Child Development Project

By Brandi Smith and Melody Wooten

The Child Development Project (CDP) is a schoolwide improvement program that helps elementary schools build relationships between teachers, students, home and community. This is all set in order to promote positive development before antisocial habits occur. The central goal of CDP is to help schools become "caring communities of learners" by offering an environment of caring, supportive, and collaborative relationships to build students’ sense of community in school and to promote school bonding. (Promising Practices, 2004) “The program, which involves students in all grade levels, their families, teachers, and school administrators, prepares children to play responsible roles in their classrooms and schools so that later they can contribute to the wider society.” (Model Programs)

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Build warm, stable, relationships among and between students, teachers, and parents. Provide regular opportunities for students to collaborate with others Provide regular opportunities for students to exercise “voice and choice” Articulate, discuss, ands encourage reflection on core values and ideas (Lewis, Schaps, Watson, 2003)

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There are two phases. Phase I is for building relationships. Phase II is the academic part. Phase I takes one full year Phase II takes two additional years It has now been streamlined to make it more focused and affordable. Therefore, it has been renamed the Caring School Community program. (Model Programs)

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Cross-grade “buddies” activities-older students partner with younger students and meet every week or two to do an activity Home-involvement activities-students, parents , and staff work together to build a caring, inclusive environment Whole-school community-building activitiesactivities to have the students, parents, staff, and community members all working together in the school setting Class meetings-students and teachers come together to make decisions, rules, set goals, and resolve conflicts, etc. (Lewis, Schaps, Watson, 2003)

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Cooperative learning-students learn to work together by encouraging each other and showing respect Literature based reading-uses teacher read alouds and partner reads to prompt discussion questions, and to suggest engaging writing and follow-up activities Development discipline-encourages teachers to control behavior based on age appropriate social skills (Lewis, Schaps, Watson, 2003)

• Teaches students to be responsible, fair, honest, and helpful • Creates an atmosphere of trust and respect between students and teachers • Teaches students to solve their own problems • Increases students desire to learn • Strengthens the relationships between home, school, and the community(Lewis, Schaps, Watson, 2003)

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Child Development Project. (2004, November). In Promising Practices. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?pro gramid=138 Child Development Project. (n.d.). In Model Programs. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from http://wch.uhs.wisc.edu/13Eval/Tools/Resources/Model%20Programs/C%20DP. pdf Lewis, C., Schaps, E., & Watson, M. (2003). The Child Devlopement Project. EQ + IQ : How to build smart, nonviolent, emotionally intelligent schools. Retrieved June 21, 2012, from http://www.devstu.org/page/building-communityin-school-the-child-development-project