What We Do
Early Matters Dallas
Early Matters Dallas is a broad-based coalition of business, civic, education, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations and volunteers, working together to raise awareness about the importance of high quality early education for a strong economy tomorrow.
Early Matters Dallas leaders continuously advocate for increased financial resources allocated to this critical, high return-on-investment area.
Quality learning environments (whether at home with supportive and nurturing families or in classroom settings) significantly improve kindergarten readiness, 3rd grade reading mastery, high school graduation rates, post high school education/credentialing and workforce readiness. We envision a community where high quality early learning environments are available to all children. To achieve this vision the Dallas community must be coordinated, intentional and results oriented.
Snapshot
Data shows that no school system is able to graduate more students college-ready than the number who are kindergarten ready.
children in Dallas County are not ready for Kindergarten
is our goal for students to be ready for Kindergarten (up 57% since 2014)
students are 4x more likely to drop out if they are not reading on grade level by 3rd grade
3rd graders are not reading on grade level
is our goal for students to be reading on grade level by 2025 (up from 34% in 2015)