Toolkit: How to Start A State-Funded Collaborative Pre-K Program by Mississippi First

TOOLKIT

How to Start A State-Funded Collaborative Pre-K Program

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was made possible by the generous support of the Alliance for Early Success. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors alone.

We extend special thanks to Meghan Tooke and Jessica Benson of the Tallahatchie River Foundation; Cathy Grace of The Graduate Center for the Study of Early Learning, University of Mississippi; Joyce Greer, Laura Dickson, and Jill Dent of the Mississippi Department of Education; and Holly Spivey of the Head Start Collaboration Office.

ABOUT

Driven to change the fact that Mississippi has historically been last, our founders set a bold vision: a Mississippi first in education nationally. Mississippi First champions transformative policy solutions ensuring educational excellence for every Mississippi child. We are a leading voice for state-funded pre-K, high-quality public charter schools, access to highly effective teachers, and rigorous state learning standards and materials.

TEAM

Rachel Canter, Author and Editor Executive Director

Angela Bass, Author Deputy Director of Policy

Micayla Tatum, Author Director of Early Childhood Policy

Heather Bruce, Designer

Rory Doyle, Photographer

Sonja Semion, Proofreader

Copyright and updates © 2025, by Mississippi First. Originally Published 2018, by Mississippi First. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

INTRODUCTION

This toolkit is part of a series by Mississippi First intended to help communities understand how to launch different types of pre-K programs. This toolkit focuses on starting a state-funded collaborative pre-K program. Some parts of this toolkit are the same as parts in other toolkits in the series while other sections are unique. Every toolkit is intended to stand alone, such that a person reading one toolkit will not need to refer to another to grasp all of the important information. Nonetheless, where appropriate, the toolkits each refer to relevant outside resources.

The best way to use this toolkit is to read it in order; however, as authors, we have assumed readers have a certain level of background knowledge. These toolkits were not designed to provide basic information about pre-K, such as the research base or common practices. Instead, we suggest general resources about pre-K in Appendix A: General Information.

In addition to assuming readers have a basic level of knowledge about pre-K, we assume that readers of this toolkit are seriously considering or have decided to start a state-funded collaborative pre-K program. Readers who are still unsure what type of program they may wish to start should consult Appendix B: Getting Started for two tools that will help a community begin its work to start or improve a pre-K program. The first tool is a needs assessment that will help communities identify strengths and weaknesses for starting or improving a pre-K program. The second tool is a program selection tool that helps users select a best-fit program type based on their context. Only if a state-funded collaborative pre-K program is among a reader’s top scores should the reader continue using this toolkit. Appendix B also includes a one-page explanation of the different types of pre-K programs in Mississippi. Finally, being able to operate a state-funded collaborative pre-K program is dependent on state funding appropriated by the legislature as well as an application process managed by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). These aspects of this pre-K program type are discussed in The Application section.

WHAT IS STATE-FUNDED COLLABORATIVE PRE-K?

“State-funded collaborative pre-K” refers to pre-K programs established by the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013. These programs, known as “collaboratives,” operated in 40 communities in Mississippi in 2024-2025. All collaboratives are overseen by MDE, even though individual providers may also have other oversight agencies. Collaboratives have several unique features. The list below briefly describes the most important features differentiating collaboratives from other Mississippi pre-K programs:

Collaboration

To be eligible for state funding, all collaboratives are required to have two or more partners, including at least one school district and at least one Head Start, if one exists within the county. Collaboratives can also include private childcare centers and private or parochial schools. These partners form a collaborative council and select a lead partner, who serves as the fiscal agent of the collaborative. The lead partner coordinates a joint application for state funding. More information about partners, the collaborative council, the lead partner, and collaboration can be found in the Partnerships and the Collaborative Council section of this toolkit.

Quality

Collaborative pre-K programs are required to meet the highest levels of quality, as defined by meeting 10 of 10 quality benchmarks by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) More information about the program requirements for collaborative pre-K programs can be found in the Program Requirements section of this toolkit.

Funding

Under the Early Learning Collaborative Act, approved collaboratives receive state funding to operate full-day or half-day programs. The funding amounts to $7,000 per child enrolled in full-day programs and $3,500 per child enrolled in half-day programs. The State of Mississippi provides half of these costs ($3,500 per child enrolled in full-day pre-K and $1,750 per child enrolled in half-day pre-K). The State requires the other half be provided by local matching funds, which may include local tax dollars, federal dollars (as allowed), parent tuition, philanthropic contributions, or in-kind donations of facilities, equipment, and services required as part of the program, such as food service or health screenings. For more information on revenues and expenses, please see the Budgeting section of this toolkit.

State tax credit

Individuals or corporations who make a contribution to support the local matching fund of an approved early learning collaborative may be eligible to receive a state tax credit for the donated amount up to $1 million. The Mississippi Department of Revenue can approve 1:1 tax credits up to the amount the legislature appropriates to collaboratives each year. For example, in 2024, the legislature appropriated $29 million. Since the state fiscal year and the calendar year do not align, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) averages the appropriation amounts across fiscal years within a calendar year (e.g., $24 million in 2023 and $29 million in 2024 is a $26.5 million tax credit cap for 2024).

Competitive application

The program is competitive and has had nine application cycles—one each in 2013, 2016, and 2018; one in 2021; three in 2022, and two in 2023. New application cycles depend on the legislature increasing the funding for the program or on the closing of a current collaborative. In 2024, the legislature appropriated $29 million for the program, which includes $5 million new dollars. A new application round may happen in 2025 if the legislature appropriates additional funding. See The Application section for more information.

PARTNERSHIPS AND THE COLLABORATIVE COUNCIL

One aspect of the state-funded collaborative pre-K program that is most unique is its special focus on collaborating through a formal council of partner pre-K providers. This section of the toolkit focuses on required partners, the collaborative council, the lead partner, and collaboration.

Partners

An early learning collaborative is comprised of at least one public school district and at least one local Head Start affiliate, if a local Head Start program exists. If there is no local Head Start affiliate, the early learning collaborative must have at least one school district and at least one other partner. The Early Learning Collaborative Act provides a clear definition of eligible partner providers: “a public, private, or parochial school; licensed childcare center; or Head Start center that serves pre-kindergarten children and participates in the voluntary pre-kindergarten program.”1

There is no limit to the number or type of partners that can participate in a single collaborative. Examples are provided below:

Meets Requirements (No Existing Head Start)

A local school district forms a collaborative with three licensed childcare centers. There is no local Head Start affiliate serving the district.

Meets Requirements (Existing Head Start)

Two local school districts form a collaborative with a local Head Start affiliate serving one of the school districts.

The Collaborative Council

Does Not Meet Requirements Does Not Meet Requirements

A local school district forms a collaborative with two licensed childcare centers in the local community. There is a local Head Start affiliate serving the district that is not included.

A Head Start affiliate forms a collaborative with a local private school and two licensed childcare centers. The local school district is not included.

A collaborative council is “a district or countywide council that writes and submits an application”2 to participate in the early learning collaborative program. The purpose of the council is to ensure community-wide decision-making and buy-in about how the collaborative functions. All partner pre-K providers must participate in the collaborative council as full members. Each collaborative council should operate in a formal manner with by-laws, a membership list, and adopted policies. The council should meet regularly and be chaired by the collaborative’s lead partner.

