Providence Talks: A Citywide Partnership to Address Early Childhood Language Development

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Implementing and Scaling-Up Reform in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

Early research has shown that there may be inconsistencies in how often parents in different socioeconomic classes speak to their children. A study by Hart and Risley (1995) projected that by the time children from low-income backgrounds reached their fourth birthday, they will have heard approximately 30 million fewer words than their higher income peers. It is increasingly believed that the effects of this “word gap” contribute to the current academic achievement gap.

Providence Talks (PT) is a city-wide initiative that helps caretakers learn about the importance of speaking with their children and helps them improve their home language environments. PT was established through a strong partnership between the City of Providence, Bloomberg Philanthropies, nonprofit organizations, and Brown University.

Authors

• Kenneth K. Wong, Brown University

• Megan Boben, Brown University

• Crystal Thomas, Brown University