• Personnel changes at the elementary school level, with several principals and teachers retiring or transferring to different schools or positions, continued to be a challenge for the SAME Network as it was in Years 3 and 4. As a result, for the sake of continuity, the SAME Network put together a folder for each old and new school participating in the 3-5 Program and distributed it to the principals and teachers. This folder contained the following items: a SAME Network brochure, a one-page description of the 3-5 Program, a roster of all schools participating in the 3-5 Program with names and contact information, a schedule of teacher workshop dates, examples of the assessment tools and an article about the 3-5 Program that was put on the Teacher Source portion of the PBS website.
• The first group of students assessed by the 3-5 Program Evaluation Team entered the third grade during the one-year extension period. Chicago Public Schools begins administering the Illinois Standards Achievement Test and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills to students in third grade. Thus, the SAME Network planned to collect and analyze the science and math scores received by those students who participated in the 3-5 Program and compare their scores to those of their peers. This was to initiate the SAME Network's first foray into conducting a long-term assessment of the academic performance of students who participate in the 3-5 Program. Despite the many relationships the SAME Network has with CPS, they have been unable to secure the test scores they need to conduct this evaluation. The SAME Network will continue to work with CPS in an effort to secure these test scores.

• Parent Workshops At the conclusion of the parent workshops, parents received tip sheets from the Illinois Early Learning Project entitled Fun at Home with Preschoolers: Getting Ready to Read! and Things to Do While You're Waiting: Science, which can be accessed via the following URL: http://www.illinoisearlylearning.org/tips.htm Parents were also encouraged to visit the website to access other tip sheets that might be of interest to them or their child.
• 3-5 Program Each school participating in the 3-5 Program received the Amazing Animals Activity Center software package, which exposed students to animal behavior, appearance, habitat and classification.
• 3-5 Program Each school participating in the 3-5 Program received the Reader Rabbit® Preschool Learning System software package, which exposed students to age-appropriate topics in math, language arts, thinking skills, and art and creativity.
• 3-5 Program Each school participating in the 3-5 Program received the How Many Bugs in a Box software package, which provided students with instruction on counting, sorting and matching.

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