First 5 Service Corps Project Evaluation 2012-2014

The preschool programs Santa Cruz Reading Corps and THINK Together were funded by the California Children and Families Foundation to evaluate their programs. The Santa Cruz Reading Corps aims to improve literacy by placing tutors in state preschool classrooms. The outcomes and implementation evaluation of Santa Cruz Reading Corps found that the pre and post tests of participants had significant improvements in all literacy measures, and the majority of participants demonstrated strong school-readiness skills at the end of the school year. The THINK Together program uses curriculum and parent education to increase school readiness. The impact evaluation of THINK Together found that the pre and post tests of participants had significant improvements in all skill areas, and that children who participated in the program demonstrated better skills than a comparison group of children.