Wanted: Copy of Mississippi’s 2015 Quality Needs Assessment
Posted: January 8, 2016 Filed under: Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, Business Ethics, CCPP-approved Provider, Child Care Development Fund, Child Care Mississippi, Consumer Protection, DECCD-MDHS, General, Hechinger Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi Building Blocks, Mississippi Legislature, MS Department of Human Services, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System, SECAC Mississippi, Uncategorized | Tags: 2007 Market Survey Rates, Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, Attorney General Jim Hood; Quality Rating System; Quality Star Step; DECCD-MDHS;, CCPP-approved Provider, child care Mississippi, child care quality rating systems Mississippi, DECCD, DECCD-MDHS, equal access, Hechinger Report, Hechinger Report; Kellogg Foundation; Quality Rating System; SECAC, Kellogg Foundation, Market Survey Rates, MDHS, Mississippi CCDF State Plan, Mississippi Child Care Quality Steps, Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral, Mississippi State Early Childhood Institute, Quality Rating System, Quality Rating System; DECCD-MDHS; CCDF Quality Improvement, SECAC Mississippi, The Mississippi Center for Education Innovation 1 Comment
Click here for more on 2014 CCDBG Reauthorization Act.
Click here for definition of Central Planning.
MLICCI to Present Findings of First Such QRIS Study in the Nation!
Posted: July 19, 2014 Filed under: "Race to the Top", Allies for Quality Care, CCPP-approved Provider, Child Care Advisory Council, Child Care Development Fund, Child Care Licensing, Child Care Mississippi, DECCD-MDHS, e-Childcare™, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Early Learning Guidelines (ELG), General, Hechinger Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi Board of Health, Mississippi Building Blocks, Mississippi First, Mississippi Health Department, Mississippi Legislature, MS Department of Education, MS Department of Health, MS Department of Human Services, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System, School Readiness Mississippi, SECAC Mississippi, Suel v MDHS, T.E.A.C.H., Uncategorized, Xerox | Tags: "Race to the Top", 2007 Market Survey Rates, Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, Attorney General Jim Hood; Quality Rating System; Quality Star Step; DECCD-MDHS;, CCPP-approved Provider, child care licensing Mississippi, child care quality rating systems Mississippi, DECCD, DECCD-MDHS, e-Childcare™, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Early Learning Guidelines (ELG), equal access, Hechinger Report; Kellogg Foundation; Quality Rating System; SECAC, Kellogg Foundation, Market Survey Rates, MDHS, Mississippi CCDF State Plan, Mississippi Child Care Licensing, Mississippi Child Care Quality Steps, Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral, Mississippi early learning system, Mississippi First, Mississippi Health Department, Mississippi licensed child care, Mississippi State Early Childhood Institute, proposed amendments to the regulations governing child care, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System, Quality Rating System; DECCD-MDHS; CCDF Quality Improvement, SECAC Mississippi, The Mississippi Center for Education Innovation, Xerox Leave a comment
cwelchlin@mschildcare.org
Post of 7 Years Still Relevant in 2021: Little or No Recognized Child Care Leadership Appointments to SECAC
Posted: May 28, 2014 Filed under: "Race to the Top", Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, Child Care Advisory Council, Child Care Development Fund, Child Care Mississippi, DECCD-MDHS, e-Childcare™, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Early Learning Guidelines (ELG), Head Start, Hechinger Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi Building Blocks, Mississippi Legislature, MS Department of Education, MS Department of Health, MS Department of Human Services, Quality Rating System, School Readiness Mississippi, SECAC Mississippi, Uncategorized, Xerox | Tags: "Race to the Top", 2007 Market Survey Rates, Allies for Quality Care, CCPP-approved Provider, child care Mississippi, child care quality rating systems Mississippi, DECCD, DECCD-MDHS, e-Childcare™, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Early Learning Guidelines (ELG), equal access, Hechinger Report; Kellogg Foundation; Quality Rating System; SECAC, Mississippi CCDF State Plan, Mississippi Child Care Quality Steps, Mississippi early childhood education, Mississippi early learning system, Mississippi Health Department, Mississippi School Readiness, Mississippi State Early Childhood Institute, proposed amendments to the regulations governing child care, Quality Rating System, Quality Rating System; DECCD-MDHS; CCDF Quality Improvement, SECAC Mississippi, The Mississippi Center for Education Innovation, Xerox Leave a commentPost of 7 Years Still Relevant in 2021: Little or No Recognized Child Care Leadership Appointments to SECAC
The Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
When we aired legitimate concerns to members of SECAC during a period of time which has revealed 97,000,000 dollars embezzled from programs serving low-income children and the MSDH failure to provide new enrollment for child care assistance for five consecutive years, NOT ONE member ever cared enough to reach out to us in concern.
