Nemours BrightStart!, the first program of its kind in the nation, researches, develops, and offers evidence-based tools targeting young children at risk for reading failure.

The goal is to effectively instruct children at the very beginning of their reading journey to ensure long-term reading success. We have proven that the foundation for successful reading is built in the early years, when a young child’s brain is highly responsive, adaptable, and attuned to learning language.

Each year, our research has shown that the Nemours BrightStart! curriculum significantly improves the early literacy skills of pre-kindergarteners at risk for reading failure. Based on our long-term follow-up, we also have evidence that most of those at-risk children are making good progress with reading from kindergarten through
third grade.

Since the beginning of Nemours BrightStart! in 2005:

• Tens of thousands of pre-kindergarteners have been screened on early literacy skills, with thousands of at-risk children receiving Nemours BrightStart! intensive educational instruction
• Two-thirds of participating at-risk children who have received the Nemours BrightStart! educational instruction have moved to the typical range in their reading readiness skills
• At-risk pre-kindergarteners completing the Nemours BrightStart! intensive educational instruction gain an average of 114% on their reading readiness scores

2005-2010 School Years

Nemours BrightStart! is helping to close the reading achievement gap before children ever have a chance to fail.

The graph above shows two critical points:

• How far behind the at-risk children are in their early literacy
  skills at the beginning of pre-kindergarten (fall pre-test average scores)
• How much they close the gap and catch up after receiving the Nemours
  BrightStart! targeted instruction (spring post-test average scores)

Originally, Nemours BrightStart! staff solely provided our screening and instruction. In 2009, the Nemours BrightStart! delivery model added training for early childhood educators to conduct screenings and instruction using our curriculum (a capacity building model approach).

These first capacity building model projects occurred in:

• Osceola County (Florida) Public Schools
  (in conjunction with the Early Learning Coalition)
• Diocese of St. Augustine Catholic Schools
  (Duval County, FL)
• Duval County Public Schools (Florida)
  

The results were surprising: The children in the capacity building model groups averaged nearly 150% annualized gains in early literacy skills, actually surpassing the 114% historical benchmark average gain set by Nemours BrightStart! staff over four years of direct service.

When taught by their own teachers using Nemours BrightStart! curriculum, child outcomes exceeded expectations.