Clemson-Barnwell First Steps Partnership named finalist for WhatWorksSC award

Published: August 8, 2011

By Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Clemson-Barnwell First Steps Partnership has been named a finalist for the Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award for Excellence by the Riley Institute at Furman University.

The project is an effort between Clemson University and Barnwell County First Steps that targets preschool teachers and classrooms. Started in 2006, the project’s goal is to improve learning environments in preschools and to test a model that can be used to improve early learning in rural settings. The Clemson teacher education department spearheads the project with support from the College of Health, Education and Human Development.

The Riley Institute at Furman and South Carolina Future Minds are partnering to present the Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award for Excellence to an outstanding education initiative in the state. The winner will be announced and awarded in October in Colombia at the annual South Carolina Public Education Partners meeting. The winner will receive a cash prize for program enhancement and to consult with other schools and organizations interested in replicating it.

“The Clemson-Barnwell First Steps Partnership Project is an innovative, collaborative project that brings together the expertise of a major university with the financial resources and manpower of private donors in Barnwell County, the Office of First Steps in Barnwell County and the state of South Carolina; and grassroots agencies such as the local school systems, Head Start and child care and health providers,” said Dee Stegelin, professor of early childhood education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education.

Stegelin is director of the project.

“Over the course of five years, teachers and directors of 16 classrooms representing all public and private early childhood providers in the county engaged in self-assessment, responded to technical assistance, participated in monthly professional development workshops and reflected a steady increase in the quality of early-learning environments as measured by the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale,” she said.

“Another significant outcome was the creation of a greater sense of community and professionalism among these teachers and directors," she said.
"Barnwell County is representative of many rural counties in South Carolina that experience chronic poverty, thus this project is a successful model for replication in similar rural settings. It is an affordable initiative with measurable positive outcomes.”

WhatWorksSC is a Riley Institute at Furman University project that researches and details the best practices in public education. The goal of WhatWorksSC, the second phase of the Riley Institute’s statewide public education project, is to provide comprehensive information for South Carolina educators and policy makers.

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