Why We Did This
The Inclusive Literacy Alliance (ILA) is a cross-sector group of educators, medical providers, early childhood leaders, and parent advocates working to make early literacy more inclusive in Kent County.
In our first collaborative sessions, we identified four priority areas for deeper exploration:
Training for providers to better support early literacy for children with developmental differences
Increasing parent and organizational awareness of accommodations
Expanding access to early literacy resources
Strengthening inter-agency learning and collaboration
Before designing solutions, we committed to listening. We recognized that to move forward effectively, we needed a clearer understanding of:
The lived experiences of parents and caregivers
The current landscape of services and resources in Kent County
Barriers that prevent families from accessing literacy support
Gaps in training, collaboration, and awareness
What We Did
Throughout Summer 2025, ILA volunteers partnered with First Steps Kent staff and facilitators to conduct primary community engagement.
We gathered insight from:
- Parents and caregivers to understand their experiences accessing literacy resources, navigating accommodations, and working with providers.
- Educators to explore training gaps, classroom challenges, and opportunities to strengthen inclusive literacy practices.
- Medical professionals to better understand referral pathways, ADA knowledge, and coordination with educational resources.
We conducted our own research using focus groups, interviews, online surveys, and community-based pop-up engagement
We intentionally designed core questions to explore:
Where families learn about literacy resources
What barriers exist when accommodations are not provided
Gaps in available resources
How agencies currently share (or don’t share) information
