Diamond Educational Excellence Partnership (DEEP)

DEEP and our partners are organized around three strategic priorities:

1) Preparing for Kinder: building the capacity of caregivers and teachers of children ages 0-5 to provide students with enriching early learning experiences

2) Reading by Third Grade: strengthening the capacity of educators to provide robust in-school early reading instruction and offering in-school supports that address such barriers to learning as chronic absenteeism or social-emotional needs

3) Learning Beyond the Classroom: offering children extended learning opportunities beyond the school day/year that reinforce and expand upon in-school learning

In 2020, there were 21,000 children from underserved homes in grades PK-3 in San Diego Unified School District. If current trends hold, nearly 60%, or 12,000, will not read proficiently by the end of third grade, decreasing their chances of completing high school. Those who fall behind, stay behind. The same percentage of children who do not read by the end of third grade do not achieve grade-level reading by 11th grade -- putting them on track to become our city's least skilled workers.

DEEP works to sever the link between certain zip codes and poor life outcomes by investing in children during their first eight years, when returns on investment are highest and children's self confidence remains intact. We strengthen their caregivers' ability to prepare them for kindergarten; improve their teachers' capacity to deliver strong instruction; provide extra-curricular opportunities that reinforce and expand upon in-school learning; and connect families to community resources that prevent children from missing school or suffering the effects of poverty-induced trauma. We make schools hubs for community-school connections. We make a difference by ensuring that the future workforce is given every opportunity for success.

DEEP partners with four elementary schools that feed into Lincoln High School. School principals and lead teachers from these schools to meet monthly with DEEP and CRLP to support teacher practice.

DEEP also has powerful connections to families with children ages 0-5. These families, most of which have older children in partner schools, participate in DEEP’s reading programs and inter-generational workshops delivered by such partners as Words Alive.

We connect with families through orientations, newsletters, field trips, student performances, and surveys. DEEP seeks to expand this engagement in two ways:

Weekly workshops delivered by bilingual CRLP teachers on campus that introduce parents to CRLP’s literacy framework, explain what children are learning, and demonstrate home-learning activities;

Campus-based and remote reading workshops delivered by Words Alive to families and children ages 0-5. Supporting parents to read with young children is essential to building proficient third-grade readers. It is especially important given the drop in preschool/kindergarten enrollment during COVID.

Outcomes from the 2019-2020 school year revealed that regular participants in DEEP programs improved by an average of four reading levels. The percentage of students meeting grade-level standards grew by nearly 200%. On average, children who attended at least 75% of DEEP program days increased the number of irregular words they learned by over 100%.