Resources & Links

Significant planning and research was conducted before the launch of Boston’s Birth to Five School Readiness Initiative to ensure that this planning built on what is known about Boston’s families and resources and best practices to prevent the achievement gap.

Boston’s Families and Resources
Throughout 2006, staff from the Mayor’s Office, Children’s Hospital Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and United Way compiled demographic information to better understand Boston’s birth to five year olds and their families and conducted a community scan to assess Boston’s resources for supporting this age group. To learn about what we found, check out "Preventing the Achievement Gap".

Best Practices to Prevent the Achievement Gap
In the fall of 2006, Mayor Menino convened a group of top early childhood researchers and practitioners to recommend the most effective strategies to promote school readiness in young children. The 12-member group, known as the Mayor’s 0 to 5 Work Group, detailed their recommendations in a report to the Mayor in December 2006. This report jumpstarted the work of the entire Initiative, specifically the Mayor’s School Readiness Action Planning Team (the APT), and has informed some early program expansion work in the city. To read the report, click here.

Links
For more information about some of the key partners in Boston’s Birth to Five School Readiness Initiative, check out:

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley
http://www.supportunitedway.org/

The Boston Public Schools
http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/

Countdown to Kindergarten
http://www.countdowntokindergarten.org/

ReadBoston
http://www.readboston.org/

Boston EQUIP (Early Education Quality Improvement Project)
http://www.bostonequip.org/

Children’s Hospital Boston
http://www.childrenshospital.org/

DCA, Inc.
http://www.dcaboston.com/

Goodman Research Group, Inc.
http://www.grginc.com/

Argus
http://www.thinkargus.com/

Schneider Associates
http://www.schneiderpr.com/