The Arizona Centers of Excellence in Early Education (ACE3) serves approximately 400-450 children in four preschool Centers from two LEAs and two non-LEAs in and around the cities of San Luis and Somerton, Arizona (Yuma County) including the Cocopah Indian Reservation. The area lies on the Mexico-United States border and is an enterprise community and empowerment zone (EZ/EC). The partnership is led by Gadsden School District (novice) in cooperation with the Arizona State University and Southwest Institute for Families and Children with Special Needs.

All children in the project are eligible for free-reduced lunch and 95% are English Language Learners (ELL) The Centers provide these children with the skills necessary to read English and to excel academically by meeting the following goals: 1) Provide print-rich environments and science-based early reading curricula that increase preschool-aged children's oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness and alphabet knowledge, 2) Help children with special needs through direct instruction, classroom based assessment, and family-teacher collaboration, 3) Involve parents in family-centered literacy activities, peer mentoring, programmatic home-school linkages, and 4) Build community support for early literacy.

Doors to Discovery and Phonemic Awareness in Young Children: A Curriculum forms the core curriculum that focuses on science-based early reading skills. Intensive professional development is provided through on-site training and mentoring. State-of-the art web-based and DVD/CD delivery are used to educate professionals as well as parents, community and tribal members. To promote continuity of school experiences, the project has an active partnership among preschools and elementary schools in the four educational agencies. For example, preschool, kindergarten and elementary teachers work together to align their reading instruction curriculum and instruction. Project effectiveness is assessed using formative and summative evaluation, including longitudinal pre-post, experimental versus control group designs.