Early Impact

According to a 2020 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, kindergarten readiness can have an impact on how successful a child is in high school and beyond, leading to better grades and lower dropout rates as well as better health and lifestyle habits. Children who enter school with key readiness skills have an 82 percent chance of mastering basic skills by age 11, compared with 45 percent for young children who are not “kindergarten ready.” Yet many children face barriers that prevent a strong start. By the time children from low-income families begin school, many already score significantly lower than their peers on reading and math achievement tests.

We know that 90 percent of a child’s brain develops before age five, making this the most critical period of a person’s life. Yet only six percent of public education spending, six percent of edtech investments, and four percent of education philanthropy are spent on the early years. This is in large part due to extreme fragmentation in this space: 51 percent of children are in center-based care, 20 percent are in parent-only care, and 39 percent are in non-center-based care.

At the end of the 2020-21 school year, 50 percent of Hispanic kindergarteners and 48 percent of Black kindergarteners needed intensive intervention compared to 25 percent of White kindergarteners. These statistics have massive implications given that kindergarten-ready children are more likely to master basic skills by age 11, less likely to drop out of high school, and more likely to reach middle class status by age 40.

A 2021 survey from the National Association for the Education of Young Children found that 81 percent of child care providers cited low pay as the key motivation for educators leaving the field—national average wages are $24,000/year. Child care employment continues to be 10 percent below pre-pandemic levels, even as private-sector employment has rebounded from the job losses caused by COVID.

Families are navigating unprecedented health, emotional, and economic uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting the parenting practice and mindset gains of the last 30 years at risk. Measures of parental distress including stress, loneliness, anxiousness, and depression have all significantly increased since pre-COVID. Parents report increased concerns about their children’s social and emotional development and well-being, in addition to negative changes in children’s behaviors—61 percent of parents say their child’s social-emotional development has been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Additionally, 64 percent of parents say federal policy makers need to do more to address challenges experienced while raising an infant or toddler.

Expectant mothers who participate in Centering Healthcare Institute’s group coaching, which takes place through prenatal healthcare visits, show a 33 percent to 47 percent decreased risk of preterm birth, better attendance for prenatal and postpartum visits, and greater readiness for birth and infant care than those in traditional care. And grantees such as LENA and I-LABS have shown the ability of technology-informed coaching to improve parent and child language interactions, suggesting that coaching can be effective at improving both short and long-term child language outcomes, even when it’s virtual.

Demand for grantees who provide a way for teachers to connect with families grew dramatically since the start of the pandemic, and this trend has only continued. In 2022, TalkingPoints grew its reach 47 percent year over year, while Springboard Collaborative grew its reach by 57 percent year over year. Literacy assessment data showed that Springboard Collaborative core programming delivered an average of 3.1 months of reading growth in five weeks for students, and students at TalkingPoints schools whose families engaged with the platform had higher test scores, better grades, and lower absenteeism rates. Ninety-seven percent of educators who use TalkingPoints reported that it was helpful in improving student behavior, engagement, and outcomes.