In addition to the partner providers, the Early Learning Collaborative Act allows “local agencies or other organizations that work with young children and their families [to] also participate in the collaborative… even if they are not pre-kindergarten providers.”3 Collaborating with several different stakeholders on a council enables communities to maximize their resources and leverage their

1 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(1)(c).

2 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(1)(b).

3 Ibid.

collective strengths to offer high-quality pre-K to children in the community. Some examples of non-provider entities or individuals that may be interested in joining a collaborative council include

 healthcare clinics,

 mental health providers,

 chambers of commerce,

 economic development authorities,

 local government officials,

 public safety officials,

 local philanthropic foundations, and/or

 local business leaders.

The Lead Partner

A lead partner is “a public school district or other non-profit entity with the instructional expertise and operational capacity to manage the early learning collaborative’s pre-kindergarten program as described in the collaborative’s approved application for funds.”4 Each collaborative is responsible for selecting one of its eligible partners to carry out the duties of the lead partner. If no lead partner can be agreed upon, a public school district in the collaborative must serve as the lead partner. The duties of the lead partner are as follows:

 Fiscal agent: The lead partner serves as the fiscal agent for the collaborative. As fiscal agent, the lead partner must manage the budget, submit reimbursements to MDE, and disburse awarded funds. The lead partner is also responsible for any financial reporting required by MDE.

 Professional learning community: The lead partner must facilitate a professional learning community (PLC) for the instructional staff in the collaborative. A PLC provides a forum for professional development and coaching, an opportunity to collaborate with peers on lesson planning, and a structure for examining student performance data. PLCs should meet regularly throughout the school year.

 Curriculum and assessments: The lead partner ensures that the collaborative adopts and implements curriculum and assessments that align with state early learning standards. This duty requires the lead partner to have the ability to monitor and redirect providers within the collaborative.

Collaboration

The success of a collaborative is highly dependent on consistent quality in pre-K classrooms across different partner providers. This consistency is only achieved through effective collaboration. In Appendix C: Collaboration, we have included a tool to help groups assess the strength of their proposed collaborations.

4 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(1)(d).

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

The Early Learning Collaborative Act sets the legal requirements for the program. These requirements follow the current NIEER benchmarks. The law also grants MDE the power to enact rules and regulations to implement the requirements set in law. As a result, all collaboratives must also meet MDE’s Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children (2018). In this section, we outline the legal and regulatory requirements for all provider types within collaboratives. Because collaboratives contain many different types of providers, collaborative providers also have to meet program requirements specific to their type. For example, Head Start centers must meet both the Head Start Program Performance Standards and the requirements for collaboratives. Consult the Requirements from Other Sources subsection for more information about potential additional requirements.

Teacher and Assistant Teacher Qualifications

The Early Learning Collaborative Act establishes high standards for lead teacher and assistant teacher qualifications. MDE has created additional support documents, such as a five-page memo and a list of approved courses, to assist pre-K providers in complying with these requirements.

Lead teachers in collaborative classrooms must meet the following requirements:

1. Possess a minimum of a bachelor’s degree

2. Demonstrate a specialization in early childhood education

3. Hold a valid license if teaching in a public school classroom

Specialization in early childhood includes

 a bachelor’s degree in early childhood or related field;

 a valid pre-K endorsement (153) or Nursery through Grade 1 endorsement (N-1);5

 12 early childhood college credit hours from an institution granting bachelor’s degrees in early childhood; or

 completion of an approved program, such as a Child Development Associate (CDA), National Board Pre-K certification, Director’s Credential, Montessori credential, or MDE’s intensive specialized early childhood training program (Early Childhood Education Bootcamp).

Additionally, collaborative lead teachers in public school classrooms must hold one of the following valid licenses prior to any endorsements:

 Elementary Education K-3 (116)

 Elementary Education K-4 (152)

 Elementary Education K-6 (120)

 Pre-Kindergarten (153)

5 The N-1 endorsement may only be added to a K-6 (120) license.

Assistant teachers in a collaborative must meet one of the two following requirements:

1. Possess an associate’s degree in early childhood education, child development, or an equivalent field, or

2. Possess an associate's degree in any field AND 12 early childhood college credit hours OR completion of an early childhood training program (e.g., a Child Development Associate (CDA), national/state Director's credential, Montessori credential, or MDE's specialized early childhood training program (Early Childhood Education Bootcamp).

3. Possess a high school diploma/GED AND verification of WorkKeys Scores AND 12 early childhood college credit hours OR completion of an early childhood training program (e.g., a Child Development Associate (CDA), national/state Director's credential, Montessori credential, or MDE's specialized early childhood training program (Early Childhood Education Bootcamp).

Collaborative assistant teachers in public school classrooms are also required to meet the definition of a highly qualified paraprofessional.

As of 2024, Mississippi no longer requires collaborative assistant teachers to have an associate's degree. Assistant teachers with a high school diploma or GED may meet the federal requirements laid out in ESSA if they have:

1. completed at least 2 years of study at an institution of higher education;

2. met a rigorous standard of quality and can demonstrate, through a formal state or local academic assessment:

 knowledge of, and ability to assist in instructing, reading, writing, and mathematics; or

 knowledge of, and the ability to assist in instructing, reading readiness, writing readiness, and mathematics readiness, as appropriate.

Consult MDE for more information.

Collaboratives may also hire “master teachers,” either to serve as the lead teacher in a classroom or to serve as a coach or pre-K coordinator. The Early Learning Collaborative Act defines a master teacher as a teacher who meets the lead teacher qualifications and demonstrates effectiveness through a rating of "highly effective" on the state teacher evaluation or with evidence of improving the academic outcomes of pre-K students.

Professional Development

The Early Learning Collaborative Act requires that all collaborative pre-K instructional staff participate annually in at least 15 hours of training related to early childhood, including early literacy. This training can be delivered in a combination of ways, including from the lead partner, MDE, or other agencies or organizations that provide training related to early childhood. MDE provides both calendared and on-demand professional development free to collaboratives.

The collaborative must also keep individualized annual professional development plans for all instructional staff (teachers and assistants) and provide coaching to lead teachers. Currently, MDE hires and provides coaches to all collaboratives.

Standards

The Early Learning Collaborative Act requires all collaborative providers to use the state’s early learning standards, which are the Mississippi Early Learning Standards for Classrooms Serving Infants through Four-Year-Old Children (2018). These standards are aligned to the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards for K-12. Collaboratives should also incorporate the Mississippi Early Learning Teaching Strategies for Classrooms Serving Four-Year-Old Children in their programs.

Curriculum

The Early Learning Collaborative Act contains strict language about the type of curriculum that providers must use—“an ageappropriate curriculum that demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes.”6 The legislation further states that the curriculum must be “based on strong evidence”7 as defined in the statute and must be aligned to the Mississippi Early Learning Standards for Classrooms Serving Infants through Four-Year-Old Children. MDE is currently using Mississippi Beginnings, an open-source adaptation of Boston Public School's Focus on Pre-K curriculum. Due to changes adopted by the legislature in 2021, collaboratives should consult MDE for current options.

