First Steps Documents

South Carolina First Steps publishes reports, documents, and brochures on school readiness in the state, including statistics, program evaluations, and agency vision statements.

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Recent Submissions

  • Publication
    Carolina Collaborative for Early Childhood Innovation : Evaluation Toolkit
    (South Carolina State Library, 2024-02-23) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    The purpose of this toolkit is to guide the evaluation of an early childhood innovation program. By using this toolkit, your evaluation will uncover the gaps in who benefits and explore why they exist. Identifying what about the program led to the desired outcome will spark new ideas for more effective innovations. This toolkit is grounded in First Steps’ philosophy and approach to evaluation. This toolkit is made up of different chapters that each contain skill-building activities and reflection questions to apply the learning content to your innovation.
  • Publication
    Ready for Kindergarten : a Guide for South Carolina Families
    (South Carolina State Library, 2024-04-01) South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council
    Preparing for kindergarten is a team effort. As a parent or caregiver, you play an important part. This guide can help. It’s full of ideas, tips, and resources to help your child start school. If you have or concerns, remember, support is available. Find more resources in the back of this guide.
  • Publication
    South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness
    (South Carolina State Library, 2008) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    This poster describes the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Program.
  • Publication
    READY : Resources for Early Acceleration and Development in Youth
    (South Carolina State Library, 2023-06-30) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    In 2022, the General Assembly made a historic investment in South Carolina’s children, allocating $3 million in recurring funds to be awarded to local First Steps partnerships through a grant-making process. South Carolina First Steps has since awarded Resources for Early Acceleration and Development in Youth (READY) grants across 33 counties, prioritizing programs for children ages 0-3, rural communities, and counties where Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) scores are consistently below the state average. In its inaugural year, READY funds have enabled First Steps to sustain and expand evidence-based parenting programs, increase the quality of child care, and address pressing workforce and infrastructure challenges.
  • Publication
    Evaluation of South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness : local partnerships from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018
    (South Carolina State Library, 2019-11-15) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program); University of South Carolina. Institute for Families in Society; Shapiro, Cheri; Gillam, Pamela S.
    The purpose of the evaluation is to assess progress toward achieving the First Steps goals and to determine the impact of the initiative on children and families at the state and local levels. This evaluation covers 5 years, from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018, and focuses on the overall impact of First Steps programs and services.
  • Publication
    South Carolina pre-K to kindergarten transition plan : family engagement
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022-04-28) South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council; Palmetto Pre-K Transitions Workgroup
    The Palmetto Pre-K Transitions Workgroup (Transitions Workgroup) developed this plan to help professionals and parents in facilitating a smooth transition to school. The plan was developed by evaluating existing transition policies at the state and federal level, then offering a set of tactics and best practices that align with and complement goals and strategies presented in “For Our Future: South Carolina’s Birth Through Five Plan.” The plan presents a document review and findings from surveys and other data sources, work to date, and the plan itself. The appendices detail the array of resources reviewed and available to parents and child care and education professionals. The appendices also include the summary and results of a statewide Pre-K to 5K Transitions survey that solicited responses from both parents and teachers.
  • Publication
    A year of Family Voice 2022 report
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022-10-18) South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council; South Carolina Family Voice Council
    The South Carolina Family Voice Council was born of a commitment from the public early childhood system to partner with families and listen, center, and co-create the future of programming and policies that impact families in our state. This report includes a background of the agency, parent feedback themes, how programs used feedback. recommendations and opportunities, future plans and a list of Family Voice Council members.
  • Publication
    Family handbook
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022-07-25) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    The goal of the South Carolina Child Early Reading Development and Education Program (4K) is to provide children and their families with the developmental and learning support necessary for school success. This handbook outlines program goals, operating policies and procedures, educational instruction and family engagement.
  • Publication
    External evaluation of South Carolina First Steps Childcare Technical Assistance Programs : FY19-FY21
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022-10-24) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program); University of South Carolina, Institute for Families in Society
    This external evaluation is designed to evaluate the reach and impacts of child care technical assistance (TA) and training programs operated by First Steps County Partnerships during a three year time frame of FY18-19 through FY20-21. The current evaluation is focused on the training and TA programs provided by First Steps local partnerships. The evaluation is driven by research questions that seek to describe and understand the impact of these child care TA and training.
  • Publication
    For our future : South Carolina's birth through five plan 2022-2027
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022) South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council
    This strategic plan is a five-year roadmap for optimizing South Carolina's early childhood system and moving toward a shared vision of success for every child, from birth through age five.
  • Publication
    Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund monthly detailed expenditure report
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022-02-01) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    This details the expenditures of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness’ allocation from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.
  • Publication
    South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Parents as Teachers external evaluation FY16-17 to FY18-19
    (South Carolina State Library, 2022-01) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program); University of South Carolina. Institute for Families in Society; Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
    The current evaluation of Parents As Teachers Program was designed to examine program reach and impacts on key factors related to school success using quantitative data from FY16-17 through FY18-19 and gives recommendations for the future.
  • Publication
    Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund monthly detailed expenditure report
    (South Carolina State Library, 2021-12-01) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    This details the expenditures of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness’ allocation from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.
  • Publication
    SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST STEPS EVALUATION OF PARENTS AS TEACHERS 2008-2016
    (South Carolina State Library, 2017-12-04) Heinemeier, Sarah; D’Agostino, Anne; Compass Evaluation and Research; South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
    The purpose of this evaluation was to assess both program implementation and program achievements of First Steps’ Parents as Teachers home visitation model. The evaluation was designed to focus on program implementation and short-term changes, such as changes in parenting knowledge and capacity. The evaluation assessed the extent to which the program was successful at meeting its implementation goals (including goals for serving the most vulnerable families) and achieving its direct outcomes of changes in parenting knowledge, capacity, etc. The evaluation also examined the extent to which the program can be aligned with evidence that children in highly vulnerable families are benefitting, in that they are coming alongside less vulnerable peers in their developmental progress and school readiness.
  • Publication
    Vision 2013
    (South Carolina State Library, 2009) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
  • Publication
    Vision 2013 : South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness strategic plan
    (South Carolina State Library, 2009-12-10) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
  • Publication
    Publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs serving four-year-olds in South Carolina
    (South Carolina State Library, 2006-01-08) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
  • Publication
    Publicly funded pre-kindergarten in South Carolina : coordinating resources for greater impact
    (South Carolina State Library, 2006-01-08) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
  • Publication
    Recipes for fun : a collection of simple recipes for homemade fun
    (South Carolina State Library, 2004) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)
  • Publication
    Population of South Carolina children under 6
    (South Carolina State Library, 2004) South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness (Program)