AUSTIN — The Texas Education Agency, Texas PBS and the United Ways of Texas have launched a collaborative effort called Start Smart Texas to empower parents in their children’s education.
Start Smart Texas is a parent-focused initiative designed to work with families, community leaders and schools to promote the role of parents in making any time a learning time.
It is a component of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas Public Elementary School Reading Initiative — Texas Readers — which was announced earlier this year.
“Texas is continually looking for new and innovative ways to give our children every advantage possible when it comes to education,” Abbott said in a news release. “Start Smart Texas is a great way to promote the role of the family in the learning process.”
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said academic success for every child begins before they ever set foot in the classroom.
“By providing parents with simple reading preparation tips for their son or daughter, the Start Smart Texas campaign can help build a foundation for success in school and in life,” he said.
Start Smart Texas will provide parents with tips that inspire positive interactions to promote healthy brain development, early literacy and reading skills.
Public service announcements airing on PBS stations throughout Texas are part of this effort, reinforcing the message to parents that “Anytime is Learning Time.” The Start Smart Texas videos can be viewed at http://startsmarttexas.org/about/tv-spots-pbs/.
In addition to the public service announcements, Start Smart Texas will work in partnership with statewide organizations and local community groups to build local-based strategies and a network of organizations to increase reading proficiency rates across the state.
Many cities, including Brownsville, have created collaborative work focused on supporting children to achieve academic success and are part of a national network called the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. The network also includes Austin, Dallas, Houston, Palacios, San Antonio and Waco.
