Coaching Teachers and Families to Build Language Rich Environments for Young Keiki

The CLSD Wahiawa Collaborative provides coaching for teachers and families to improve pre-literacy skills, early reading, and writing skills for young children, with a focus on families who are living in poverty, English learners, and children with disabilities. This efforts began in Wahiawa within the Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua DOE complex and has expanded to Kahuku, Hawai’i.

A partnership between: Family Hui Hawaii, Rainbow Schools, Honolulu Community Action Program HCAP Head Start, Hawaii DOH Early Intervention Services, Early Childhood Action Strategy, and Read to Me International.

“Our greatest success has been the strong relationships built between the teachers, administrators and coaches.” 

Outcome Highlights

• Teacher Engagement was incredibly high. 

• Family engagement was lower than expected. But positive family experiences support recruitment going forward. 

• Teachers have increased their knowledge and confidence.

• Conversational Turns (CT) have increased in classrooms and families.

See our 1-pager to learn details.

Lessons Learned

While our focus was on Language and Literacy, many teachers benefitted from broad coaching support. 

• i.e. classroom management, social emotional learning, or child development

• Experienced teachers were more able to utilize grant specific evidence-based strategies. 

Teachers need professional development and support to stay engaged in their career and to feel ready to pursue education or career advancement.

• Teachers can greatly benefit from comprehensive coaching. They increased their understanding of strategies and how their teaching methods impact child development and increased their creativity in planning and long-term goals.

• External coaching provides an exclusively coach to teacher relationship focused purely on teaching children and families without the distractions of supervisory relationship concerns or school administrative issues.

Contact:

Cherilyn Shiinoki
Executive Director, Family Hui Hawaii