SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.
The corrected release reads:
UTAH LEGISLATURE EXPANDS UPSTART FUNDING IN 2015 EDUCATION BUDGET
An additional 1,000 Utah preschoolers can now enroll in the free, in-home program
Due to the growing success of Waterford Institute’s UPSTART program, the Utah Legislature approved March 10 an additional $1 million to fund the free, in-home preschool program with the passage of its 2015 Education Budget. The increase will make room for an additional 1,000 Utah preschoolers.
With the expansion, more than 6,000 children, or approximately 15 percent of Utah preschoolers, will be using UPSTART during the 2015-2016 program year.
Families can pre-register for UPSTART at www.utahupstart.org or by phone at 800-669-4533 for the upcoming program year, which begins in late summer.
The $1 million will expand the five-year UPSTART funding approved during the 2014 Utah legislative session and builds upon the momentum created in 2014 from a federal i3 grant that was provided to expand UPSTART in 18 rural Utah school districts.
UPSTART is a free in-home, computer-based preschool program that provides lessons in reading, math and science and was developed by Waterford Institute, a nonprofit research center and maker of early learning software. The adaptive learning program teaches essential early literacy skills at the pace and level of each individual child, and its bilingual user support team partners with parents to prepare children for kindergarten.
“The time to enroll in pre-K programs is now,” said Dr. Benjamin Heuston, president of Waterford Institute. “Often parents wait until August to start thinking about preschool. Parents need to enroll now so they don’t lose a spot. This additional funding opens 1,000 more opportunities for families with preschool aged children. Now is the time to act on this opportunity.”
The UPSTART program has grown significantly over the past few years, allowing costs to scale down and more families to participate. In addition, Waterford Institute has implemented several cost saving measures lowering the overall cost per child by about half since UPSTART’s inception.
See video of UPSTART family experiences: In English. In Spanish.
Independent assessments show children who participate in UPSTART enter school, on average, at a Kindergarten Advanced reading level, and have two to three times higher academic growth rates than children who are not on UPSTART, a significant gain in preparing young learners for kindergarten.
UPSTART is open to everyone, but prioritizes low–income families as well as English language learners (ELL) as part of an effort to bring equity to education and give all children a chance to succeed in learning. Last year, over 70 percent of participants were low-income. Families receive use of a free computer and free Internet during the program if they do not have access to these resources at home.
In 2014, Waterford Institute received an $11.5 million federal Investing In Innovation (i3) grant to bring UPSTART to rural students over a five-year period. The i3 grant funded a cohort of 940 children of rural areas in UPSTART. In San Juan School District for example, 220 4-year-olds, populated over a 7,500 square mile area and lacking access to traditional preschool, now have the opportunity to enroll in UPSTART.
The additional funding by the state will allow UPSTART to increase and sustain accessibility to many more students across the state.
More than 13,000 Utah children have already participated in UPSTART since it began receiving state funding six years ago.
About Waterford
Waterford Institute is a nonprofit research center that creates personalized cloud-based instruction through award-winning curriculum, content and assessment for children aged pre-K to 2nd grade. As a nonprofit, Waterford is uniquely focused on providing accessibility, equity and excellence for our youngest learners to position them for a lifetime of learning and success. For more information, visit www.waterford.org or call 801-349-2200.
