WRMA Awarded Add-On for SPARK3: Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids Initiative Third Grade Follow-up
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) has awarded Walter R. McDonald & Associates, Inc. a 12-month add-on to the Ready Kids Follow-up. The add-on is a study of children enrolled into the original Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) initiative who have completed the third grade as of the spring on 2009. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the SPARK initiative on success in school.
A WRMA Principal Investigator leads the project with six site coordinators representing former SPARK grantees in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Ohio. Each site will collect standardized test results administered in the third grade for children formally enrolled in SPARK as well as results from selected comparison children. The project will also collect data on attendance and children’s status pertaining to eligibility for free and reduced lunch, disabilities, and special needs.
