Evidence shows that at age 3, young children growing up in poverty have heard 30 million fewer words than their peers from higher income families. Communities In Schools, whose mission is to help children succeed in school, provides three school readiness programs that help bridge this language gap. Working primarily with low-income and immigrant families, Communities In Schools begins by teaching parents to be their child’s first best teacher. Family literacy programs that bring together parents and youngsters show that children from the poorest families may succeed when their parents benefit from adult education opportunities. Amazingly, 100 percent of children whose parents participated in family literacy programs read on grade level and were promoted in school, and they significantly outperformed their peers on the third grade TAKS.
Helping parents understand that early childhood experiences are critical to their child’s ability to succeed in school is one goal of United Way Capital Area’s Success By 6, a collaboration of more than 80 governmental and nonprofit leaders who together support research and 11 evidence-based programs that serve our community’s most vulnerable families. Success By 6’s Born Learning program, which emphasizes the importance of teachable moments with infants and young children, begins with hospital visits with new mothers and continues through home visits.
Early Childhood Education Options
Participation in high quality early childhood care and education programs can have positive effects on children's cognitive, language, and social development, particularly among children at risk. In Texas, early childhood education programs are offered through public school districts, Head Start programs, and child care centers, including faith-based, private and community non-profit programs. The quality of programs varies widely. Fifty-two percent of children under age six in Travis County – approximately 40,000 children – have parents in the work force, and 80 percent of these families need full time child care. Yet only 16 percent of these children attend programs at accredited child care facilities. Studies show that for each dollar invested in quality care for 3 or 4-year-olds, the long-term gain is between $7 and $8.
Success By 6 strives to increase the number of high-quality child care centers available to low-income families in Central Texas. In collaboration with the City of Austin, Travis County, the Community Action Network and a host of other nonprofit organizations, Success By 6 programs promote increasing the number of accredited child care centers and improving qualifications and wages for child care workers.
The Austin Independent School District offers pre-K education to qualified at-risk students at neighborhood elementary schools as well as at the Lucy Read Pre-Kindergarten Demonstration School, which serves 600 four-year-olds from four disadvantaged neighborhood schools. The vast majority of these low income students have had no structured early childhood education. Americorps for Community Engagement and Education (ACEE), housed at The University of Texas’ Dana Center, provides early literacy intervention tutoring for pre-K children and parenting classes at Lucy Read. ACEE’s programs have increased students’ passing rates on TAKS tests, and the vast majority of first graders reached benchmark or important literacy standards.
Analyzing Trends for a Multi-Faceted Approach
Austin’s E3 Alliance has taken on school readiness as a key area, and is working with Success By 6 to find a common measure of school readiness, to identify gaps in early childhood education and guide the investment of resources. With “Education Equals Economics” as its guiding principle, this collaboration of Austin Community College (ACC), the Austin Area Research Organization (AARO), The University of Texas and school districts is leading a regional effort to increase global competitiveness, economic vitality and overall quality of life for Central Texas by aligning our education systems to better fulfill the potential of every citizen.
Austin Partners in Education is a partnership of the Austin Independent School District and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce to prepare students for college and career. The organization has identified that fully one-half of students entering the AISD at kindergarten do not speak English. Recognizing the challenges of providing bilingual education and embracing the opportunities inherent in educating tomorrow’s Central Texas workforce guide the organization’s goal to provide cost-effective, system-wide funding solutions.
One Child at a Time
Numerous nonprofits offer services that help families meet their children’s basic needs. Each year, Manos de Cristo distributes back packs, basic school supplies and new school clothing free of charge to provide children with essentials and a fresh start. This year’s drive will be held August 5 through 9 and August 12 through 16, and will serve 1,700 low income children.
The Scottish Rite Learning Center offers speech, language and literacy assessments of children ages 4 through 6 to help identify learning disabilities early, and some scholarships are available. The Center also offers workshops to classroom teachers. Girl Scouts of Central Texas offers a variety of early childhood and school-based outreach programs.
The Austin Waldorf School, a K through 12 private school, offers individualized, developmentally appropriate kindergarten for children ages 4 to 6. The Rise School of Austin is a non-profit organization providing high quality early childhood education services to children with developmental disabilities and children without disabilities.
You can support these and other organizations with donations of your dollars and your time. Your investment in helping our youngest learners succeed is an investment in the long-term health of Central Texas.
Resources
- 2007 Report Card on Child Well-Being, United Way Capital Area Success By 6; www.unitedwaycapitalarea.org
- Early Care and Education: Child Care; Community Action Network, September 2005; www.caction.org
- Texas Early Childhood Development Facts, Children’s Defense Fund, March 2005; www.childrensdefense.org
- “The Early Catastrophe. The 30 Million Word Gap” by Betty Hart and Todd Risely, American Educator, v. 27, Spring 2003. http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring2003/catastrophe.html
Find out more about education in Central Texas
Find out more about Central Texas nonprofit organizations providing early childhood education, check out the service providers.