Project EASE is a unique educational intervention initiative developed by Gail Jordan and undertaken by the White Bear Lake Schools in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Its mission, as indicated by its acronym, seeks to assure early success and achievement in the school. The program's strong parent involvement component is designed to foster early language and literacy skills for kindergarten children, and thus prepare them for later success as they move through the elementary grades. The design for Project EASE is based on the theoretical work of Dr. Catherine Snow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and findings from her research project, The Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development (David Dickinson, Co-Principal Investigator; Patton Tabors, Research Coordinator).

Can I Find Out More About Project EASE?

This website includes a description of the intervention, detailed examples of the five workshop units that parents and children participated in, suggested books and activities to use with children, information about research done to test the effectiveness of Project EASE, and contact information. Buttons on the left should guide you easily through the site to find the information you're looking for.

Can Parents Use This Site to Help Their Children Even If They Aren't Part Of the Intervention?

Yes, we hope that parents will find the information on this site helpful in suggesting materials and activities that they will enjoy trying out with their children. We have tried to include plenty of background information to parents that explain in clear terms how and why engaging in these activities can help children become better readers.

What If I Want To Replicate This Intervention In My School District?

Several school districts have, in fact, implemented the Project EASE intervention model in their own sites with reported success. All materials contained in these web pages are designed for Project EASE and are not to be reproduced without the written consent of the project coordinators. If you have any questions about the Project EASE program, please contact Gail Jordan for more information:

  Gail Jordan
  Associate Professor
  Department of Education
  Literacy and Educational Psychology
  Bethel College
  3900 Bethel Drive
  St. Paul, MN 55112-6902
  (651) 638-6400
  email: gail-jordan@bethel.edu
 

Project EASE Credits

Gail Jordan, Associate Professor, Department of Education, Bethel College.  As a former Literacy Specialist for White Bear Lake Schools, Gail Jordon designed the intervention, developed much of material used in the intervention (and for this web site), and was a Project EASE teacher.

Todd Wagner, Evaluation Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning, was instrumental in developing the study design to test for the effects of Project EASE and for preliminary analysis of the data.

Kay Worner, of Sartell Schools, initiated the concept of Project EASE.

Kathie Doxsee, of White Bear Lake Schools, is a Project EASE teacher.

Michelle Gratz, of White Bear Lake Schools, is a Project EASE teacher

Sue Reibel, of White Bear Lake Schools, has helped with many of the technical computer details involved in producing the research article about the intervention.