Our Approach

We design, scale, influence, and invest in evidence-based solutions that improve early language and literacy.

Research

We conduct our own research and support others in the field to find sustainable and scalable solutions. We collect and share evidence-based research and best practices in early language and literacy development, process improvement, and professional development.

Professional Learning

We provide research-based professional development for organizations working with children from birth through age eight.

Community Engagement

We promote community engagement through research and professional development grants for the advancement of early language and literacy.

Investing in Young Readers

We invest thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in childhood early language and literacy initiatives.

 

Fiscal Year 2022 Impact

Childhood literacy isn’t just about opening books, it’s about opening doors. That is why, at the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy, we are invested in helping every Georgia child learn to read proficiently. Working alongside universities, early childhood education programs, and other key stakeholders, we collect and share early language and literacy best practices with organizations working with children birth through age eight. We also offer professional training, ensuring the availability of resources needed to be effective in the classroom and beyond.

 

Fiscal Year 2022

Annual Report

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FY21 Annual Report

Expanding Our Horizons

As the Deal Center evolves, we continually revisit our 2018 – 2023 strategic plan: Literacy Changes Lives, Promise to Practice to Policy. We base all of our activities, initiatives, projects, and collaborations on the goals and objectives established in the plan, including the development of a cohesive team, with fully operational improvement initiatives, effectively operating to move the needle in literacy by 2023.

We Are Proudly Committed To:

  • Be mission and data driven, based on the needs of Georgia’s children, our strategic plan, and the empirical evidence.

  • Grow from an initial individual basis to a more statewide, cohesive plan that includes system recommendations and changes.

  • Make measurable impacts and outcomes.

  • Make meaningful contributions to the literature. 

 

As we begin FY23, the Deal Center team is working
on a number of exciting initiatives.

  • Findings from the USG Literacy Review, to better understand how to equalize and improve educators’ knowledge base and in-class methodology.

  • Impact data from the implementation of The Basics principles and strategy, a proven community strategy to support learning and brain development among infants and toddlers through collective impact and cross-sector collaboration.

  • The launch of Shared Reading for Babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), to embed early reading practices throughout NICUs across Georgia.

  • The 2023 Governor’s Summit on Early Language and Literacy, to build partnerships, collaborations, and research teams throughout Georgia.