Resources

5 Smart Habits to Stay Well during Flu Season Dayle Hayes, MS, RD, Consultant to Mississippi Office of Healthy Schools The hottest health news these days is all about the H1N1 flu. If you’ve read the headlines, you know the usual tips about the prevention of illness during cold and flu season: Get a flu […]

In 2007 the Mississippi Legislature passed and Governor Barbour signed SB 2667, establishing the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2007.  This bill authorizes the Department of Human Services to implement a voluntary early child care and education grant program that calls for a collaboration among existing entities such as Head Start, private child care providers,

Quality Early Learning Yields Impressive Results Broad Acres Elementary School (Montgomery County Schools, Maryland) faced the threat of state takeover in 2000. That year, only 11.8% of its third graders scored proficient on state reading tests and only 5.3% achieved proficiency in math. In 2009, more than 60% of Broad Acres’ third graders were proficient in reading and

It is estimated that 93-million adults in our country read at or below basic literacy levels. The following video vignettes address the academic, emotional and life-long implications associated with this challenge. Each video lasts 2 to 5 minutes. Reading Crisis Establishes the dimensions of reading problems Academic Danger Reviews the relationship between reading proficiency and

Click here to read a 2009 Southern Education Foundation report on how an investment in early childhood education will improve Mississippi’s economy and the life-chances of our children. Mississippi faces a critical problem with children who arrive in kindergarten without the basic skills necessary for learning to take place. Many of these children arrive with no concept

The Child Care Resource and Referral Network provides parents information to assist them in identifying quality child care programs for their children. It also provides support to early childhood teachers to strengthen their qualifications. The network: · provides parents information about questions to ask and criteria to look for when assessing programs · offers teachers

Reflections and Stories of Those Who Work With ChildrenWho Lack Early Learning Opportunities posted May, 2008  Thousands of Mississippi children arrive in public kindergarten classes with skill levels well below those expected of a typical preschooler. Many of these children have never held a book, have rarely been engaged in conversation, and have the vocabulary of a

Repeatedly studies have shown poverty to be the number one predictor of low student achievement. With over 64% of our public school children living in poverty, Mississippi leads all states in students who are at risk for failure. Studies have also shown that a significant investment is required to move students reared in poverty from

In an effort to more clearly understand the challenges facing Mississippi teachers and students, The Parents’ Campaign decided to seek information from those who know best: those who work closely with children who are more likely to fail than they are to succeed. Of course, not all children who are at risk of failure fit

Students across the state will join hundreds of thousands of their peers across the country to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test. The test will be administered January 26 – March 6, 2009. “Now is the time to move Mississippi’s collective scores to a level we can all be proud of. Business