SPARK program helps Warren kids improve test scores

Warren became the fifth of seven school districts in the state to have the SPARK program.

WARREN — The University of Akron professor who tested students who participated in the Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) program says he was “stunned” by the three-point improvement he saw in the kids’ test scores.

“I was just stunned by how successful it was,” said Dr. Peter Leahy, interim director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the university.

Leahy said the 42 children who participated in the Wean Foundation-funded effort had an average score of 19.3 on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment after participating in the yearlong program. The average score of their peers who were not in the program was 16.4.

The 42 kids were from the neighborhoods that go to the Willard and Jefferson kindergarten-grade 8 schools. The kids they were compared with were their Jefferson and Willard classmates.

Leahy said the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment is used to determine readiness for school, and a result of between 14 and 23 indicates that the child is unprepared to start kindergarten in some areas. A score of 24 and above means the child is “fully ready” to begin kindergarten.

Starting in August 2008, the 42 students received a free book and related activities, art supplies and a one-hour visit from a “parent partner” each month from the Community Solutions agency in Warren. The program lasted a year.

The goal of the program, which costs around $2,200 per child, is to engage the child and his or her family in the learning process. It helps improve reading, language, math and social skills.

The Raymond John Wean Foundation provided $500,000 to start SPARK and continue it for three years, said Janet Weisberg, Wean Foundation program officer. The second group of preschool students is in the middle of its year in the program, said Kathy Marando of Community Solutions.

Warren is one of seven locations in Ohio to participate in the program. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich., started the SPARK program in 2002 in Canton and Minerva, Ohio. The communities of Alliance, Akron and Warren were added, and it is also expanding into Brunswick, Ohio, and Cincinnati this year, Leahy said.

“It’s continuing because it works,” Leahy said.

Weisberg said she believes it’s likely that SPARK not only helps the children involved in the program, but it may also help improve achievement among the children in class with SPARK students. She is hopeful that testing will be done at some point to find out if this is true.

The SPARK program tests the participants before they begin kindergarten and again in third grade, Leahy said. The results have shown that SPARK participants are still achieving at a higher level in third grade than their non-SPARK counterparts, he said.

“I see a big improvement from it,” Lyn Stewart of Warren said of her daughter Camryn, 5, while attending a press conference Friday at the Buena Vista restaurant.

runyan@vindy.com