WATSONVILLE — The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will consider purchasing a mobile app that would be free to its users, and is designed to bolster literacy for children long before they come to school.
The app – Footsteps2Brilliance (FTB) – was created by a Washington, D.C.-based company of the same name.
Company Vice President Greg Spencer discussed the program on Wednesday during a lunch meeting for PVUSD and county education officials.
It was created for children as young as 9 months and up through third grade. The program is largely aimed at low-income households, where parents often lack the tools or knowledge they need to help their kids learn to read.
At the same time, 80 percent of families own some type of mobile electronic device capable of downloading the app, CEO Ilene Rosenthal said.
“We can leverage tech parents already own,” she said.
That brings an educational program into those homes, with thousands of interactive audio books, songs and games in English and Spanish, all of which are aligned with Common Core standards.
“We can help every parent be their child’s first teacher,” Rosenthal said.
PVUSD Board of Trustees President Kim De Serpa said that one-third of third-grade students are behind academically, despite the district’s efforts.
“We’re throwing millions of dollars at these schools, and we are not getting the results we need,” De Serpa said. “This will move our kids ahead so that they can have a better life.”
According to Spencer, some 51 percent of Latino children do not go to preschool. In addition, 61 percent of low-income children have no books in their homes.
By the time they are 3, low-income children hear an average of 30 million fewer words than their middle-class or high-income peers. That gap continues in kindergarten, and increases as they progress through third grade.
Worse, an estimated 88 percent never catch up academically.
“Footsteps 2 Brilliance can be a virtual preschool,” Spencer said.
The program has already been implemented in districts across the U.S., and the company boasts data showing its effectiveness.
The issue is not one of mere academics, Spencer said. Boosting literacy among young people is also a way to keep them from dropping out, and helps stem the “school to prison pipeline,” he said.
The district would pay $150,000 per year for the service, which would allow anyone within the boundaries of the district to download it and use it for free.
“This is an initiative that will benefit every single student and their parents,” PVUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said she hopes to bring the item to the trustees at the June 28 board meeting.
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For information, visit www.footsteps2brilliance.com.