Assessment

Collaboratives must use assessments aligned to the Mississippi Early Learning Standards for Classrooms Serving Infants through Four-YearOld Children. All children enrolled in a collaborative must take the required state kindergarten-readiness assessment three times each school year. Currently, MDE uses Istation as the state’s kindergarten-entry exam. Istation was developed by Amira Learning and replaced the previous kindergarten-readiness exam, MKAS2, in 2024. MDE has purchased Istation for each child in a public school pre-K program. Collaboratives must also use the Brigance Early Childhood Screen III (3-5), which is the state-adopted comprehensive early learning assessment (CELA). Finally, collaboratives should use developmentally appropriate techniques on an ongoing basis to measure children’s progress. Such techniques could include “portfolios of children’s work, age-appropriate checklists, performance scales, anecdotal records, observational reports, video and audio tape recordings, experience charts, photographs, and other formal and informal assessments.”8

6 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(1)(f).

7 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(3)(d)(vi).

8 Wright, Carey M., and Kim S. Benton. 2016. “Appendix C: Audit Checklist for 17.2-Pre-Kindergarten.” In Effectiveness Evaluation for Early Learning Collaboratives and Other Pre-K Classrooms. Jackson, MS: Mississippi Department of Education.

Class Size and Student-Teacher Ratios

Collaborative classrooms must have a student-teacher ratio of one adult for every 10 children, with a maximum class size of 20 children per classroom and a minimum of five children per classroom. At least one adult who meets lead teacher qualifications must be assigned to each classroom, with a second adult meeting at least the assistant teacher qualifications. Occasional visitors and parents are not counted as adults in each classroom’s student-teacher ratio. Please see Teacher and Assistant Teacher Qualifications for requirements for adults.

Screening, Referrals, and Support Services

All collaboratives must have “plans to screen and/or refer children for vision, hearing, and other health issues.”9 Screenings for vision and hearing are required within the first 45 days of school, with any needed referrals required in the 30 days following the screening. A comprehensive health screening (e.g., EPSDT) is strongly recommended. In addition to conducting screenings, collaboratives may partner with another organization, such as the health department or Head Start, to conduct screenings or may accept screenings from private physicians, as long as each child is screened. As part of a program’s child assessments, teachers can administer observational checklists that can also serve as screening tools (e.g., ASQ-3).

Provision of Meals

All collaboratives must offer at least one daily meal meeting state and federal nutritional guidelines. Students may pay for these meals or may qualify for free or reduced-priced meals if the provider participates in the National School Lunch Program.

Instructional Minutes

Full-day programs must complete at least 1,080 hours a school year, which is 360 minutes per day for 180 instructional days. Half-day programs must complete 540 hours a school year, which is 180 minutes per day for 180 instructional days.

Family Engagement

All collaboratives must provide opportunities for family engagement. Each collaborative must have a written family engagement plan that enables families to communicate with pre-K staff informally, access the program without prior notification, and participate in learning activities with their children. MDE further requires that collaboratives create a parent handbook that includes the program’s

9 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(3)(d)(xii).

philosophy, goals, policies, and unique program information and make it available to parents upon request. Programs must also schedule at least three face-to-face parent-teacher conferences throughout the year and be able to provide MDE with documentation of these meetings.

Collaboratives must notify parents of their child’s progress, including their child’s formal assessment results, at least three times per year. Collaboratives must also facilitate a parent satisfaction survey once a year.

Pre-K Brochure

The collaborative should provide community parents with profiles of participating pre-K programs in a format designed by MDE as a means of informing parents of pre-K opportunities available.

Children with Disabilities

Every collaborative must have a written plan describing how it will serve students with disabilities, including meeting the provisions of individualized education plans (IEPs).

Antidiscrimination

All collaboratives must follow state and federal antidiscrimination laws that apply to public schools.

Enrollment, Eligibility, and Coordination

Enrollment in a collaborative is voluntary. All children supported through state funds in a collaborative must have reached the age of four on or before September 1 of the enrollment year. Collaboratives must keep a cumulative file for each child that includes a birth certificate and immunization record. Collaboratives are required to develop a coordinated enrollment system with Head Start to prevent a reduction in the number of students served by Head Start.

Transportation

Transportation is optional. Only 10% of a collaborative's state funds may support transportation. Collaboratives providing transportation must follow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) guidelines. These guidelines recommend placing four-year-old students in the first few rows of a school bus as well as utilizing properly secured child safety restraint systems. In addition, collaboratives must follow specific caregiver ratios for transportation. When transporting 5 to 16 four-year-olds on a bus, one caregiver in addition to the driver should be on the bus. When transporting 17 to 32 four-year-olds on a bus, two caregivers in addition to the driver should be on the bus. Caregivers should be 18 years of age or older and an employee of the provider.

Facility

Mississippi collaborative pre-K classrooms must contain at least 35 square feet per child and a minimum of 600 square feet, 10 as well as meet other facility requirements as detailed in the MississippiEarlyLearningGuidelinesforClassroomsServing Three- and Four- Year-Old Children. The maximum number of children enrolled in each classroom may not exceed 20, regardless of the square footage. Non- public school spaces must also follow the physical structure components in the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children.

10 Classrooms constructed after July 2017 must contain a minimum of 1,000 square feet.

Monitoring

The lead partner must develop an internal procedure for monitoring pre-K classrooms within the collaborative. In addition, early childhood staff members from MDE will conduct an annual effectiveness evaluation. Collaboratives, and each provider within a collaborative, must meet a minimum score on this evaluation to continue in the state-funded program. The effectiveness evaluation combines child outcome data from the kindergarten-readiness assessment, the comprehensive early learning assessment (Brigance), and a measure of classroom quality (CLASS). The effectiveness evaluation requires MDE to annually complete on-site monitoring to determine the collaborative’s adherence to program standards (the monitoring tool can be found in the effectiveness evaluation) and to conduct CLASS observations in each collaborative.

Requirements for Childcare Providers

Childcare providers who participate in collaboratives must be licensed by the state unless they are exempted by § 43-20-5 of the Mississippi Code. Providers must also “select and utilize a nationally recognized assessment tool, approved by the State Department of Education, designed to document classroom quality.”11 Because the CLASS evaluation is used by MDE to monitor all collaboratives, childcare providers within collaboratives may use the MDE CLASS observations to satisfy this requirement, provided that the childcare provider meets the minimum score on CLASS. Other tools that can be used include the ECERS-R, FCCERS-R, PQA, PQA-FCC, ELLCO, and CHELLO. If a childcare provider wishes to use an alternate assessment tool, it must receive prior approval from MDE.

Requirements from Other Sources

Because collaboratives are comprised of different types of providers, these providers must fulfill any separate requirements for their particular oversight agency as well as the requirements for the collaborative program. In many cases, the collaborative requirements meet or exceed similar program requirements of other agencies, meaning that providers who meet the requirements of the collaborative in relevant areas will also meet the requirements of another agency. See this crosswalk for a comparison of requirements. Nonetheless, providers need to ensure that they stay compliant with their original agency as they begin participating in a collaborative. Requirements for different provider types can be found as follows:

 Head Start: Head Start Program Performance Standards

 Licensed childcare: Mississippi Child Care Licensure Regulations

 Non-exempt private or parochial schools: Mississippi Child Care Licensure Regulations

 Exempt private or parochial schools: See private school accrediting agency

 Title I-funded pre-K: U.S. Department of Education Guidance and Mississippi Department of Education Guidelines 11 Miss. Code Ann. § 37-21-51(3)(d).

