Goals have been specifically identified for each cohort of children, for example:
Prenatal to 3 year old children – the goals include ensuring that all Norwalk Children grow up in a language rich environment and increasing the vocabulary and oral language children are exposed to.

PreK to Kindergartners – increase the intentionality of the use of PELI (Preschool Early Learning Indicators) data to determine strategies, interventions and progress monitoring in PreK classrooms.

The PELI Assessment Project is a preschool literacy assessment for children 3 to 5 years old that measures alphabet knowledge, vocabulary and oral language, phonemic awareness, and listening comprehension.

This assessment allows preschool teachers to identify children who are experiencing difficulties acquiring these skills with the intent to provide instructional support. PELI is also an 80 percent predictor for 3rd grade reading outcomes. This goal includes increasing the intentionality of the use of PELI data to determine strategies, interventions and progress monitoring in PreK classroom and engage all of Norwalk’s PreK providers in the PELI project.

PreK Education Providers currently using PELI: Carousel; Children’s Playhouse; Children’s Playhouse Too; ELLI @ Fox Run; ELLI @ Naramake; ELLI @ Tracey; ELLI Lab School; Growing Seeds @ Trinity; Growing Seeds @ Ben Franklin; Head Start at Nathaniel Ely; Head Start at Ben Franklin; L’li Critters Preschool; Norwalk Community College Early Childhood; Odyssey Early Learning Inc.; Brookside Preschool; Room to Grow Preschool; Room to Grow Too; The Marvin Children’s Center.

In 2014, PELI was introduced to the School Readiness and Head Start sites and used to assess literacy in our 3’s and 4’s programs. Since then, we’ve been able to track the progress of a cohort of children into the First grade. The graph below shows the progress of a group of children who assessed in the red zone in the fall of their 4’s program.