In fact, SECAC members enabled the adoption of a quality program with the authority to eliminate our participation without ever requesting the rules – and there were none. Not one member of SECAC – including the appointed representation of the child care industry – ever, ever questioned such violation of Administrative Procedures Law and Racial Discrimination as determined for Mississippi’s QRIS by the US Commission on Civil Rights.
As some SECAC members received their program funding and budgets as sub-grantees, they ignored Ethics rules and child care providers struggling to serve low-income children through the CCDF.
And here we go again.
We do not know how newly appointed child care providers were selected to represent us on SECAC. In fact, we do not even know who some of them are.
SECAC should take the lead from the Mississippi Department of Health Child Care Licensing Division. When vacancies become available on the Child Care Advisory Board, all licensed providers are notified and invited to apply.
Mississippi will never thrive or address learning loss with the same leadership, however distributed now or with whatever agency they are with now, until state actors actually value and seek the best work of the most capable and involved child care provider leadership.
One More Time, y’all :
There is a rule in Mississippi Child Care: School aged children and entry-level toddlers may not co-exist. You simply do not mix the babies in with the big kids on the playground, or someone may get hurt!
That is the health and safety measure provider members throughout the state had hoped for when the Mississippi Association of Licensed Child Care Providers successfully lobbied for positions of one licensed provider from each Congressional District to be appointed to the State Early Childhood Advisory Council as a requirement of the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013.
Among MALCCP child care providers (operating licensed child care) in positions of top leadership are an ivy league graduate WITH THE COVETED Early Childhood Degree who also studied and trained in the system where kindergarten began – Germany; another who has professionally evaluated the Q.R.I.S. (results soon to be released), worked to advance early learning curriculum in an east Mississippi school district and has been recognized nationally for work to empower low-income families; and a provider who serves on the Jackson State University Pre-K Planning Committee and the Pre-K Common Core Alignment Committee in Jackson Public Schools.
Such accomplished child care leaders also have experience opposing SECAC “Big Kids” such as: MDHS Executive Director Ricky Berry in the adoption of Xerox e-Childcare™ designed to pay less reimbursement (as a savings to the state) for the preschool environments low-income children attend; Child Care Licensing Supervisor Vickey Berryman in the re-measurements and maximum capacity reductions of Existing (old) child care facilities and alleged Constitutional violation of Due Process of Law; Allies and Excel by 5 in proposals to require poorly performing ITERS/ECERS ONLY (from which many such quasi-agencies around the SECAC table draw millions in CCDF funds to offer technical assistance) on licensed child care programs wishing to participate in Mississippi’s universal pre-school.
Unfortunately, peer vetted, strong representation of child care appears to be precisely the work early learning policy-makers continue to isolate.
LITTLE or No recognized child care leadership appointments were made to SECAC.
For our effort and to my knowledge, MALCCP leadership was not even invited to make recommendations as an organization for appointments to SECAC!
We are invited to give comment from the gallery…without a vote.
Have we been robbed of our work to have knowledgeable and highly visible child care leadership at the policy making table?
Was it the intent of legislators to lure our organization into a “false sense of security” that child care leadership would be invited to participate in the development and planning of early learning?
You need to ask your legislators to answer that question, but only time will truly tell.
For now, actions speak louder than words – we little Mississippi child care providers are at high risk of being trampled outside…some more.
Of course, if my goals might possibly include continued unfunded mandates and disproportionate “adverse impact” on licensed child care, I wouldn’t give practiced opposition a vote either! 🙂
No recess here!
We must continue to work for quality and equality in early learning through other venues.
Dept. of Ed Requires First Phase QRIS and Scores Absent APL!