BUDGETING

One of the most important considerations for starting a collaborative is how to develop a workable budget based on expected funding. This section and the accompanying appendix explain expected revenue for the collaborative program as well as expected costs. All approved collaboratives receive funds from the state based on whether they are half-day or full-day programs, and all programs must match every state dollar with a local dollar (referred to as a 1:1 match). For students in a half-day program, the funding per child is $3,500, with half coming from the state ($1,750) and half coming from the local program ($1,750). For students in a full-day program, the funding per child is $7,000, with half coming from the state ($3,500) and half coming from the local program ($3,500). The local portion, or the “match,” is the minimum local amount required for a collaborative to receive state dollars.

Collaboratives are allowed to use any source of funding to match state dollars. For example, a collaborative could use Title I or other federal funding (as allowed), local district dollars, tuition, philanthropic sources, or even in-kind donations to meet its match. If any match dollars come with their own set of restrictions—such as Title I—collaboratives must abide by those restrictions in addition to the collaborative program rules. A note of caution on in-kind donations: in-kind donations that can be valued monetarily and are of use to the collaborative may be accepted and may count toward a collaborative’s match; however, a collaborative must still raise enough cash to meet the requirements of its budget. A collaborative whose match is primarily comprised of in-kind donations will have a hard time meeting payroll on a regular basis, the largest expense of any pre-K program.

Since class sizes in the state-funded program are capped at 20 students, programs can expect a maximum of $140,000 in program funding ($70,000 from the state and $70,000 in local match). Please note: the legislature assumed collaborative funding will cover only classroom-based costs. Any additional administrative costs generated by the program (such as a pre-K coordinator who is not also a classroom teacher) or additional rent expenses would need to be borne by the local program. Some current collaboratives “over-match,” or raise more money than their match per child, in order to cover additional costs. Appendix D: Budget Tool includes a realistic, itemized estimate of what a state-funded pre-K classroom might cost. According to our estimate, collaboratives should expect to spend approximately $104,000 per classroom, depending largely on staff salaries. Please refer to the appendix to find a list of suggested and required expenses as well as an estimate of their cost.

STATE TAX CREDIT

The Early Learning Collaborative Act established a 1:1 state tax credit to help local programs raise their matching funds. This state tax credit allows donors to reduce their state taxes by an amount equal to their donation to an approved collaborative. For example, a donor giving $100 to a pre-K collaborative can reduce her tax burden by $100. Collaboratives have used this tax credit to raise additional funds for their programs. In the 2024 tax year, collaboratives raised $4,956,390.00.12 Donations to all collaboratives are capped at the amount appropriated by the legislature to the collaborative program in any given year. Since the state fiscal year and the calendar year do not align, MDE averages the appropriation amounts across fiscal years within a calendar year (e.g., $24 million in 2023 and $29 million in 2024 is a $26.5 million tax credit cap for 2024).

Mississippi First has done extensive work explaining the tax credit and providing ongoing technical assistance to collaboratives interested in promoting it. We also produce an annual flyer for use by approved collaboratives. Please refer to Appendix E: State Tax Credit for more information about the tax credit, including the most recent example of this flyer.

THE APPLICATION

The Early Learning Collaborative Act gives MDE the power to manage the state-funded collaborative program. As part of its responsibilities, MDE administers the application process for new collaboratives. Because the law allows approved collaboratives to remain in the program as long as they continue to meet program requirements, the application process only opens when MDE has the funding to award new collaboratives. There have been nine application cycles since 2013. In the 2024 session, the legislature appropriated an additional $5 million to the program. If the legislature grants additional funds in 2025, then MDE will likely announce a tenth application cycle in 2025. Applicants who prepare well in advance of an application cycle are more competitive for the program opportunities available. This section is intended to explain the process and offer some helpful tips on applying.

In past cycles, the collaborative application process has had multiple stages—an intent to submit a proposal form and a written application. Applicants must score high enough at each stage in order to advance to the next stage. Below, we provide a general description of each of the 2023 application stages and advice on how to approach each stage.

12 Mississippi Department of Education, email to Mississippi First, February 7, 2024.

 Intent to submit proposal form—MDE frequently requests that applicants complete an initial form stating the applicant’s intent to submit an application. This form is typically due several weeks in advance of the full application. The form is not used to exclude applicants in any way. The purpose of the form is to allow MDE to estimate how many applications it may receive so that it can recruit an adequate number of reviewers. We recommend submitting it if the applicant is serious about applying.

 Proposal (written application)—The proposal phase of the process is the first in which an applicant gets to describe their plan. The application is detailed and takes several weeks to complete, so applicants should not procrastinate or expect to write the whole application in a week. In addition to being lengthy, the application may also require the applicant to compile important documents, such as proof of 501(c)3 status (if the applicant is not a school district) or letters of support from partners, which may take additional time. We strongly encourage applicants to begin as soon as the application is released and expect it to take the full amount of time allotted by MDE.

Our other important advice on writing the application is to pay close attention to the rules for submitting a proposal. Like all MDE-managed applications, the pre-K application contains strict guidelines for its completion, including the format, page length, and deadlines. Applicants who violate any of these guidelines, including page limits, may be disqualified from having their applications reviewed. MDE rarely allows applicants who submit incomplete applications to amend them and resubmit. Similarly, MDE does not accept late applications. In the past, applicants with strong plans have not succeeded due to errors such as failing to complete all sections of the application or failing to attach a required appendix, so applicants must be very diligent about following all of the rules.

Previously, MDE has used internal and external reviewers to score proposals. MDE follows a two-part process for scoring the written application: an eligibility check and a full proposal review.

 Eligibility check—Since 2016, MDE has instituted an “eligibility check” as part of the pre-K proposal review. Applicants not passing the eligibility check are disqualified from having the remainder of their proposal scored. During the eligibility check, reviewers assess whether the applicant and their partners meet all of the following requirements:

 the lead partner (applicant) signed and attached the application assurances (MDE will provide these with the application); and

 the lead partner (applicant) is either a school district OR provided proof of 501(c)3 status, such as an IRS determination letter and/or a certification of registration from the Mississippi Secretary of State; and

 the lead partner (applicant) demonstrated in the application that it serves or will serve four-year-old children through classroom-based pre-K (in other words, the lead partner is not merely a support organization but actually operates a program); and

 the collaborative includes at least one school district AND at least one Head Start partner (Early Head Start does not count), if one is available; and

 the collaborative plans to operate at least one classroom at each of at least two eligible partners; and

 each partner provider will receive funds to operate classrooms; and

 each partner provided a letter of support AND a signed identification form.

We advise applicants to read the application carefully to ensure their eligibility based on these or other factors.

 Review of full proposal—For applicants passing the eligibility check, reviewers score the full proposal using a rubric. Read the rubric if one is provided before beginning to write the application so that your answers will meet the criteria that the reviewers are looking for. Too often, applicants provide lengthy, well-written responses that do not actually provide the information that the reviewers are seeking. Do not make this mistake; shorter responses that meet the review criteria will always earn more points than long responses that do not. Proposals may still be disqualified at this stage if applicants violate the guidelines on things such as page limits, a lack of commitment to state learning standards, or a lack of commitment to using an eligible curriculum. Once the full proposal has been reviewed, reviewers total the score for all proposals still eligible, and those with qualifying scores move to the next phase of review.

