Learn Without Limits: Building Brighter Futures for Children in Rural America

What the Data Tells Us About Childhood in Rural America

"No child should have their ability to read, learn and succeed determined by where they live or who they are."

For McInerney, Save the Children's recently launched Rural Child Well-Being Dashboards — the first research resource focused exclusively on rural childhood in America — help quantify a reality many rural families experience every day. Drawing from multiple public data sources, the dashboards examine factors affecting children's well-being, including poverty, food insecurity, education, transportation, housing and childcare.

The data paints a troubling picture. Rural children are 23% more likely to live in poverty than their non-rural peers. Most rural children do not have access to a single childcare center within a 30-minute drive. And across the 39 states with comparable test data, rural students in grades three through eight are reading, on average, half a grade level behind their non-rural peers.

"You can see challenges firsthand when you visit communities, but the data confirms what you're seeing and helps us understand where support is needed most."

By making these disparities visible, the dashboards help communities, policymakers and partners better target investments, strengthen proven solutions and expand opportunity for rural children.

A Child's World Opens Through Literacy

One student McInerney met in New Mexico represents exactly what those statistics can look like in real life.

During a recent visit to a Save the Children-supported school, she observed a classroom using Science of Reading, an evidence-based literacy approach that helps children build core reading skills and confidence. One young boy stood out.

"He kept answering the questions," McInerney recalls. "Quietly, but he kept answering."

Afterward, his teacher explained that just one year earlier, the student had been two grades behind, rarely spoke in class and often missed school. Through literacy support both in and out of school, his progress had been remarkable.    

The teacher summed up the transformation in a way McInerney has never forgotten: "His literary world has opened."  

That story captures both what's possible when children receive the support they need and what’s at stake when they don’t.  

"These gaps are about far more than reading scores. Literacy is one of the strongest predictors of a child's academic success and future opportunities." 

Learn Without Limits in Action

The Rural Child Well-Being Dashboards point to a common need: greater access to books, literacy resources and early learning opportunities for rural children.

Learn Without Limits builds on nearly a century of work alongside rural communities. Today, Save the Children works in more than 250 of the country's most resource-challenged communities, strengthening access to early childhood education, literacy and math programs, workforce development and food security initiatives. Last year alone, the organization reached more than 720,000 children nationally.

As part of the launch, Save the Children and its partners unveiled book vending machines in five rural communities across California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas and Washington, putting free books directly into children's hands, giving them the power to choose and own books of their own.

McInerney says children need more than access to books. They need to discover the joy of reading.

"When children enjoy reading, they read more. And when they read more, they build the skills and confidence they need to thrive."

Why Head Start Matters

As Save the Children works to help more children become confident readers through Learn Without Limits, October's Head Start Awareness Month serves as a reminder that literacy doesn't start with a child's first chapter book.

"The challenges we're seeing begin long before reading begins," McInerney says, noting that access to quality early learning opportunities remains a significant impediment to children’s school readiness. That's why McInerney believes Head Start is one of the most effective investments we can make in children's futures.

"I am a true believer and fan of Head Start. I think it is probably the most important program I have ever seen."

For more than 60 years, Head Start has supported children during the most important years of development, providing early education, health services and family support that help children arrive at school ready to learn. The federally funded program serves approximately 750,000 children annually and is often the only source of critical services in many rural communities.

Save the Children runs Head Start programs in six states.

What makes the program especially effective, McInerney adds, is its ability to combine evidence based practices with individualized support for children and families.

"It brings the model of what we know works, but also the additional support families need. You have a group model, but you also have an individual program for each child. For me, that is the ideal system."

For many families, Head Start provides far more than early education. It helps children build a strong foundation for future success.

Partnerships Make Progress Possible

Ask McInerney what gives her hope, and she doesn't start with a program or a statistic. She talks about people.

"It doesn't take a village. It takes a country and beyond."

Learn Without Limits brings together a broad group of supporters committed to expanding opportunities for rural children. Partners including the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Mattel, and Scholastic, among others, are helping expand access to books, literacy resources and learning opportunities across rural America.

At the same time, community organizations, schools, libraries, educators, families and local leaders are helping ensure those resources reach children in ways that reflect local needs and priorities. That combination of national support and community leadership is what makes lasting progress possible.

"The community is where much of this change is going to happen—where the consistency is, where the sustainability is and where the children live and will continue to live," says McIrnerney.

The Rural Child Well-Being Dashboards help identify the challenges. Learn Without Limits helps mobilize solutions. Head Start demonstrates what works.

Together, they point toward a future where every child, regardless of where they grow up, has the opportunity to read, learn and succeed without limits.