What It Takes to Build Early Learning Systems That Support All Children

In 2014, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation launched Starting Smart and Strong (S3I), a ten-year, place-based initiative to strengthen early learning in three California communities: Oakland, Fresno, and the Franklin-McKinley School District in East San Jose. Each community pursued its own path: Oakland shifted power to families and providers through a shared, equity-centered table; Fresno united a system of agencies around supporting dual language learners; and Franklin-McKinley embedded whole-child, trauma-informed practices district-wide.

Engage R+D partnered with the Packard Foundation for the full decade as its developmental evaluation partner, designing an adaptive, community-centered approach that evolved over time to embed equity and position community leaders as the primary users of evaluation and learning. This collection of three case studies documents what each community did, what the data show about their progress, and the common lessons that emerge.