MDE will rank proposals according to the final scores and fund in order of rank until all funds are exhausted. The reality of a competitive application process means that proposals with good scores may still not receive funding, though in recent years all applicants with completed applications have received funding.

One way that applicants can give themselves an advantage in the proposal review is to earn any preference points that MDE has written into the rubric. Some preference points give priority to applicants with greater need while other preference points may give priority to applicants with greater capacity. In previous cycles, applicants with low rates of kindergarten readiness or high third grade reading test retention were given a slight preference (1 extra point). Conversely, applicants with more diverse collaborative partners— such as childcare partners or private school partners—received more points (3 extra points). Applicants who had participated in a formal collaboration program prior to applying, such as Excel by 5 or Mississippi Building Blocks, also received preference points (3 points). Review the rubric carefully if one is released to see if you are eligible for any preference points.

Based on past experience, our best advice in earning preference points is to build a collaborative with many types of partners and to develop a history of formal collaboration prior to applying

APPENDIX A

This appendix is intended to provide general information about pre-K. Below, we provide links for a beginner’s study of current information about pre-K, both nationally and in Mississippi.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PRE-K

New America Foundation

The New America Foundation’s website offers a clear, simple write-up about pre-K.

New America Foundation. 2022. “Pre-K.” Accessed February 3, 2025. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/topics/ birth-through-third-grade-learning/pre-k/

RESEARCH ABOUT PRE-K

Southern Regional Education Board

Pre-K Benefits features a summary of some of the most recent, high-quality research studies pertaining to the benefits of pre-K programs for children.

Durrance, Samantha. 2018. Pre-K Benefits: 2018 Update. Research report, Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board. Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.sreb.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/research_snapshot_pre-k_march_2018.pdf?1523549430

Brookings Institute

The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects provides a comprehensive description of the pre-K landscape in America today. In addition, the report presents some of the most prevalent issues and challenges in early education along with a summary of the research findings pertaining to each issue.

Brookings Institute. 2017. The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects. Research Report, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute. Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/duke_prekstudy_ final_4-4-17_hires.pdf.

Mississippi First

The State of Pre-K in Mississippi 2017-2018 quantifies pre-K access—whether public or private—in every Mississippi community. Additionally, the report includes detailed programmatic and contextual information about pre-K programs and the communities they serve. It is released every three years. The next installment is expected in Summer 2025. Canter, Rachel, and Micayla Tatum. 2022. The State of Pre-K Series: Access to Pre-K, 2017-2018. Research Report, Jackson, MS: Mississippi First. Accessed April 29, 2022. https://issuu.com/mississippifirst/docs/brief_4.

The National Institute for Early Education Research

The State of Preschool is an annual publication that tracks the funding, access, and policies of state-funded pre-K programs. In addition, NIEER identifies 10 research-based program standards linked to highly effective programs and ranks each state-funded program across the nation according to these 10 standards. Friedman-Krauss, Allison H., W. Steven Barnett, Karin A. Garver, Katherine S. Hodges, G.G. Weisenfeld, Beth Ann Gardiner, and Tracy Merriman Jost. 2022. The State of Preschool 2021. Research report, New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University. Accessed April 29, 2022. https://nieer.org/research-library/state-preschool-yearbook-2021

STATE AND FEDERAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION OFFICES

Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood

The Office of Early Education at the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) provides regulatory guidance for pre-K programs implemented in public school settings. Additionally, they provide resources for families and providers to prepare children to be ready for kindergarten. MDE disseminates federal and state funds for early childhood programs in Mississippi.

Website: http://www.mdek12.org/EC

Mississippi Head Start Collaboration Office

The Mississippi Head Start Collaboration Office is located in the Office of the Governor. The office develops collaborative partnerships with early childhood and family service providers, educators, advocates, and agencies statewide.

Website: https://headstart.gov/state-collaboration/article/head-start-collaboration-offices

Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Early Childhood Care and Development

The Division of Early Childhood Care and Development at the Mississippi Department of Human Services tracks the licensed childcare services available to young children in Mississippi communities. Additionally, they administer the Child Care Development Fund program, which provides assistance to working families in need of childcare services.

Website: https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/eccd/

United States Department of Education, Office of Early Learning

The Office of Early Learning at the United States Department of Education is charged with supporting the department’s early learning initiatives and its goal of improving the health, socio-emotional, and cognitive outcomes for children from birth to third grade. The office is also responsible for the discretionary grant programs exclusively focused on early learning.

Website: https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/earlylearning/index.html

PRE-K ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS

Mississippi First

Mississippi First is a state-based policy and advocacy 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Mississippi First has been an advocate for early childhood education in Mississippi since our founding in 2008. The organization advocates the expansion of high-quality, state-funded pre-K and tracks pre-K access and quality in the state.

Website: https://www.mississippifirst.org/we-support/early-education/

Alliance for Early Success

The Alliance for Early Success brings early education leaders together in innovative ways to advance state policies leading to improved health, learning, and economic outcomes for young children, starting at birth and ending at age eight.

Website: www.earlysuccess.org

First Five Years Fund

The First Five Years Fund advances federal investment in quality early childhood education for disadvantaged children from birth to age five. Additionally, it provides policymakers, advocates, and the public with the research and information necessary to make informed investments in quality early childhood development.

Website: www.ffyf.org

APPENDIX B

This appendix contains two important tools: a needs assessment tool and a program selection tool. A group or entity seeking to explore whether to open a pre-K program, and what type of program, should first conduct a needs assessment to evaluate the need in their community. If a need is adequately identified, the next tool, the program selection tool, can help the group determine the best kind of program to pursue given the kinds of needs identified and the assets of the collaborative entity. The appendix also contains a short explanation of the different types of public school pre-K programs.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL

An effective program aligns services to community needs. As a part of the application for the state-funded pre-K program, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) assesses the community’s need for a pre-K program.

This needs assessment tool provides a list of data that collaborative groups should use to evaluate the need for pre-K in their communities. Additionally, we provide data guidelines for how to use the information collected. A template for organizing the data can found at https://www.mississippifirst.org/our-work/pre-k-publications/pre-k-toolkits-series/.

ACCESS

Data Resources and Considerations

Number of students enrolled in district pre-K program (enrollment in present year)

Number of students enrolled in district pre-K program (enrollment in prior years)

We use present-year enrollment to assess access prior to any proposed program changes. If your school district is experiencing rapid declines or growth in enrollment, you may want to determine the average percentage change over a three-year period to raise or lower the present- year enrollment (Present Year*% Change + Present Year = Projected Enrollment).

Enrollment information is readily available on the MDE website. You can access it by going to this link: https://newreports.mdek12.org/DataExplorer. Be sure to include both special education and regular education pre-K enrollments.

We use prior years enrollment to assess access changes over time. If your school district is experiencing rapid declines or growth in enrollment, you may want to determine the average percentage change over a three-year period to raise or lower the present-year enrollment (Present Year*% Change + Present Year = Projected Enrollment).

Number of district pre-K classrooms (present year)

We use the present-year number of classrooms to understand the class size and capacity of the district to serve more students.Contact your local school district for this information.

