Category: Early Education

This fall, we surveyed all the Mississippi early learning collaboratives to get a clearer picture of the challenges and successes they experienced during the COVID crisis in the 2020-2021 school year. The information collected was published in our newest report titled, Resilience: Pandemic Impact on Early Learning Collaboratives (2020-2021). We gathered information in six key…

Mississippi First releases a third 2021 pre-K research brief demonstrating the benefits of pre-K for children living in poverty. Since our founding, Mississippi First has known access to high-quality, no- and low-cost pre-K in Mississippi would be a game-changer for our youngest learners. In our first pre-K publication, 2012’s Leaving Last in Line, we recommended…

On July 30, 2021, the Mississippi Department of Education released the RFP for Early Learning Collaborative Council Pre-Kindergarten Application Cohort IV. Below, we have pulled out important details from the RPF including important dates and deadlines. Questions concerning the RFP should be sent to Dr. Jill Dent @ jdent@mdek12.org. Informational Webinar The MDE will host…

Today, Mississippi First is releasing two pre-K research briefs demonstrating the positive impact Early Learning Collaboratives have had on the Mississippi pre-K landscape since 2013.  Since our founding, Mississippi First has known access to high-quality, no- and low-cost pre-K in Mississippi would be a game-changer for our youngest learners. In our first pre-K publication, 2012’s…

Since 2013, Mississippi First has been dedicated to increasing access and quality to public pre-K across the state. This week, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) announced that Mississippi is one of the top six states for high-quality pre-K.  These accolades are well deserved as Mississippi pre-K students continue to outperform their peers…

This news deserves its own post. The Mississippi State Legislature doubled its investment in state-funded pre-K to $16M. This is an historic step that ensures educational excellence for Mississippi kids.  Pre-K has been a founding policy area for us. When we helped pass the original law in 2013, we hoped that within 10 years 25%…