What's the Impact

Lack of proficient literacy and early learning skills has far-reaching consequences for students and society. Students who start kindergarten behind form the largest group of dropouts, and they have less than a 12 percent chance of attending a four-year university.

Schools don’t create the multi-year achievement gap seen on the first day of kindergarten. The achievement gap happens when there is a preparation gap in a child’s earliest years. But when children enter school, the gap created before kindergarten typically follows them year after year. So students who are behind, stay behind.