Providence Talks

ncome backgrounds reach their fourth birthday, they will have heard approximately thirty million fewer words than their higher income peers. This gap is both evident and consequential as early as their first day of kindergarten. This discovery in the context of a persistent, nationwide, achievement gap in educational outcomes has long frustrated policy-makers and early childhood interventionists. In an effort to remedy this issue at a citywide scale, the City of Providence launched Providence Talks. The program supports parents in improving the language environment of their children at the time when brain development science indicates that language development is the most critical. Providence Talks aims to prepare participating children for academic success in kindergarten and beyond. This concept was the grand prize winner in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ 2013 Mayors’ Challenge, a competition to generate innovative ideas that solve major challenges and improve city life and have the potential to spread to cities worldwide.