Posted on February 14, 2025 by childrenslearninginstitute

Since our inception, the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) has been spearheading and evaluating large-scale interventions in early education. By 2014, in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency, CLI launched a cost-effective, digital delivery system capable of distributing early childhood program improvement tools originally designed for the Texas School Ready (TSR) program across the entire state – CLI Engage. 

When CLI set out to design CLI Engage, it was crucial to incorporate what research has shown to be effective in program improvement models. The vision was to collect data and weave its narratives with practical tools. This provides highly targeted support to enhance the quality of educational experiences in diverse early learning environments.  

For the past ten years, the Children’s Learning Institute has managed the implementation and ongoing enhancement of CLI Engage. In a short span, the platform has seen incredible growth with plenty of exciting milestones along the way: 

• 2014 – TSR’s tools integrate into an innovative online platform called CLI Engage and pilots with Houston ISD, Dallas ISD, and Fort Worth ISD (more than 2,450 teachers).  

• 2015 – CLI Engage launches statewide and serves over 23,000 teachers from over 900 school districts and other organizations across Texas.  

• 2017 – Texas Kindergarten Entry Assessment (TX-KEA) is launched to school districts statewide, as well as a new online series for training on the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines (Revised 2015).   

• 2018 – The Children’s Learning Institute continues to add new resources for teachers of children ages 0-6, including three additional infant and toddler teacher courses and teacher preparation programs (higher education and high school CTE).  

• 2020 – Progress monitoring tools are added to the platform: TX-KEA literacy screener for kindergarten and TPRI and Tejas LEE for 1st and 2nd grades. State-adopted Circle Pre-K Curriculum is available at no cost for prekindergarten classrooms. 

• 2023 – New online courses and the Circle Infant and Toddler Curriculum launch on CLI Engage, all available at no cost. 

Today, CLI Engage encompasses a variety of digital tools and resources, which are continually updated and refined to better serve early learning programs, teachers, specialists, and families. CLI Engage hosts a variety of progress monitoring, assessment, and observation tools linked to professional development and lesson resources to guide quality improvement through collaboration with state agencies and researchers.   

As CLI Engage celebrates a decade of exceptional expansion, CLI has its eyes set on the future. Looking to further improve and enhance the platform, CLI will continue to elevate the countless tools on CLI Engage to reach and elevate early learning programs and educators (including their parents or guardians), positively impacting young Texans for generations to come.