Tools for Succeeding from the Start

It is the age of the starter school, of Baby Einstein, and of pre-pre-pre-school. Waiting lists for exclusive preschools lengthen every day. But what about the children of parents who don’t have the opportunity to place them in competitive educational facilities? Are they doomed to start one step behind, even before kindergarten?

Jumpstart, a Boston-based national nonprofit organization, aims to level the playing field with a preschool literacy model that gives all children the same chance to thrive at school. The School of Education at BU recently entered a partnership with the program, pairing preschoolers who need assistance with trained college students who can help them.

“Jumpstart is about giving these children who need help one-on-one attention,” says Marina Peterson, the Jumpstart site manager for SED. “Our program focuses on the language, literacy, and socialization skills that these children need to strengthen.”

Jumpstart sets all program requirements, but allows individual institutions to administer the program on a day-to-day basis. At the BU site, students combine the course Working with At-Risk Preschoolers, taught by Judith Schickedanz, an SED professor of counseling and development, with their in-class experiences. Participants spend eight hours a week (a total of 200 hours) interacting with the individual child they are paired with for the semester. They have one-on-one reading time, interactive “circle time” with other children, and “sharing time,” when the child creates a plan for activities and then carries it out.

“We’re one of about three places that have this integrated approach,” says Schickedanz. “Jumpstart can’t tell universities what to do, and at most of the programs around the country, they keep the course and the training pretty separate. At BU, I bring the academic knowledge of teaching young children. Jumpstart is the training. Our goal here is to combine the two. For the SED students’ sake, we want it to be integrated.”

Organizations like Jumpstart benefit all involved, from the preschoolers who receive the individual assistance they need (a combined 6,300 hours from 23 participating BU students this year) to the college students who gain invaluable training, as well as lessons about the kinds of teachers they want to be. Students are drawn to hands-on programs like Jumpstart, Peterson says, for the chance to interact with a population outside BU. “It’s an extension of what they’ve learned in the classroom,” she says. “The demand for service experiences doesn’t stop. Students are always looking for different, compelling opportunities.”

Jumpstart is a welcome addition to SED’s ongoing efforts to build involvement with, and integration into, greater Boston. “The University is always looking for new ways to reach out to the community, which is one of the best parts of this partnership,” says Schickedanz. “BU has a long history of working with the city, but we can always do more.”

Students participating in Jumpstart earn a stipend, a $1,000 AmeriCorps education award, and four course credits. For more information and to apply for the 2008-2009 school year, click here or contact Marina Peterson at 617-358-6010 or marinaep@bu.edu.