Doors to Discovery

Local governments can invest in this strategy using State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
  • This strategy can help address educational disparities. The U.S. Department of Treasury has indicated that strategies that help achieve this outcome are eligible for the use of Fiscal Recovery Funds.
  • Investments in this strategy are SLFRF-eligible as long as they are made in qualified census tracts or are designed to assist populations or communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Program overview

  • Supplemental curriculum intended to help children build oral language, phonological awareness, and other early literacy skills
  • Built around eight thematic units, each unit includes a range of teacher resources
  • Utilizes shared literacy techniques, where children complete sentences with missing words, etc.
Issue Areas
Early childhood
Outcomes
Kindergarten readiness
Strategies
Early childhood curricula and interventions
Target Population
Children under 5
Cost per Participant
$2,654 for a full educational set (2013)

Evidence and impacts

Strong

Ranked as having the second-highest level of evidence by the U.S. Department of Education What Works Clearinghouse

  • Positive effects on oral language, print knowledge, and phonological processing
  • Improved oral language by an average of 11 percentile points
  • Improved print knowledge by an average of 15 percentile points
  • Improved phonological processing by an average of 6 percentile points

Best practices in implementation

  • Note: This content is under review
  • Doors to Discovery must be delivered with fidelity in order to achieve positive outcomes.
  • Teachers must be provided with ample professional development opportunities to master curriculum and should be evaluated regularly to ensure that model is delivered with fidelity.

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