Success By 6 - Early Childhood Coalitions Across the Country

Nearly half of today’s kindergarteners start school behind, but United Way Success By 6 is working to change those odds. The nation's largest network of early childhood coalitions, Success by 6 brings together business, government, nonprofts and others to change the way things work so young children can come to school ready to succeed. More than 500,000 children have benefited from early learning, child care, parent education, health, literacy and family resource center programs.

For 16 years, SB6 coalitions have been raising awareness of the importance of early childhood development, increasing access to services, advocating for public policies and improving systems – budgets, laws and supports – to improve young children’s lives. At the national level, United Way Success By 6 provides a strategic framework and support for local innovation.

Education is vital to an individual’s success, and tops most communities’ concerns. But America’s education statistics offer a grim snapshot:

• Nearly half of today’s kindergarteners start school behind.
• Vulnerable children – from low-wage or at-risk families – start 1-2 years more behind.
• Children who can’t read by 3rd grade are unlikely to graduate high school.
• 67% of fourth-graders can’t read at grade level.
• 25% of high school students fail to graduate on time.
• More than 20% of today’s workforce is functionally illiterate.

Changing these numbers requires a community-wide commitment to lasting change. And whether the focus is achievement gaps or graduation rates, boosting early education is part of the solution. That’s because the first five years hard-wire a child’s brain for future learning. But stressors – like persistent poverty, absent parents or homelessness – can weaken that brain architecture and the foundation for success in school, work and life.

United Way’s National Blueprint for Change
Supporting all United Ways focused on early education, United Way Worldwide’s Education team provides national leadership, outcome-based strategies and field support. Creating a national framework for change, leading the way on school readiness metrics and partnering with everyone from Dolly Parton to the nation’s governors, Success By 6 is helping to shape the national early learning debate. To support state and local United Ways, UWW is also creating tools, trainings and new collaborations to help all children come to school healthy and ready to succeed, with special emphasis on:

Helping parents and informal caregivers support children’s school readiness skills, especially language and literacy – which impacts reading -- and social-emotional skills;

Helping build public awareness, understanding and support of early childhood education as an education, child development and economic issue; and

Helping communities advocate for lasting change, often through public policy advocacy. Local and state United Ways are engaging business, community and faith leaders as children’s champions. United Way Worldwide lobbies Congress for national early education policy, and helps United Ways influence state laws, services and funding supporting young children and their families.

See the PDF file below or click the link below to learn more and get connected to your local United Way and its Success by 6 work!