Research shows that the difference between rural and suburban students can start even before children enter kindergarten. An important factor, if not the most important, is testing.

It's important to find out if your child can write his or her name, and if they play well with others.

Research across the country shows children who grow up in rural areas or lower income households tend to be slower when it comes to simple tasks in school, something that can start as early as kindergarten. First Chance for Children, a Columbia group, is doing something to prevent this from happening to children in mid-Missouri with the help of an "Early Reading First" grant.

"First Chance for Children wrote a grant that matched the specifications of the Early Reading First grantee programs to cover five rural preschools," Eva Trumbower, project director of Early Reading First said.

The grant is part of the No Child Left Behind Act. It's a nationwide effort to provide funds to preschools and groups that serve low income and rural families. It's designed to take existing preschools and turn them into centers of excellence.

"On a daily basis, teachers and mentors are observing the children and watching what skill they are acquiring. Those would be social development, motor development, early literacy skills such as book handling," Trumbower said.

Trumbower says the grant is not a way to teach preschoolers to read, though. It's designed to provide them with the foundation skills they need once they enter kindergarten with projects like shared story time.

"They really get involved with the book, especially we do it more than one time so by the time we've read it three times they are ready for the answer; they're ready to give you what happens next," Robertta Deornellis, team leader for Head Start, said.

First Chance for Children is one of 32 agencies in the country to receive the grant.

Trumbower says in the six months they've had the grant, there are already amazing results in the schools.

"We are already seeing measurable gains, particularly in their vocabulary expansion as well as their pre-reading and early literacy skills," she said.