Jumpstart-ing Educational Equality

Photo by Spector Photography 2015

In low-income neighborhoods, children start 60% behind their peers from more affluent communities, and when they start behind they tend to stay behind[if !supportFootnotes][1,2][endif]. Jumpstart is a national organization dedicated to leveling the playing field so every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed.

Over a decade ago, Gloria Ladson-Billings[3] argued that the gap in achievement between Black, Latino/a, recent immigrant and White students is the result of an education debt, consisting of historic, economical, political and moral components, that has accumulated over time. Today, the gap has decreased as a result of more Black individuals moving up educational attainment latter[if !supportFootnotes][2][endif], however, the debt still exists. Research by Owens[4] suggests that there are school districts today segregated by income. Children from advantaged families accumulate additional resources because their families can access the most advantaged contexts, and children from disadvantaged families do not have equal access, affecting the students’ reading achievement scores[if !supportFootnotes][3][endif].

Jumpstart takes an important step to fighting these inequalities by providing schools in low-income neighborhoods with more resources, trained volunteers and lower teacher-child ratios to make sure each each gets the individual attention they need to get ready for kindergarten. As the manager of the Jumpstart program at Boston University and an alumna of the 2014-2015 Jumpstart corps, I have witnessed these inequalities for many years. To continue the fight and be an advocate for young children everywhere, I am beginning my pursuit of a Masters of Education.

How can you make an impact?

[if !supportLists]● [endif]Volunteer your time and join Jumpstart at Boston University.

[if !supportLists]● [endif]Donate your voice to government policies that support educational equality.

[if !supportLists]● [endif]Donate money to early childhood education funds and scholarships.

Together we can even the playing field and ensure that every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed.

References

[1][endif] Data cited on Jumpstart’s website www.jstart.org

[2] Cohen, D. J., White, S., & Cohen, S. (2012). Mind the gap: The black-white literacy gap in the national assessment of adult literacy and its implications. Journal of Literacy Research, 44(2), 123-148.

[3] Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3-12.

[4] Owens, A. (2018). Income segregation between school districts and inequality in students’ achievement. Sociology of Education, 91(1), 1-27.

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