Basic Organization Information
EDUCATIONAL FIRST STEPS
- Also Known As:
-
EFS
- Physical Address:
-
Dallas, TX
75204
- EIN:
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75-2334053
- Web URL:
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www.educationalfirst...
- NTEE Category:
-
O Youth Development
-
O99 Other Youth Development N.E.C.
-
B Educational Institutions
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B21 Kindergarten, Nursery Schools, Preschool, Early Admissions
-
B Educational Institutions
-
B21 Kindergarten, Nursery Schools, Preschool, Early Admissions
- Year Founded:
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1990
- Ruling Year:
-
1990
- How This Organization Is Funded:
-
Individuals - $400,000
-
Foundation - $300,000
-
Corporations - $75,000
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Mission Statement
Educational First Steps is dedicated to improving the quality and availability of early childhood education for economically disadvantaged children
Expert Assessment
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Impact Summary from the Nonprofit
“EFS helps create nationally accredited early learning centers for the at risk children that need them most, by transforming day care centers in impoverished neighborhoods into pre-schools of nationally accredited excellence. Through its multi-year Four Steps to Excellence program, EFS develops day care staff into certified teachers and center directors into educational leaders by offering an EFS Academy curriculum of age-appropriate best practices, on-site person-to-person mentoring in neighborhood classrooms themselves, and various student, teacher and parent enrichment programs. Without EFS’ intervention, these children will have little ability to break the cycle of poverty, most often entering the elementary grades with inadequate vocabulary, immature social-skills, delayed cognition and a poor attitude toward learning. With EFS’ help, “graduates” from centers accredited by the National Accreditation Commission or the National Association for the Education of Young Children show substantial (and statistically significant) gains in literacy, language, math, grade advancement and attendance measures that persist into the third grade and beyond. EFS has already guided more than forty centers to accredited quality, and anticipates an acceleration of its quality-building success on behalf of at risk children through its recently introduced Four Steps 2.0 enhancements.”
Revenue and Expenses
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Balance Sheet
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Leadership
Mr. John R. Breitfeller
Term:
Since
Jan
2012
Profile:
<div> Former President of a major subsidiary of Transamerica Corporation, Breitfeller brings exceptional skills in business, strategy and management to Educational First Steps. For the last ten years, Breitfeller served as an educator, enlightening young minds in the areas of science and technology at the Lamplighter School.
Breitfeller received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and its Public Management program. After years in the business world, Breitfeller’s young children inspired him to change careers and he became a teacher at Lamplighter. During the decade he spent at Lamplighter, John grew in his passion for the education of young children. The Executive Director position at Educational First Steps provides him with an opportunity to apply both his business and education experience and skills for the betterment of young children.
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Leadership Statement:
“EFS helps create nationally accredited early learning centers for the at risk children that need them most, by transforming day care centers in impoverished neighborhoods into pre-schools of nationally accredited excellence. Through its multi-year Four Steps to Excellence program, EFS develops day care staff into certified teachers and center directors into educational leaders by offering an EFS Academy curriculum of age-appropriate best practices, on-site person-to-person mentoring in neighborhood classrooms themselves, and various student, teacher and parent enrichment programs. Without EFS’ intervention, these children will have little ability to break the cycle of poverty, most often entering the elementary grades with inadequate vocabulary, immature social-skills, delayed cognition and a poor attitude toward learning. With EFS’ help, “graduates” from centers accredited by the National Accreditation Commission or the National Association for the Education of Young Children show substantial (and statistically significant) gains in literacy, language, math, grade advancement and attendance measures that persist into the third grade and beyond. EFS has already guided more than forty centers to accredited quality, and anticipates an acceleration of its quality-building success on behalf of at risk children through its recently introduced Four Steps 2.0 enhancements.”
Highest Paid Employees & Their Compensation
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Program:
Four Steps to Excellence 2.0
- Budget:
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$29,092,000
- Category:
-
Education
- Population Served:
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Infants/Babies (under age 5)
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Poor/Economically Disadvantaged, Indigent, General
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Ethnic/Racial Minorities -- General
Program Description:
The Proven Effectiveness of EFS Through its on-site, community based model, EFS has consistently elevated preschools and early childhood centers in impoverished communities of Dallas County to accredited educational standards with extraordinary cost-effectiveness. Over its history, EFS has guided 41 centers to accreditation by either the NAEYC or NAC, with six additional centers expected to com-plete the accreditation process within the current calendar year. EFS is cur-rently guiding another 60 centers toward eventual accreditation in Dallas and Tarrant County. Through a joint study conducted by UT Dallas, EFS has documented statistically significant and meaningful bene-fits to the disadvantaged students served by these accredited centers compared to similar students outside EFS’ assistance, using actual test performance in the early elementary grades of their public school experience. These benefits included both literacy and numeracy gains, allowing a significant subset of at-risk students to improve their proficiency in English and advance through early grades at a pace similar to their peers. EFS’ quantifiable positive effect in the first and second grades is particularly notable, given that early childhood assistance pro-grams do not consistently find effects beyond kindergarten and often spend considerably more per child. Cur-rent EFS-assisted facilities receive annual training and materials of less than $500 per child.
Program Long-Term Success:
Expanded programs to 99 childcare and preschool centers serving 5,400 children
Program Short-Term Success:
<div>children better prepared for kindergarten and for educational success in school</div>
Program Success Monitored by:
<div>longitudinal study</div>
Program Success Examples:
<div>number of centers accredited</div>
Evidence of Impact
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Organizational Strengths
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Areas for Improvement
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