The 2011 holiday season is here and – for many families – it brings higher heating bills, worries about gift expenses, and disrupted schedules. Too often, this is a recipe for added household stress, with negative consequences for the brain development and well-being of young children.
There are frequent conversations in Memphis about what our city brand should be. Some people suggest that it should be about transportation, other say logistics, and some say our river heritage. Those are important assets of Memphis, but they are things. They don't really speak directly to our community values and who we are as a people.
Home visting programs help promote positive parenting behaviors in order to promote a healthy home environment. These programs can help prevent child neglect or abuse. In Memphis specifically, the Nurse-Family Partnership home visiting program has reduced health care encounters by 28% and hospitalizations for injuries of young children by 79%. The Nurse-Family Partnership program is just one of many home visiting programs.
The Gap that Weakens Our Achievement
October 13, 2011
Only 4% of Memphis City Schools seniors are ready for college, based on scoring at least 19 on the ACT, the college entrance exam taken by district seniors. In other words, of 6,774 seniors, only 271 are college ready. It’s a disturbing statistic that speaks to why closing the achievement gap should be a priority for Memphis and Shelby County.
Early Teaching Helps Children Later
September 21, 2011
With the recent decision to consolidate our schools, as well as an influx of money from the Gates Foundation and the federal government's Race to the Top, this should be a pivotal moment for our community. However, the Urban Child Institute recently published the 2011 Data Book: The State of Children in Memphis and Shelby County, which offers frightening evidence of the growing number of children in Memphis and Shelby County who are not ready to enter kindergarten.
School readiness is a strong predictor of later education, health, and adult achievement. Children’s earliest experiences contribute to their kindergarten readiness. High-quality early childhood care and education supports children’s brain development and school readiness. In Memphis, many children do not have access to high-quality early programs and struggle when they reach kindergarten.