Data Resources and Considerations

Number of students in local Head Start centers (enrollment in present year)

Number of students enrolled in local head start centers (enrollment in prior years)

Number of Local Head Start center classrooms (present year)

Total number of seats available in other public pre-K programs

Head Start eligibility is countywide, so counties with multiple school districts share the overall number of Head Start seats available. Some school districts in a county may have better access to seats, depending on where centers are located. This makes it hard to determine a separate Head Start “capacity” figure from an “enrollment” figure in most instances, as most counties have multiple school districts. As a result, we recommend using enrollment in Head Start in nearly all instances (if you are in a single-district county, you can decide between “capacity” and “enrollment”).

This information is collected by Mississippi First every three years and published in the State of Pre-K. Reports can be accessed here: https://www.mississippifirst.org/our-work/?lc=94

For more recent data, contact your local Head Start center(s). Ask them how many children transitioned or will transition to your target school district to estimate Head Start enrollment for your district.

We use prior years enrollment to assess access changes over time. If your center is experiencing rapid declines or growth in enrollment, you may want to determine the average percentage change over a three-year period to raise or lower the present-year enrollment (Present Year*% Change + Present Year = Projected Enrollment).

Contact your local Head Start for this information.

We use the present-year number of classrooms to understand the class size and capacity of the Head Start Center to serve more students. Contact your local Head Start for this information.

In some cases, your district may have a pre-K program operated by a nonprofit organization and funded by philanthropic dollars. These seats may not show up as either “district” seats or “licensed childcare” seats. If such a program exists in your community, you should include these seats as part of your evaluation of access. The State of Pre-K report may include information about these types of programs if they existed in previous years.

Number of students enrolled in other public pre-K programs (enrollment)

QUALITY

Ask your local school district for the enrollment of any other public pre-K program that you discover.

Data Resources and Considerations

Number of NIEER benchmarks met by district pre-K program

Average CLASS score from district pre-K program

Average CLASS score from Head Start

Percentage of students “ready” for Kindergarten (284 or above on ELA and 285 or above on math)

MAAP proficiency rates

This information is collected by Mississippi First every three years and published in the State of Pre-K report. All reports can be accessed here: https://www.mississippifirst.org/our-work/. Contact your local school district for any recent program changes.

CLASS is a classroom quality measure used by MDE to evaluate all public school pre-K programs. Contact your local school district to request average CLASS scores.

Most Head Start centers in Mississippi also use CLASS to measure classroom quality. Contact your local Head Start center(s) to request average CLASS scores.

Contact your local school district for this information.

Proficiency information is readily available on the MDE website. You can access it by going to this link: https://msrc.mdek12.org/.

Data Resources and Considerations

District dropout rate

District retention rate

Achievement Gaps (gaps in achievement between different subgroups)

This information is readily available on the MDE website. You can access it by going to this link: https://msrc.mdek12.org/.

The district retention rate is the number of students who have repeated a grade at least once since starting kindergarten. This information is available through MDE, however districts should also have access to this information.

Achievement gap information is readily available in the MDE Achievement Gap Report. You can access it by going to this link: https://mdek12.org/publicreporting/2020-21/

AT-RISK POPULATIONS

Data Resources and Considerations

Percentage of students in poverty (identified student percentage)

Percentage of racial minority students

Percentage of students with disabilities (IEP or 504 plan)

Percentage of children in foster care, identified as homeless, or identified as migrant

Other factors related to children at risk

Due to the growing use of the Community Eligibility Provision, free or reduced-price lunch data is becoming less valid as an indicator of poverty. As an alternative, we suggest using your district’s identified student percentage, which means the percentage of students whose families participate in other government-funded poverty programs. This will provide a more accurate estimate of the percentage of children experiencing poverty. MDE annually publishes estimates of each district’s identified student percentage: https://mdek12.org/childnutrition/community-eligibility-provision-cep/. Use the CEP Annual Notification of Schools report. MDE multiplies this number by 1.6 to determine poverty for school funding.

This information is readily available on the MDE website. You can access it by going to this link: https://newreports.mdek12.org/.

Contact your local school district for this information.

Contact your local school district to obtain this information. This information may be particularly important if you intend to use any federal dollars as a match.

Other indicators, such as teen pregnancy rates, unemployment rates, percentage of children with no parent in the workforce, percentage of families using TANF and SNAP, food insecurity data, maternal education data, etc., can be found through the online Kids Count Data Center. You can access this information by county here: https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data#MS/5/0/char/0.

GUIDELINES FOR USING DATA TO DEMONSTRATE COMMUNITY NEED

Determine whether to highlight access needs, quality needs, or both. There are two ways to demonstrate the need for an early learning collaborative in your community. If your community does not have many public pre-K options available to families, then you can demonstrate the need for pre-K by highlighting access needs. If your community has high access rates to pre-K, but your student outcome data shows low rates of school readiness or school achievement, then you can demonstrate the need to increase the quality of existing pre-K programs. Your community may have low access and poor outcomes; in this case, you can highlight needs in both access and quality.

It is good practice to assess the needs of the community prior to drafting a plan. The community needs you identify should align to your proposed program. For example, if your proposed program focuses on improving quality and not expanding access, you should sufficiently demonstrate the need for higher-quality programs in your community.

Calculating Public Pre-K Access

The first step in assessing the pre-K needs in your community is to understand the level of access that parents have to existing public pre-K services. In general, you calculate this by subtracting the previous year’s number of pre-K seats available in your defined service area (county or district) from the total number of kindergarten students entering the school district in the current year. To calculate an access rate, you simply divide the difference by the total number of entering kindergarteners and multiply by 100. See our worksheet to help you analyze access rates.

# of entering kindergarteners this year - # of public pre-K seats last year

Access Rate = x 100

# of entering kindergarteners this year



Considering Enrollment vs. Capacity

In these guidelines and the training guide, we recommend the use of capacity data (the actual number of seats available) instead of the use of enrollment data to measure access. However, we recommend that you carefully analyze enrollment data as well, especially if enrollment data is much lower than capacity data. You may need to investigate the underlying reasons for low enrollment because lower enrollment figures can have important implications for actual access. For instance, a district pre-K program may have 20 seats available but only eight students enrolled in the program. Further investigation might reveal that a lack of transportation is an enrollment barrier for families who wish to send their children to the program. As a community group, you must then decide if you would consider a capacity of 20 seats to be a true measure of access in this scenario.

 Considering Licensed Childcare Enrollment in Your Evaluations of Access

To get a comprehensive view of what pre-K looks like in your community, you should consider the enrollment rates of four-yearold children in licensed childcare centers as well as enrollment in public pre-K. We know that, on average, the greater a school district’s public pre-K access, the smaller its four-year-old childcare enrollment.13 This may be due to low demand for licensed childcare. It may also occur because districts with high public pre-K capacity are more likely to have high poverty rates,14 and tuition-based licensed childcare centers are less accessible to consumers. Additionally, areas with large licensed childcare sectors may face more political barriers to expanding public pre-K programs. A careful analysis of licensed childcare’s role in offering

13 Canter, Rachel, and Angela Bass. 2017. The State of Pre-K in Mississippi. Research Report, Jackson, MS: Mississippi First. Accessed on April 19, 2018. http://www.mississippifirst.org/education-policy/pre-kindergarten/msf-prek-publications/state-pre-k-mississippi-2014-2015/ 14 Ibid.

pre-K access to four-year-olds in your community should be an essential part of your needs assessment. In cases where access to licensed childcare and public pre-K are both low, you might choose to highlight licensed childcare access rates in the needs assessment section of your application.

