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About Us
Much of our work focuses on the professional development of home- and center-based educators in Providence’s most distressed Parents, of course, are a child’s first – and arguably most important – teacher. R2LP reaches the families of young children through courses and events that demonstrate pleasurable activities parents can do at home to strengthen the school readiness of their children. Since 2005, R2LP has operated the state’s largest AmeriCorps program. After nearly a month of intensive training, the 35 members serve at libraries, child-care centers, WIC offices, Head Start nursing programs, pediatric clinics and the R2LP offices. More than half of the members pursue careers with young children after completing their service. As the state seeks to increase the credentials of early-care providers, it’s more important than ever that educators have an affordable and accessible pathway to higher education. In one initiative, a pre-kindergarten classroom, R2LP works directly with young children. The classroom, which has been part of Rhode Island’s Pre-Kindergarten Demonstration Project since 2009, is located on the Liston Campus of the Community College of Rhode Island and serves 18 children who are chosen by lottery. This project is demonstrating the impact of high-quality early-care education on a child’s future academic career. R2LP conducts rigorous evaluations of its own. With data gathered from our largest professional development programs, R2LP has shown that with training and mentoring, early-care providers become more effective teachers, and that poverty need not prevent a child from starting school healthy and ready to learn. Children who have participated in R2LP programs outperform their peers on standardized tests when they enter kindergarten, according to data provided by the Providence Public School Department. Thanks to the ongoing support of funders and partners, we are changing the outcomes of today’s children – and tomorrow’s adults. |
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Since 2003, Ready to Learn Providence has sought to close the achievement gap between low-income children and their more affluent peers. We improve the education and health of our youngest children (birth to 8) chiefly by working with the adults who play the largest role in their lives – family members, early-care educators and medical practitioners. 
neighborhoods, as well as in the nearby cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls. Since 2004, R2LP has trained more than 2,000 educators (in English and Spanish), and we now offer many of our services statewide. 
In 2010, R2LP became the Rhode Island home of