Children’s school readiness as they enter kindergarten is an important predictor of their academic success and ultimately their long-term health and economic outcomes. Research shows that participation in high-quality early childhood education helps preschoolers gain the foundational language and literacy skills as well as the social-emotional competencies they need to be ready for kindergarten. Even so, free or affordable high-quality preschool options remain limited for families in many underserved communities, and children growing up in poverty often have less access to the kinds of early learning opportunities that contribute to school readiness.

Jumpstart is a nonprofit organization that aims to address the school readiness gap. It partners with early childhood education centers across the country to increase their capacity to provide high-quality language and literacy instruction to children in underserved communities. Jumpstart’s program model, delivered by volunteers, includes weekly curriculum-based sessions focused on children’s language and literacy development, as well as increased opportunities for volunteers to interact with children one-on-one and contribute to their language and social-emotional development in a less-structured format called child-centered time (CCT).

Read the full article about the Jumpstart Foster Grandparent Program by Ivonne Garcia, Madeline Price, Osvaldo Avila, and Marie-Andrée Somers at MDRC.