Top Honors -- And Outcomes -- for Acelero Learning's Head Start Program

NEW YORK, June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Acelero Learning recently received their federal monitoring report from the Office of Head Start after a monitoring visit conducted in March of this year.  "Based on the information gathered during our review, it was determined that your Head Start and Early Head Start programs are in compliance with all applicable Head Start Program Performance Standards, laws, regulations, and policy requirements," wrote Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, the Director of the Office of Head Start, in the report. 

"We are so thrilled with this result," said Henry Wilde, Acelero Learning's Head Start Director and Chief Operating Officer.  "For a program serving over 4000 children and families, we are very proud to not have a single finding identified during our review." The full report included three pages of identified strengths.

In April, Acelero Learning's family services approach was selected by the Office of Head Start to receive one of 10 awards nationally for excellence in family services.  "Your innovative approach to family engagement and goal implementation demonstrated strong leadership, and led to positive outcomes and continuous improvement," wrote Iran Rodriguez, Head Start Regional Program Manager for Region II.  "We appreciate your outstanding efforts in your Head Start community and are delighted to recognize your accomplishment in this area." 

"We were honored to have our work acknowledged," said Lori Levine, Senior Vice President of Head Start Services at Acelero Learning. "Our focus to strengthen family life practices that the research has linked to school readiness has been a game changer in the kinds of conversations we have with families, and the partnerships we build with them."

Acelero Learning is also pleased to announce positive child outcome findings. Since 2010, Acelero Learning, in partnership with the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, has been researching the impact on child outcomes of varying Acelero Learning Head Start education components. This study, originally funded by the New Schools Venture Fund and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and now funded by New Profit, Inc. examines the effect of various preschool programming aspects on the learning gains of three- and four-year-olds who are enrolled in Acelero Learning Head Start classrooms.

"We are especially excited that children who began in our program as three-year-olds and were tested again 12 months later at the beginning of their second year of Head Start gained almost 10 points on a test of oral language (the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) and over 7 points on a test of early math ability (the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Applied Problems)," said Dr. Ellen Frede, Acelero Learning's Senior Vice President for Education and Research. "Although we know there is still more work to do, we also know that gains this large are meaningful and actually likely to have a positive benefit on the lives of the children we serve."

"We are extremely pleased with these promising results," said Aaron Lieberman, Acelero Learning's CEO.  "They demonstrate our core belief that all children can achieve at the highest level. While we have not yet fully closed the achievement gap, this data shows we are moving in the right direction."

About Acelero Learning

Acelero Learning has a very clear mission: to bring a relentless focus on positive child and family outcomes to close the achievement gap and build a better future for children, families, and communities served by the Head Start program. Acelero Learning is a Head Start grantee serving over 4000 young children each year. Acelero Learning's Training and Technical Assistance division is focused on helping disseminate the promising practices and approaches utilized in Acelero Learning programs to the larger Head Start community.  For more information, visit www.acelero.net. 

SOURCE Acelero Learning