Our Curriculum

HighScope® chosen by Talitha Koum for its researched effectiveness.

When we were starting Talitha Koum, we knew we were committing ourselves to a long-term program. It will take years of ministry to break the cycle of poverty and chaos that grips this community.

The cognitive curriculum we use in our Nurture Center program is called HighScope. Through the Perry Preschool Project, the powerful effects of HighScope has been longitudinally studied for more than 40 years. The original students were toddlers from a deep pocket of poverty who were at high risk of future school failure. Researchers tracked the original students from infancy to their 40th birthday.

The results are impressive:

Study Population and Methodology:

• 123 African Americans born in poverty and at high risk of failing in school.

• Test group used HighScope curriculum while control group had no preschool program.

• Data collected annually ages 3 to 11 and at ages 14, 15, 19, 27, and, recently, at 39-41.

High school graduate or GED

Overall
HighScope®     71%
Control               54%
Females
HighScope®   84%
Control               35%

Earn more than $24,000 per year by age 27 (1990 dollars)

Males
HighScope®   42%
Control               6%

Home ownership

Overall
HighScope®     36%
Control                 13%

More than 5 arrests by age 28

Males
HighScope®   12%
Control               45%