This article was published by Red River Radio on December 11, 2024 at 11:24 AM CST| By Jeff Ferrell
Researchers discovered that Shreveport-Bossier has experienced a significant drop in kindergarten readiness scores from 2012 to the present. So the Community Foundation of North Louisiana took action.
Research reveals the profound effect to a child who is evaluated as not “kindergarten ready”, often referred to as K Readiness. One example comes from a Johns Hopkins study which discovered that fourth grade students who began kindergarten behind were up to 80% more prone to be held back and were up to seven times more likely to be suspended or expelled.
Researchers discovered that Shreveport-Bossier has experienced a significant drop in kindergarten readiness scores from 2012 to the present. In August of 2022, the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC) released a report that revealed 60% of children in Louisiana are not ready for kindergarten. It also found that “high-quality early care and education, particularly for children below age 4, is neither accessible nor affordable.”
Locally, U.S. Census Bureau figures show that 29% of families with children under 5 years of age in the Shreveport metro area live below the poverty level.
These realities would eventually lead to a marriage of public and private interests which joined forces in search of answers. And in 2019, the Community Foundation of North Louisiana (CFNLA) began its Early Childhood Education (ECE) initiative. Since then, the agency’s CEO, Kristi Gustavson, says their ECE initiative has leveraged nearly $20 million from private donations and government matching grants to support their ECE initiative.
Gustavson says more than 1,000 children have received scholarships since the initiative began to 18 participating centers in Caddo Parish. She explains how early childhood education has a profound effect on a child’s development. “What’s really important is that young children, ages zero to three, get exposed to other children and other adults so they can develop the language synapses in their brain that are needed for the rest of their life.”
The CFNLA released data showing their Caddo ECE enrollment of children 0-3 has increased by 57%; specifically, enrollment of ages 0-2 increasing 49%.
In the last school year alone [2023-24], 483 children received scholarships to these Type III childcare centers through the ECE program.
Caddo Schools placed an additional 214 children with funds it raised through grant dollars for 2023-24. This growth has led to the opening of 10 news classrooms for these private businesses. The graphic enclosed shows Fall 2024 exam results from children attending Type III centers, which Gustavson says shows the vast improvement compared to children who stayed home. And she concludes that a child who is not kindergarten ready could struggle later on. “They’re way more likely to need supports, additional supports at school, learning supports, and that kind of thing. They’re way less likely to be sixth grade math ready, they’re way less likely to graduate high school and actually are more likely to encounter juvenile justice issues, if not adult criminal issues.”
Read the full article on the Red River Radio website here.
To learn more about the ECE Initiative contact Kristi Gustavson at 318-221-0582.