How AppleTree Is Closing the Achievement Gap Before Kindergarten

Federal policy makers are concentrating unprecedented levels of financial resources on education in an effort to scale programs with evidence of closing the achievement gap. With the Race to the Top competition and the upcoming Investing in Innovation program, the US Department of Education will invest billions into validating and scaling programs with evidence of closing the achievement gap. Increasingly, AppleTree is appearing on policy makers’ radar screens because of our outstanding child outcomes.

AppleTree’s evidence-based early intervention is closing the achievement gap before children enter kindergarten. AppleTree’s child outcomes—especially with young children most at-risk due to challenging economic and demographic backgrounds—have improved dramatically since we integrated a response to intervention model (“RTI”) into our instructional program. AppleTree’s Director of Education, Mary Anne Lesiak, recently wrote this brief “Voices from the Field” article to provide background on the challenges, opportunities and results from implementing RTI. Here’s the link:

http://www.rtinetwork.org/Connect/Voices/AppleTree-Early-Learning-Public...