Navigating a Winding Path: Earning an Early Childhood Credential
Editor’s Note: This post is one in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy The educator pipeline crisis, which Mississippi First has researched extensively, also affects childcare centers, Head Start, and public school pre-K programs. In short, finding early childhood teachers is as […]
Child Care Providers for a New Mississippi Child Care Quality Support System
Editor’s Note: This post is the first in an ongoing series of posts dedicated to early education policy in Mississippi. *** By Micayla Tatum, Director of Early Childhood Policy This past summer, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi First, and other partners convened early childhood providers and advocates with the goal of centering provider voices in creating a set of recommendations […]
Pre-K in the 2022 Legislative Session
The 2022 legislative session was a wild ride for pre-K. Our bill to permanently change the per-pupil funding rate, HB 1246, died late in the session due to unrelated politics. This bill would have increased the state share of per-pupil pre-K funds from $2,150 to $2,500 per child—an increase of $350 per child in state funds […]
Mississippi First Releases 2021 State of Pre-K Series Brief 4: Access to Pre-K, 2017-2018
This is the fourth and final brief in the State of Pre-K Series. The 2021 pre-K briefs as a whole provide strong evidence that the collaborative program is the path to expanding quality pre-K statewide. Today, we are releasing the fourth and final brief of the series. The fourth brief provides pre-K access data on the […]
Mississippi First Releases Report on Pandemic’s Impact on Early Learning Collaboratives
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 areas: […]
Mississippi First Releases 2021 State of Pre-K Series Brief 3: Poverty and Pre-K Access in Mississippi, 2017-2018
This is the third brief in the State of Pre-K Series. The 2021 pre-K briefs as a whole provide strong evidence that the collaborative program is the path to expanding quality pre-K statewide. 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 […]
Mississippi First Releases 2021 State of Pre-K Series Briefs 1 and 2 Examining the Role of the Early Learning Collaboratives in Increasing Quality and Access to Pre-K
These are the first two of four briefs in the State of Pre-K Series. The 2021 pre-K briefs as a whole provide strong evidence that the collaborative program is the path to expanding quality pre-K statewide. Today, Mississippi First is releasing two pre-K research briefs demonstrating the positive impact Early Learning Collaboratives have had on the […]
Mississippi’s Pre-K Celebrated Nationally for Quality
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 when entering kindergarten. Mississippi ensures quality by […]
$16M for Mississippi Four-Year-Olds!
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% of Mississippi’s […]
The “Raise the Rate” Impact
Last year, the legislature proved its commitment to early education by ensuring per-pupil pre-K funding was enough to promote quality. The legislature raised the pre-K rate from $4,300 to $5,000 per child, a difference of $700 total and $350 in state funds. Because the pandemic interrupted the session, the legislature made this change directly in the budget […]