Posted: October 31, 2013 Filed under: "Race to the Top", Administration for Children and Families, Allies for Quality Care, CCPP-approved Provider, Child Care Advisory Council, Child Care Development Fund, DECCD-MDHS, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Early Learning Guidelines (ELG), General, Hechinger Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi Building Blocks, Mississippi First, Mississippi Legislature, MS Department of Education, MS Department of Human Services, Office of the Attorney General, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System, SB2395, School Readiness, School Readiness Mississippi, SECAC, SECAC Mississippi, Uncategorized | Tags: "Race to the Top", 2007 Market Survey Rates, Allies for Quality Care, Attorney General Jim Hood; Quality Rating System; Quality Star Step; DECCD-MDHS;, CCPP-approved Provider, Child Care Licensing, child care quality rating systems Mississippi, DECCD, DECCD-MDHS, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, Early Learning Guidelines (ELG), equal access, Hechinger Report, Hechinger Report; Kellogg Foundation; Quality Rating System; SECAC, Kellogg Foundation, MDHS, Mississippi CCDF State Plan, Mississippi Child Care Quality Steps, Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral, Mississippi early childhood education, Mississippi early learning system, Mississippi First, Mississippi Quality Stars, Mississippi School Readiness, Mississippi State Early Childhood Institute, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System, SECAC Mississippi, The Mississippi Center for Education Innovation Leave a commentDept. of Ed Requires First Phase QRIS and Scores Absent APL!
The Associated Press reports the competition is fierce among groups applying for preschool money.
“The Department of Education says 72 groups have indicated interest in the money, which is supposed to fund at least 1,325 spots statewide.”
“About 50 of the community consortiums are led by public school districts, while the rest are led by private child care centers or nonprofit groups. Some led by private child care centers could be ineligible, because the law specifies that a community group must be led by a school or nonprofit.”
Providers noted right away the original legislation drafted by Rachel Cantor and sponsored by Senator Brice Wiggins also required participating child care programs to participate in this State’s very poor performing QRIS…which would have left 97% of all licensed child care ineligible right from the start!
A recent national study concludes that after more than 14 years of implementation, QRIS systems still do not improve school readiness or learning outcomes for young children.
Another long-term study now being concluded by the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative has revealed Mississippi’s Quality Stars scoring method is both subjective and inconsistent.
Even Mississippi’s recent Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge application acknowledges the need and lays out a plan to validate costly QRIS through child outcomes.
So, if current and removed QRIS is not valid and does not improve school readiness, who is insisting it be included now as one pre-requisite for Pre-K participation?
Read on.
During the 2013 legislative session, the Mississippi Association of Licensed Child Care Providers successfully lobbied to have QRIS or any specific measure of quality removed from the Early Learning Collaborative Act as a requirement of participation until 2016, in hopes that either a validated measure of quality will be developed in that time or it will be more widely accepted that “smoke and mirrors” QRIS does not raise academic achievement or justify implementation costs.
However, following the close of the legislative session and sometime after meeting with Representative Toby Barker and Senator Brice Wiggins, the Mississippi Department of Ed.’s Tracina Green and others put the QRIS requirement back in as child care “policy“ without benefit of the required exercise in Administrative Procedures.
Further, MDE requested a large budget increase above and beyond the scheduled incremental pre-kindergarten funding expansions and NOT the first day of state funded preschool has taken place yet!
Why didn’t MDE recommend that more than $11,000,000 in quality funding now supporting the legislatively removed QRIS be used, instead, to fund expanded pre-kindergarten programs in child care programs which meet all other qualifications and offer full day, full year Universal pre-k options to working families?
Emails to Representative Toby Barker have gone unanswered.
Two requests to MDE’s Robin Lemonis for identification of the task force members MDE appointed to advise in pre-school implementation have gone unanswered.
Many providers are guessing that MDE task force relationships will likely link to programs funded by or programs partnering with those currently funded through QRIS – a screening tool that may very well claim disparate intent and “narrowing of the competitive field” as its greatest achievements thus far!
Others have turned wide-spread discussion of this MDE conduct into a humorous game show of sorts to just Name the First Wave of Pre-K Awards!
Let us join in the fun!
Identify the Players from the above text!
Which programs do you think will receive First Wave Pre-K Funding?
Send in your Answers!
(Participating child care providers/educators will remain anonymous.)
It will be great fun to look back and see how correct we are/were when MDE awards are finally announced!
In the meantime, the Mississippi Association of Licensed Child Care Providers’ Executive Committee will meet soon to determine the much more serious nature and course of its response to the Department of Education’s interpretation of the Early Learning Collaborative Act.