Demonstrating Need for Quality

If you determine that pre-K expansion is not aligned to your community’s needs and/or your collaborative’s current goals, you need to demonstrate the need to increase the quality of existing programs. Conversely, you might decide to expand access while increasing quality at the same time. To demonstrate the need for improved quality, you must make a case to MDE that current programs are not meeting the 10 NIEER benchmarks and/or producing favorable student outcomes among the population you wish to serve. You should also demonstrate that the population you wish to serve may be at risk of academic failure without an early intervention.

 NIEER Quality Standards

The state measures the quality of pre-K programs in part by their adherence to the NIEER quality standards. To assess existing quality in your community, you should evaluate how programs perform against the standards. More information about the NIEER standards can be found in their most recent evaluation of Mississippi’s program: https://nieer.org/yearbook/2023/ state-profiles/mississippi.



CLASS Scores

CLASS is an early childhood classroom quality measure that the state uses for all public school pre-K programs, including collaboratives. Head Start centers also frequently use CLASS. CLASS measures several dimensions of classroom quality, such as the quality of adult-child interactions. If your community has an existing public school pre-K program, the program should have CLASS scores for its classrooms. Head Start centers in your area are also likely to have CLASS scores for their classrooms. If the programs in your area have average scores of less than a 4, this may indicate the need to increase quality.



Nationally Accredited Licensed Childcare Centers

Although Mississippi no longer uses a robust quality rating system for childcare, some centers may be nationally accredited. For example, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers an accreditation program that is considered a national leader in quality. The NAEYC search function provides up-to-date information about accredited programs: https://ais.naeyc.org/search_programs. Centers without national accreditation may still be high quality, but a community will have to work harder to measure that quality. Evaluating local childcare centers against the NIEER standards may be one simple alternative to accreditation to determine quality.

 Assessing Student Outcomes

Alongside the NIEER standards and CLASS scores, the state examines student outcomes to measure quality. In this tool and the worksheet, we provide a comprehensive list of student outcome data you should use to identify the need for pre-K. It is important to look at aggregate data—i.e., data for entire populations in your district or community—as well as disaggregated data—i.e., information used to compare various student subgroups. See the worksheet to help you with this analysis.

Analyzing Data on At-Risk Populations

The presence of a high rate of at-risk populations can show a compelling need for pre-K. In this tool and the training guide, we provide a comprehensive list of demographic data you can use to gain a deeper understanding of your community and the at-risk populations that may be present. See the worksheet to help you with this analysis.

NEED

How would you describe the student population you plan to serve?

 Our student population is high need, as defined by having a high rate of one or more of the following: poverty; percent of children in foster care, identified as homeless, or identified as migrant; percent of children not “ready” for kindergarten; percent of children with disabilities; and the number or percent without quality pre-K options.

 Our student population is average need, as defined by having an average rate of most of the following: poverty; percent of children in foster care, identified as homeless, or identified as migrant; percent of children not “ready” for kindergarten; or percent of children with disabilities; and the number or percent without quality pre-K options.

 Our student population is low need, as defined by having a low rate of most of the following: poverty; percent of children in foster care, identified as homeless, or identified as migrant; percent of children not “ready” for kindergarten; or percent of children with disabilities; and the number or percent without quality pre-K options.

PARTNERSHIPS

How do you plan to include partnerships in the operation of your program?

 We want to independently operate our programs.

 We want to collaborate with partners to ensure community-wide quality, but we do not want to jointly operate our programs.

 We want to jointly operate our programs with one or more local partners.

HEAD START

How would you describe your relationship with Head Start?

 We have a very strong relationship with Head Start and frequently closely collaborate.

 We have a working relationship with Head Start and collaborate as needed.

 We have a limited relationship with Head Start in that we only work together as required by law.

COLLABORATION

How closely do you work with partners in early childhood?

 We have a strong history of collaboration with early childhood partners. As part of our collaboration, we meet regularly to discuss common goals, define interrelated roles, develop joint strategies, and share decision-making.

 We are actively building stronger collaboration among partners. We have begun regular meetings to increase collaboration and are working to develop common goals and strategies.

 We have little to no history of collaboration among partners. In the past, we have cooperated on an as-needed basis or coordinated with each other on specific projects.

QUALITY

How many of the MDE guidelines do you meet?

 We will meet all of the MDE guidelines from day one.

 We will meet most of the MDE guidelines but will need time to meet all.

 We will meet less than half of the MDE guidelines and will need time and technical assistance to meet all.

Are you willing to meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards?

 We will meet all of the Head Start Program Performance Standards from day one.

 We will meet most of the Head Start Program Performance Standards but will need time to meet all.

 We will meet less than half of the Head Start Program Performance Standards and will need time and technical assistance to meet all.

 We will not meet the Heat Start Program Performance Standards if it’s not a requirement for our program.

FUNDING

Is Title I funding available for your program?

 Title I funding will cover all of our expected expenses.

 Title I funding will cover some of our expected expenses.

 Title I funding will cover none of our expected expenses.

Aside from Title I funding, what other sources of funding could support your program in total or in part? (Check all that apply.)

 Local district dollars

 State pre-K dollars

 External philanthropy

 None

 Other

CLASSROOM SPACE

What classroom space meeting MDE guidelines is available for use? (Check all that apply.)

 District classroom space

 Classroom space in on-site Head Start facilities

 Classroom space in off-site Head Start facilities

 Donated space not located on a district campus

 Classroom space in partner provider

INTERPRETING YOUR SCORES

There are no definitive interpretations of the answers. Your answers are not an absolute reflection of your group's ability to effectively operate a particular type of pre-K program. Scores on each of these questions should be used for discussion and planning as you decide what pre-K program would be best for your community’s needs.

NEED

If you answered…

 High need…you should consider a high-quality pre-K program

 Average need… you should consider a high-quality pre-K program

 Low need…you should consider a targeted high-quality pre-K program

PARTNERSHIPS

If you answered…

 Independently operate…you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, State-Invested Pre-K, or externally funded pre-K program

 Collaborate with partners… you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, State-Invested Pre-K, or externally funded pre-K program

 Jointly operate…you should consider a blended pre-K or state collaborative program

HEAD START

If you answered…

 Very strong relationship…you should consider a blended pre-K or state collaborative program

 Working relationship…you should consider a blended pre-K, state collaborative, or State-Invested Pre-K program

 Limited relationship…you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, or externally funded programs

COLLABORATION

If you answered…

 Strong history of collaboration… you should consider a blended pre-K or state collaborative program

 Actively building stronger collaboration… you should consider a blended pre-K, state collaborative, or State-Invested Pre-K program

 Little to no history of collaboration…you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, or externally funded program

QUALITY

If you answered…

MDE Guidelines

 All of the MDE guidelines… you should consider a blended pre-K, state collaborative, or State-Invested Pre-K program

 Most of the MDE guidelines… you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, or externally funded program

 Less than half of the MDE guidelines…you should consider Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, or externally funded program

Head Start Program Performance Standards

 All of the Head Start Program Performance Standards…you should consider a blended pre-K program

 Most of the Head Start Program Performance Standards…you should consider a state collaborative or State-Invested Pre-K program

 Less than half of the Head Start Program Performance Standards…you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, or externally funded program

 Will not meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards…you should consider a Title I, local district, tuition-based, hybrid, or externally funded program

FUNDING

If you answered…

 All of our expected expenses…you should consider a Title I pre-K program

 Some of our expected expenses…you should consider a blended pre-K, hybrid, or state collaborative

 None of our expected expenses…you should consider a local district, tuition-based, blended pre-K, hybrid, state collaborative, State-Invested Pre-K, or externally funded program

Any additional funding sources that you select in the follow-up funding question should also guide your program selection.

