The Big Lift Launches its 2023-26 Strategic Plan

Long before the science of reading became a national movement, The Big Lift initiative was quietly working with local preschools in San Mateo County to align instruction with the science of reading, inspired by gains observed in the La Honda-Pescadero School District.

The Big Lift is an eight-district preschool to third-grade collective impact initiative led and funded by the County of San Mateo in partnership with the San Mateo County Office of Education and the San Mateo County Library system. With its new 2023-2026 strategic plan, The Big Lift has expanded its science of reading work into TK-3 school year classrooms, providing a suite of systems-level supports and direct funding to preschools and school districts.

The County Office of Education leads monthly professional learning communities for PreK and TK-3 school and district leaders, paired with monthly classroom coaching focused on the daily habits and structures needed for evidence-based literacy. Best-in-class partners have been recruited to ensure extensive ground-level support, including coaching in the SEEDS literacy frameworks for preschool and CORE Learning supports for TK-3.

The Big Lift’s preschool to third-grade integrated data strategy is a hallmark of the effort and remains a key lever for driving continued impact. The County Office of Education is operating what is referred to as an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS), linking student data from multiple systems over time and addressing the void of data for most young students in California. The Big Lift leverages its ECIDS to identify where and why accelerated student growth is happening and to scale successful approaches. It serves as a model ECIDS for California’s Cradle-to-Career Data System, whose mission is to build a similar approach statewide.

The Big Lift’s data recently revealed huge gains in kindergarten readiness for children served in preschool by its longtime partner, Peninsula Family Service. Between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023, kindergarten readiness for children served (as measured by the Brigance) increased by 23 percentage points, one of the single largest annual increases The Big Lift has ever seen. The Big Lift’s longitudinal data show that kindergarten readiness, in turn, is highly predictive of later third-grade reading standardized test scores among participating districts.

“The Big Lift has given Peninsula Family Service tools and support to ensure our youngest learners are ready for kindergarten. With the Big Lift, we are engaging our teachers and children in new ways and have the data to show each student’s progress,” said Heather Cleary, Chief Executive Officer of Peninsula Family Service, a Big Lift preschool program.