The Readiness Gap
Too many children from low-income families begin school already behind. In their first four years of life, “an average child in a professional family would accumulate experience with almost 45 million words; an average child in a working-class family 26 million words, and an average child in a welfare family 13 million words” (Hart & Risley, 2003).
In Mississippi, 2 of out every 3 students enter Kindergarten lacking prerequisite skills, such as beginning to understand printed text has meaning, recognizing some letters, numbers, colors, and shapes.
The Attendance Gap
Too many children from low-income families miss too many days of school. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more (18 days) of a school year for any reason. During the 2022-2023 school year, 108,310 children (K-12) in Mississippi were chronically absent from school (MDE, 2023). This is valuable instructional time for foundational skills that children miss.
The Summer Slide
Too many children from low-income families have limited access to high-quality learning opportunities in the summer. Without access to enriching activities available to their more affluent peers, research shows these children lose as much as three months of comprehension skills over the summer. By fifth grade, these children are nearly three grade levels behind their peers.