“All children have the right to equitable learning opportunities that enable them to achieve their full potential as engaged learners and valued members of society”
– The National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2019
Jumpstart firmly believes that advancing equitable learning opportunities requires recognizing and dismantling the systems of bias that afford privilege to some and are unjust to others. In 2020, Jumpstart engaged the external research team, Research About Children of Color in Early Education (RACCEE) to complete a Culturally Relevant, Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist (CRABAR) review of Jumpstart’s curriculum and training.
What is CRABAR? Programming that:
- Incorporates the cultural knowledge, experiences, and learning and communication styles of children from diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.
- Aims to reduce bias, facilitate cultural sensitivity and familiarity, and create an environment that ensures opportunities for all children to meet their potential.
RACCEE gave Jumpstart’s program strong positive feedback and recommended some micro and macro strategies for imbedding a CRABAR approach more thoroughly into Jumpstart’s programming, training, and policies. Jumpstart is using these findings to improve Corps Member training and the child experience with Jumpstart. For instance, as recommended by RACEE, Jumpstart is developing ten additional Jumpstart lesson plans (known as Jumpstart sessions) to expand our curriculum and offer increased flexibility to fit different regional needs. After sufficient piloting of these new Jumpstart sessions, Jumpstart hopes to roll out the expanded curriculum in the 2023-2024 service year.
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