A Collaborative Path to Kindergarten Readiness in Southern Indiana 

Align Southern Indiana has partnered with Building Blocks to provide quality improvement services to local child care providers through the Regional Training Center (RTC) program. Designed to improve best practices and raise the quality of early learning, the RTC program is making a difference in southern Indiana. The goal is simple but powerful: to help children overcome obstacles and achieve kindergarten readiness, especially in communities facing challenges. 

Many local child care providers in the five counties that Align Southern Indiana serves lack access to professional development and structured educational curriculum. Instead of fostering early learning, many providers offer basic babysitting-type services. These circumstances set the stage for children entering school without the necessary skills for success. 

Superintendents across the five counties, representing 13 school districts, shared with Rita Shourds, president and CEO of Align Southern Indiana, and Aleisha Wilson, president and CEO of Building Blocks, that children were coming into school unprepared for formal learning and that social and emotional challenges were prevalent. One of the earliest assessments conducted by Align Southern Indiana revealed that only 18% of incoming kindergarten students could pass a readiness assessment in all four key areas. This startling data highlighted the urgent need for change. 

“Prior to this, nobody has really taken on this initiative this broadly. We asked ourselves, ‘How do we prepare these kids for kindergarten?’” said Shourds. 

Through regular meetings with stakeholders, the community recognized the need for a comprehensive approach. Align Southern Indiana and Building Blocks stepped forward and began implementing the RTC model to transform child care providers into early learning educators, using data-driven and research-based strategies. 

As part of the Early Years Initiative, the organizations initially aimed to impact 10 classrooms but quickly exceeded expectations and engaged providers representing 33 classrooms almost immediately. Recruitment comes easily, as program leaders and child care professionals are now calling and asking to participate. A recent provider training in partnership with Building Blocks and SPARK Learning Lab had 103 registered participants; the SPARK team said it was one of the largest trainings they had ever held in Indiana.  

The RTC program is designed to shift providers away from a daycare model and toward becoming centers of early childhood education. The RTC provides continuous coaching to child care providers, with weekly check-ins to ensure fidelity to the curriculum and help providers address challenges. Training sessions cover a variety of topics, including early childhood education best practices, social-emotional learning and classroom management. 

The success of the program truly relies on collaboration. Align Southern Indiana and Building Blocks have partnered with local school districts, early childhood experts and community stakeholders to create a support system for providers. Frequent site visits ensure the program is being implemented effectively across the region. As the community starts to see results, other partners are stepping up and contributing funding and resources to ensure program sustainability.  

The program’s data-driven approach is key to measuring success. The initiative not only focuses on qualitative improvements but also on gathering data that shows how well children are progressing toward kindergarten readiness and each child’s individual improvement. This helps local leaders make informed decisions about where to invest resources in early childhood education. 

As the Align Southern Indiana team looks to the future, the vision is clear: a region where every child is prepared for kindergarten and where high-quality early childhood education is the norm, not the exception. By bringing together stakeholders, investing in early learning and providing data to guide decisions, Align Southern Indiana is setting the stage for a brighter future.  

“Our families need help,” Shourds said. “If we can start these kids off right in kindergarten, they’ve got a better chance of passing iREAD and high school graduation. I would like to think in 20 years that our college attainment is up, that our economic development opportunities are up. Hopefully it’s a springboard of so many positive things that can happen for our five counties.”