Research: Who Do We Need To Help?

What Do Families Look Like?

• Working Parents
  60% of all mothers have preschool-age children.
  57% of women with children younger than age three are in the labor force.
  28.2 million children, ages 6-17, have working mothers.
• Single Parents
  25% of children live in single-parent families, compared to only 11% in 1970.
• Grandparents
  13% of African American; 5.7% of Hispanic; and 3.9% of white children live with their grandparents.

  U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, and USDE, 1994

Who Talks to Their Children?

The number of words heard at home per hour by 1-and 2-year-olds learning to talk:

• Low-income child - 620
• Middle-income child - 1,250
• High income child - 2,150

The number of words heard by age 3:

• Low-income child - 10 million
• Middle-income child - 20 million
• High income child - 30 million

  Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young Children -
  Hart & Risley, 1995

Who Are The Students?

Children in Poverty

• Between 1980 and 1996, the number of children living in poverty increased by almost 2.8 million.
• In 1998, 13 million children under age 18 were living in poverty.

A Culturally Diverse Student Body

In the next 10 years,

• The white, non-Hispanic population will decrease by about 13% in the pre-school range and 2% in the elementary-school range.
• Hispanics will become the largest school-age population.
• The population of Asian and American Indian students is expected to increase by about 45%.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, and USDE, 1994