1001mots: Finalist 2022 Best Practice Prizes

1001mots has been named a top 10 finalist for the Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Prizes 2022, a set of three awards each worth CHF 200,000 that honor outstanding achievement and practice in advancing quality education. This Paris, France, based non-profit has set its sights on attacking the root cause of the 100,000 students in France leaving the education system with no diploma each year.

Supporting learning for low-income students

Research shows crucial language stimulation differences exist between families, some children entering kindergarten at age three able to master only 500 words, compared to those with 1,000 words who have grown up in more stimulating environments. 1001mots focuses on strongly reducing school failure in low-income territories in France, to prevent future youth unemployment – there are an estimated 765,000 children under the age of three in France living in low-income families. 1001mots aims to give to all children prior to kindergarten the first 1,000 words necessary to thrive at school.

To do this, it provides distance support to parents with children, from birth to three years, to shift parent-child interactions in a quantitative and a qualitative fashion. It combines an evidence-based approach of behavior change, rigorous scientific evaluation and product research and development methods to develop an impactful individualized program tailored for vulnerable families. It consists of one-semester cycles of support (renewable at parents’ request) featuring three text messages a week; one book mailed every two months adapted to the child’s age; and one phone call by a speech therapist every two months.

The three recipients of this year’s Best Practice Prizes will be announced at a ceremony in Zurich on 30 September 2022. For the first time, the 10 finalists will convene for a co-creation event, taking place on 1 October 2022. They will exchange knowledge and ideas on advancing learning, and will have the opportunity to partner with other shortlisted applicants to develop proposals for new projects. Two concepts will receive follow-on funding of up to CHF 150,000 each.