With Increased Funding, 20 Percent of Utah’s 4-Year-Olds Can Now Participate in UPSTART

7,800 children will be enrolled in next school year’s kindergarten readiness program

SALT LAKE CITY--()--Because of UPSTART’s success in preparing Utah’s 4-year-olds for school, the Utah State Legislature earlier this month increased the amount of funding for the program, making the program available to 7,800 enrollees, or 20 percent of Utah’s 4-year-olds.

The Legislature’s action follows last year’s move of providing a one-time increase to the previously approved funding for UPSTART. This year, the Legislature doubled last year’s amount, allowing more children across the state to participate.

UPSTART uses a cloud-based adaptive learning curriculum to provide preschool-age children lessons in early literacy, math and science while at home. Now in its seventh year, UPSTART is funded by the Utah State Legislature and free for participating families.

State Senator Stuart Adams pointed out that UPSTART’s curriculum is based on Waterford Early Learning, which had the highest positive effect on student learning in kindergarten and first grade for the state’s early intervention program.

“There is no question that UPSTART is giving Utah great and economically viable results,” Adams said.

Independent evaluations commissioned by the Utah State Office of Education show UPSTART children had significantly higher average literacy growth rates on two standardized measures of early literacy than children who did not use UPSTART.

“The UPSTART program shows continued success at helping preschool-age children develop literacy skills and prepare for school,” the evaluators from the Evaluation and Training Institute of California wrote in their most recent report.

More than 19,000 Utah children have already participated in UPSTART since it began receiving state funding seven years ago. UPSTART has since grown significantly, reducing the cost per child and allowing more families to participate.

“We’re pleased that UPSTART is helping an increasing number of 4-year-olds prepare for school and a successful academic career,” said Claudia Miner, vice president of development for Waterford Institute, a local nonprofit research center and curriculum developer that is providing its Waterford Early Learning content for UPSTART. “This is a successful program that matches with our mission of reaching children wherever they are.”

UPSTART is open to everyone, but prioritizes low-income families as well as English language learners (ELL). The number of Spanish-speaking UPSTART participants tripled last spring thanks in part to the endorsement and support of the Mexican Consulate for Utah and Wyoming. With the additional funding from the state, Waterford hopes to increase the number of Spanish-speaking families again for this fall as well as low-income families.

Last year, approximately 58 percent of participating families were low-income. Qualifying families receive use of a free computer and free Internet during the program if they do not have access to these resources at home.

Families can pre-register now for UPSTART at www.utahupstart.org or by phone at 800-669-4533.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the 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.

Contacts

SnappConner PR
Cory Maloy, 801-301-7900
cory@snappconner.com

Release Summary

The Utah State Legislature increased the amount of funding for UPSTART, making the kindergarten readiness program available to 7,800 enrollees, or 20 percent of Utah’s 4-year-olds.

Contacts

SnappConner PR
Cory Maloy, 801-301-7900
cory@snappconner.com