Implementing Professional Learning Community: Emergent Literacy at demonstration sites in South Carolina

The goal of this coaching project is to support the installation and initial implementation of the Professional Learning Community: Emergent Literacy (PLC-EL; Kosanovich et al., 2020) in pre-kindergarten sites in South Carolina. PLC-EL was developed in response to requests from members of REL Southeast’s School Readiness Partnership, which sought to strengthen evidence-based literacy and language practices in preschool classrooms. The PLC-EL suite of materials includes four modules: Print Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Vocabulary, and Oral Language. Each module is comprised of four resources: Participant Guide, Facilitator Guide, PowerPoint presentation, and Videos, for a total of 12 sessions. Each session follows a five-step process for collaborative learning (Wald and Castleberry, 2000). The materials were designed to be universally applicable to diverse early childhood education settings so that a wide array of providers could benefit from the free and widely distributed materials. To support the implementation of this evidence-based usable innovation, the FSU TEAM will focus on three implementation drivers: staff competence, leadership, and organizational supports.