff compiled effective lesson plans and practices at each grade level (pre-K to grade one) to train other early childhood educators in RTI methodology.

By the end of first grade, Project Early ID students were, on average, less likely to have weak overall reading skills than the comparison group. For example, in the second cohort, no Project Early ID students were retained in first grade and only one was referred to special education as opposed to two student retentions and four special education referrals in the comparison group.

Now that the formal pilot is completed, one of the co-directors of Project Early ID has been appointed to head the Early Childhood Division of the Baltimore City Public School System, ensuring that the curricula, professional development, and lessons learned from Project Early ID will inform future direction.