CAMDEN, N.J. — A new grant to the Rutgers-Camden Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership supports an early literacy education program designed to serve more than 1,000 Camden children.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s $1.2 million grant was announced during a conference titled “Urban Learning at its Best: Innovative Practices in Transforming Urban School Communities” held on the Rutgers-Camden campus and attended by New Jersey state education officials, Camden school district officials, teachers, and others involved in early literacy education.

Under the aegis of the Rutgers-Camden Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership (CSUCL), the Rutgers/LEAP Early Childhood Development Initiative will deliver a comprehensive approach to strengthening early childhood education and family literacy in the City of Camden. In collaboration with the Camden School District’s Early Childhood Program and the Children’s Literacy Initiative, the project will seek to improve the verbal, written, and language skills of preschool students, involving the children, their teachers, and their parents.

“Our grant recognizes the vital link between early literacy education and future success in school,” says Knight Foundation Community Liaison Program Officer Julie E. Tarr. “It is especially important in urban communities like Camden, where resources to support children, their families, and the professional development of teachers have been limited.

“We believe our support of this collaborative effort can make a difference in Camden and that it can provide a model for others in New Jersey, in the region, and across the country,” says Tarr.

The project has already been tested successfully in a 2002 Knight Foundation-funded pilot program administered by the Rutgers-Camden CSUCL. In the new project announced today, 92 teachers will learn and use specifically designed literacy techniques in the classroom.

Working with teachers, parents, and staff at Camden preschools under the Abbott Early Childhood Program, the program will offer ongoing training activities to enhance teaching effectiveness, improve language abilities of children, empower parents, and transform the organizational culture of preschool centers. The Rutgers-Camden initiative will include the following components:

Leadership and skill development training for teachers, and staff with a focus on transforming the school climate and improving their skills in teaching literacy and reading to preschoolers.

Intensive individualized coaching for preschool teachers with a focus on literacy and reading instruction.

Training for Instructional Assistants to improve their effectiveness in assisting teachers deliver a literacy rich curriculum.

Training for parents with a focus on strengthening family literacy and parents’ effective engagement with their children and schools.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.