A year after the legislature passed Gov. Bryant’s plan to require all Mississippi third-graders to be held back if they can’t read at grade level, the numbers are depressing. By some estimates, as many as 25 percent of our third-graders — more than 6,000 kids — will be held back this year, although there are efforts to give those students a one-year “grace period” to close the reading gap.
As discouraging as those numbers are, we should not really be all that surprised because one of the best tools for ensuring the success of our younger students is available to only half of the state’s children.
According to a study by Mississippi First, Pre-K programs, which include federally-funded Head Start and private programs funded by students parents, are accessible to only half of our children.
It’s a mixed bag, locally: While 64 percent of Columbus city school children have access to Pre-K, primarily through Head Start, just 21 percent of the children in Lowndes County have that access.
Because Pre-K is not available to all students, there can be no requirement that children attend Pre-K as some states mandate.
As Mississippi legislators consider slashing state revenue through a variety of tax cuts, the window for funding state-wide Pre-K and making it a requirement for all children appears to be closing.
And that may be the most depressing thought of all.
Research from the Center for Publication Education makes it clear just how important investing in high-quality Pre-K education can be. There is strong evidence showing that young children who participate in high-quality Pre-K programs enter school more ready to learn than their peers. Students who attended a child care center or other preschool program also showed gains, although former Pre-K students exhibited the greatest achievement.
Several state studies have also documented significant cognitive gains for children who receive Pre-K. In Georgia, children who attended the state’s universal program overcame the achievement gap they faced prior to enrolling in Pre-K by the time they finished kindergarten. Children who received Pre-K equaled or exceeded national norms in eight of nine standardized assessments by the end of their kindergarten year.
In Mississippi, education funding at every level, has become a lightning-rod issue. From K-12 to higher education, cries have emerged for more funding. Legislators, meanwhile, have so far increased funding only grudgingly, arguing that it will take more than money to cure what ails Mississippi’s historically poor-performing schools. Even so, it is pretty clear that providing state-wide access to Pre-K programs is money that yields real results. Pre-K is not some philosophical theory: It has been tested and proven to be effective.
If Mississippi is serious about improving its educational system, it makes perfect sense to start at the very beginning of the educational process with programs that have proven to be successful.
We urge our legislators to make a real investment in our children’s futures by providing access to Pre-K to every child in our state.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.