BREAKING NEWS: (VIDEO – 2:45) Providers Holding Contracts – Berry Volunteers Dent to Appear
Posted: August 2, 2013 Filed under: CCPP-approved Provider, Child Care Development Fund, Child Care Mississippi, DECCD-MDHS, e-Childcare™, General, Hechinger Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi Legislature, MS Department of Human Services, SECAC, SECAC Mississippi, Suel v MDHS, Xerox | Tags: CCPP-approved Provider, child care Mississippi, DECCD, DECCD-MDHS, e-Childcare™, equal access, Hechinger Report, Hechinger Report; Kellogg Foundation; Quality Rating System; SECAC, MDHS, Mississippi CCDF State Plan, Mississippi licensed child care, SECAC Mississippi, Xerox Leave a commentREMINDER: Congressman Bennie Thompson will be giving an update of his federal child care complaint against the Mississippi Department of Human Services this Sunday, August 4th, 3:00 PM, Holmes Hall, Tougaloo College.
Please attend!
BREAKING NEWS: (VIDEO) Providers Holding Contracts – Berry Volunteers Dent to Appear.
Lynn Darling, MSU Early Childhood Institute – Acknowledges Concern “a lot of privately-owned child care centers will go out of business.”
Posted: July 30, 2012 Filed under: "Race to the Top", Allies for Quality Care, Child Care Mississippi, DECCD-MDHS, Early Childhood Education Mississippi, HB1174, Hechinger Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi First, MS Department of Education, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System, School Readiness, SECAC Mississippi, Uncategorized | Tags: "Race to the Top", Allies for Quality Care, Attorney General Jim Hood; Quality Rating System; Quality Star Step; DECCD-MDHS;, child care Mississippi, child care quality rating systems Mississippi, Hechinger Report; Kellogg Foundation; Quality Rating System; SECAC, Mississippi Child Care Resource and Referral, Mississippi licensed child care, Mississippi State Early Childhood Institute, QRS Mississippi, Quality Rating System 1 CommentQ&A with Lynn Darling- Early Childhood Institute, MSU
The Hechinger Report is taking an extended look at why the children of Mississippi rank near the bottom of the nation in academic achievement. The Hechinger Report spoke with Lynn Darling, director of the Early Childhood Institute.
July 27, 2012
What needs to change before we see a statewide pre-k system in Mississippi?
“When we were working on the Race to the Top Early Learning grant, we started that work and the ball got rolling. But without the funding, it’s incredibly difficult to take the next step. We attempted to move child licensure from the Department of Health to the Department of Human Services, which would have been one step in addressing the system change, and it was defeated in the legislature. So we just have a lot of work to do in creating a unified system with all players at the table in agreement about what direction we’re headed.”
How do you invest in these players and stakeholders?
“There’s a concern that if we fund pre-k, then a lot of privately-owned child care centers will go out of business.”
“It’s expensive to run infant and toddler classrooms—you need a 3- and 4-year-old classroom to pay the bills—so it would be difficult for a private child care center to remain in business just serving infants and toddlers. That’s a concern.” (click)
“But at the same time, we want every child to get a high-quality early learning experience, and we want those years in 3- and 4-year-old classes to be high-quality experiences, not just child care.”
In his “State of the State” speech in January, Governor Phil Bryant said that in the next year, the state will gather information from several programs the Institute is involved with, such as Excel by 5, the Quality Rating System, and Mississippi Building Blocks, to determine best practices for early childhood learning. What are some other next steps?
“We need to follow Maryland’s model, develop four or five goals for early childhood education and then start mapping out ways to make that happen. There are a lot of opportunities for leaders across the state to come together but I feel we’re doing a lot of talking and not making forward progress.”
UPDATE I:
Now Posted on:
UPDATE II:
The Rest of the Story! TIME MAGAZINE
Mississippi Learning: Why the State’s Students Start Behind — and Stay Behind
“The issue remains tricky for the public, though. A 2010 survey by The Center for Education Innovation found that while 71 percent of Mississippi’s registered voters wanted to improve early learning opportunities, only 31 percent thought the state government should foot the bill.”“But the state’s fragmented network of early childhood providers — which includes informal daycare, licensed facilities, church-based programs and Head Start — do not always communicate with the public school system. Many of the programs have no uniform quality standards. In addition, to teach pre-k in Mississippi, teachers need only be 18 and possess a high school diploma or its equivalent.”
“In Mississippi, those who argue against state-funded pre-k say there’s no evidence it would change the state’s dismal education performance. “Appropriating more money in general has not proven to make any change at all in outcomes,” says Forest Thigpen, president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a right-leaning independent think tank based in Jackson. Thigpen says it’s up to churches and families to do more to get children ready for school; he would rather see state money spent on improving the current system.”
Delta Licensed Providers 
Recent Comments