Our PACT for Education...
While anecdotal concepts and
personal experience may provide ample reason to support the education of
children in our community, an overwhelming body of evidence exists to provide a
foundation for these beliefs. By helping children find success at the earliest
possible age, they offer us the first opportunity to circumvent problems before
they begin.
Children of our community must be
developed socially, cognitively and emotionally to be productive. Research has
demonstrated that a young child's ability to learn is grounded in a sense of
security and stable, continuous relationships with adults, including their
families and communities. The ability to read is also a critical component of
success in later life. Once a child falls behind in reading, he/she is likely
to fall behind in other subjects as well (since reading is the foundation for
all other subjects). This lack of achievement leads to frustration,
disengagement and, in many cases, dropping out of school.
Who are we helping?
We will focus our
efforts on three distinct groups:
1. Children ages 0 - 5: School
readiness
2. Children in grades K - 4:
Reading on grade level
3. Youth in grades 5 - 9:
Remaining in school
What is our OBJECTIVE?
United Way of
Acadiana will help children and youth achieve their potential
Why is this important?
Consider that recent
research indicates school readiness is directly linked to long-term personal
economic success and you'll immediately connect the importance of families in
school readiness and child development. In other words, when families prepare
children emotionally and physically for school, children enter school ready to
learn. When children succeed in school, they tend to succeed in life.
Unless more children enter school
prepared to succeed, Acadiana will be unable to compete in the global economy.
According to a report by Education Week as cited by The Daily Advertiser
on June 15, 2007, only about 61.4% of students in Louisiana graduate from high
school on time. That is below the national average and ranks Louisiana 44th
among other states.
In communities where high school
diplomas are lacking, so does job readiness, the ultimate determination of
whether our children are independent and self sufficient. Circumstances that
interfere with grade level achievement within the continuum of birth to high
school graduation have the potential to produce a person who will not be able
to perform adequately in our rapidly changing, knowledge-based society. One
such circumstance is poverty.
According to Dimensions of Early
Childhood, a leading education journal, "Brain development can be
facilitated by high quality early experiences. Ironically, almost all
low-income families, infants and toddlers have limited access to high-quality
experiences and early childhood education programs because of the cost involved.
This amplifies the children's risk. Even before kindergarten, cognitive scores
for children in high socio-economic groups are 60 percent higher than for those
in the lowest socio-economic segments.
Poor educational performance is
likely to lead to an inability to earn a wage that will provide economic
stability, thus resulting in a dependence upon basic services (food, clothing,
shelter, etc.) and the extreme case of committing crimes for money and ending
up in the penal system. Research points to value of education on one end and,
at the other end, the high cost paid by society for prison inmates who dropped
out of school without attaining a high school degree.
Completing high school and earning
a post-secondary certification or degree greatly increases individual income
and economic well being. Additionally, having a highly educated population is
the key to regional economic growth and vitality. Education, from birth to
diploma, then becomes a root issue. It is the key to breaking cycles, creating
success and building regional progress.
What are the obstacles?
A number of factors
contribute to a child's lack of academic attainment. Cognitive, psycho-social,
emotional and physical skills impact the child's ability to reach key
developmental milestones. The reading skills of his primary caregiver, the
availability of enrichment materials at home and family attitudes toward the
value of education impact school readiness and later reading achievement.
