I f Mississippi is going to make significant inroads into raising the educational attainment of its citizens, the most effective way to do that is to start early.
Brain research and academic studies have shown that if children fall behind during the first couple years of schooling, the chance of them ever catching up is slim.
Until the last few years, Mississippi was hoping that universal kindergarten, which was implemented in the early 1980s, was soon enough to overcome the academic deficiencies that occur when children are born into financially and intellectually impoverished homes. It’s not.
Even pre-kindergarten might not be soon enough, but getting quality, brain-nurturing instruction to children as soon as practicably possible has to be the goal for Mississippi.
With that in mind, it is encouraging to hear that this state drew high marks in a report released this week by the National Institute for Early Education Research. It said Mississippi’s state-funded preschool program meets nine of the research institute’s 10 benchmarks for a quality preschool program. Only three states meet all 10, and just three others nine of 10.
That’s the good news.
The bad is that the state-funded program is still very small, reaching just 3 percent of 4-year-olds through a group of 14 collaboratives.
There are other preschool programs out there, of course — private ones, federally funded ones in high-poverty public schools, Head Start and the like, but the National Institute’s study did not try to evaluate them. Some of these are undoubtedly very good, but others are no better than a baby-sitting service.
Ideally, the state-funded program would be greatly expanded, although that would require a much larger financial commitment to it than the Legislature has been willing or able to make. Given how hard-pressed the state has been to fund what’s already universally in place for K-12 education, it’s understandable that lawmakers are taking a gradual approach with preschool. Next year, state funding for the initiative will go from the current $4 million a year to $6.5 million.
Baby steps may not be the worst thing, however. According to the National Institute, it’s better to have a small high-quality preschool program than a large low-quality one, since the latter produces little benefit to the students served.
So, don’t dilute what Mississippi has established, but let’s figure out how to keep growing it. There is so much in this state that can be fixed with a better-educated populace. The money spent on education in the early years of a child’s life — as long as it’s done effectively — will save on the back end in lower crime, higher incomes and greater economic development.
