• "Blueprint is so user friendly. I always had high expectations for my children, but now the sky's the limit. [CLI's] Message Time Plus® is the best time of the day, so much comes out of that lesson."
                   Newark, NJ, childcare program teacher
  
  
• "The lesson plans showed me how to speak to them, and how to get their interest, how to get inside their head and make it fun."
                   Philadelphia pre-kindergarten teacher
  
  
• "One kid who used to punch people and use [profanities] many times a day has benefited from the schedule and the amount of learning going on. His behavior is much better, which is not what anyone at home or school would have expected. Since he is so busy in school, he is not even thinking about misbehaving."
                   Pre-kindergarten teacher, Lancaster, PA
  
  
• Jann Maclean, a teacher whose high school child development class in Upper Dublin, PA, has regularly worked with local Head Start children over the past fourteen years, wrote:

This year, I observed a remarkable improvement in the literacy skills of the four-year-olds. The children had an increased awareness of books and have substantially developed their vocabulary and literacy skills.

What the above classrooms all have in common is CLI's new pre-kindergarten curriculum, Blueprint for Early Literacy. This literature-based curriculum was first offered in the 2003-2004 school year in classrooms in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Assessment results are exciting teachers, principals, and superintendents. Students are eager and engaged, and parents remark upon the difference in their children who are obviously stimulated by the classrooms' new literacy-rich environment.

Linda Vocu, a Head Start teacher in Montgomery County, PA, who is using the Blueprint curriculum says:

I was not a true believer [in Blueprint] at the start of this year.... Within two weeks, my assistant and I saw that it works, and we started striving to do more.... I am now a better teacher, thanks to CLI. I feel good about what I am giving to the kids to get them ready for kindergarten and for life in general. I could never have done this without CLI.... One parent, whose child also was in my class last year, asked, "What are you doing differently?"

More telling are the assessment results of children in two Blueprint pre-kindergartens in Newark, NJ, (one public school and one childcare center) who were tested in four key literacy areas. By spring, in addition to being able to read letters and to write words above required standards, children were able to recognize letter sounds, and to understand key concepts about print, writing, and the way we read at or near the district-specified level. Together these tests demonstrate that the year these students spent in their Blueprint classroom prepared them well to enter kindergarten ready to learn.

For more information about CLI's research-based Blueprint for Early Literacy curriculum, its 130 high quality children's books, and how its skill-building lessons meet Early Reading First recommendations, click here: Blueprint for Early Literacy.

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How can a beginning teacher avoid the pitfalls and disillusionment that keep idealistic, young teachers from staying in the profession? A 2003 report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future found that one third of new teachers quit during their first three years and almost half leave within five.

I came [to the CLI Institute] very apprehensive about starting Year Two, and now I am looking forward to it and seriously thinking of putting off other career plans post-TFA in order to teach more. Teach For America 2003 LA Corps Member

CLI addressed this issue several years ago when it created an Institute specifically designed for those with only one to three years of classroom experience. Over the course of four days, teachers learn to improve classroom management skills and hone instructional skills to help children become better readers and writers.

This summer, 45 Teach for America teachers (corps members from the national organization that recruits superior college graduates to teach for two years in low-income communities) who had finished a first year in the classroom, attended this Institute. Participants came to CLI's Conference Center in Philadelphia from across the country. Over 12 different states were represented at the training, with many teachers from California and Texas attending.

Through the generous support of Pine Tree Foundation, the Arronson Foundation, RGK Foundation and GlaxoSmithKline the training was offered free to the Teach For America teachers. Donations helped defray the costs of the training and materials and provided housing at the University of Pennsylvania and a classroom library of 40 quality grade-appropriate books for each participant.

The teachers learned many of the signature CLI strategies for effective classroom management and literacy instruction - Message Time Plus®, working with small groups in centers, and planning and performing intentional read-alouds. At the beginning of the training, the teachers were asked to describe what they found challenging during their first year of teaching and about which they would like more information. According to responses at the end of the four-day training, many of their concerns were addressed and teachers left with new strategies to help them in the classroom.

What Teach for America 2003 Corps Members are saying:

"This training was excellent. I would highly recommend it to other teachers. It was perfect in terms of timing—after my first year of teaching. I feel much more prepared to teach reading and writing and more confident in approaching my second year as a result."

"I now have so many great ideas to bring back to my classroom. I am confident that this will help my students to become great readers and writers."

"Great resources!  Amazing books!  It was perfect for second year teachers!  I would recommend it to anyone!"

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