CLASSROOM SPACE

If you selected…

 District classroom space… you should consider a local district, tuition-based, blended pre-K, hybrid, state collaborative, State-Invested Pre-K, or externally funded program

 Head Start facilities… you should consider a blended pre-K or state collaborative program

 Donated space…you should consider a state collaborative

 Partner provider… you should consider a state collaborative

Title 1

All funds utilized to support this program are Title I dollars. Title I Pre-K programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children and Title I, Part A – Basic Guidelines. These programs are typically located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district.

Local District District dollars are utilized to support these programs. Local district pre-K programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children. These programs are typically located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district.

Tuition-Based Tuition paid by parents of enrolled children supports these programs. Tuition-based pre-K programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children. These programs are typically located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district. Tuition-funded public school pre-K programs may not continue to charge families after they join a collaborative.

Blended Pre-K Title I and Head Start dollars are used to support these programs. Blended programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children, the Head Start Program Performance Standards, and Title I, Part A – Basic Guidelines. These programs are located either on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district or at a local Head Start agency. Tuition-funded public school pre-K programs may not continue to charge families after they join a collaborative.

Hybrid These programs are funded by multiple sources, such as Title I and district dollars, district dollars and tuition, external sources and Title I, etc. Any program that uses Title I dollars must follow the Title I, Part A – Basic Guidelines. Children supported through Title I dollars must also meet Title I eligibility requirements. All hybrid pre-K programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children. These programs may be located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district or in a donated space (e.g., apartment complex).

State Collaborative

These programs are supported by state pre-K funding that is matched with any eligible source. Most often, matching funds come from Title I. All state collaborative pre-K programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year- Old Children. Any collaborative program that uses Title I dollars must also follow the Title I, Part A – Basic Guidelines. Head Start or blended programs within a collaborative must additionally follow the Head Start Program Performance Standards. These programs may be located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district, in a Head Start center, or in a private childcare center.

State Invested Pre-K (SIP)

Externally Funded

These programs are funded completely by the state. MDE requires all SIP programs to follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children. These programs are located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district. SIP was created in 2022 with the insertion of a line item in the education appropriations bill. There is no enacting legislation to create or guide the standards of the program.

These programs are funded partially by sources outside of the school district and exclude Head Start funds. Examples of externally funded pre-K programs are those that are partially funded through grants, private donations, and nonprofit organizations. Externally funded pre-K programs must follow the Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines for Classrooms Serving Three- and Four-Year-Old Children. These programs may be located on campus at one or more elementary schools in a given district or in a donated space (e.g., apartment complex).

APPENDIX C

This tool helps readers understand “collaboration” as the term is used in the Early Learning Collaborative Act. This tool can also be used to better answer the collaboration question in the Program Selection Tool as well as to assess the strength of a proposed collaboration.

WHAT IS COLLABORATION?

The authors of the state-funded pre-K program were heavily influenced by work on collaboration done by the Wilder Foundation. The Wilder Foundation defines collaboration as “a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more organizations to achieve common goals. The relationship includes a commitment to mutual relationships and goals; a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility; mutual authority and accountability for success; and sharing of resources and rewards.”15

COOPERATION, COORDINATION, AND COLLABORATION

The Program Selection Tool asks readers to assess the nature of their current partnership work as a means of determining whether a pre-K model with a higher or lower level of collaboration is most appropriate for them. To answer the question, readers need a good understanding of the differences between three terms—cooperation, coordination, and collaboration.16

 Cooperation is the least intensive form of partnership. Individuals within organizations interact on a project-by-project basis without the need for common goal planning by their organizations. This level of partnership is informal. For example, a pre-K teacher in a school district may call a colleague at a local childcare provider to borrow materials for a lesson plan.

 Coordination is a more intensive form of partnership. Organizations are involved in a project that has a specific goal and length. Common planning occurs for the project but not for the organizations as a whole. For example, a school district and a Head Start coordinate a “literacy fair” for pre-K children. The two parties work together to organize and pay for the fair, but the joint work is specific to the fair and not ongoing.

 Collaboration is the most intensive form of partnership. Organizations agree to a longer-term partnership with specific roles and responsibilities, a structure for joint planning and decision-making, and common goals. The partnership has a written document— such as a memorandum of understanding or by-laws—describing how the partnership works. For example, providers in an area may form a partnership to run a school readiness awareness campaign for local parents, in which the partners collaborate to host events throughout the year. These events are designed jointly and supported through pooled resources. The campaign is branded separately from each individual organization and is run by a specially appointed organizing committee.

THE WILDER COLLABORATION FACTORS INVENTORY

After the Wilder Foundation identified 20 collaboration success factors, they developed the Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory, an assessment to help partners diagnose their strengths and weaknesses across the 20 factors. The Wilder Foundation intended the inventory as a self-assessment tool for discussion and progress monitoring, rather than as an accountability tool. The assessment is free for non-commercial use as long as proper attribution is given to the Wilder Foundation. Partnerships should also consider using the free, online tool on the Wilder Foundation’s website, as it may be easier for partners to complete and the tallying is automatic.

Formatted as a survey, the inventory is designed to be taken by multiple representatives of each partner in the collaborative. A greater number of raters will produce a more reliable result and one that reflects the many different perspectives that individuals bring to a group. At minimum, one person from each partner in the collaborative should complete it.

Directions:

 The lead partner or a designee should take the responsibility of managing the self-assessment.

 Each partner should identify key people in its organization to complete the assessment and provide contact information for each person to the lead partner or designee.

 The lead partner should gather the completed assessments from each person within each partner and complete one partner self- assessment scoring guide for each partner.

 Once all partner scoring guides are complete, complete the full collaborative self-assessment scoring guide.

 Use the ratings from the full collaborative self-assessment scoring guide to examine strengths and weaknesses of the group’s collaboration efforts. (See the Interpreting Your Scores section.)

STATEMENTS ABOUT YOUR COLLABORATIVE GROUP

History of collaboration or cooperation in the community

Members of partner group seen as legitimate leader in the community

1. Partners in our partnership have a history of working together.

2. Trying to solve problems through collaboration has been common among members of this partnership. It has been done a lot before.

3. Leaders in this community who are not part of our partnership seem hopeful about what we can accomplish.

4. Others (in this community) who are not a part of this partnership would generally agree that the organizations involved in this partnership are the “right” groups to make this work.

Favorable political and social climate

Mutual respect, understanding, and trust

5. The political and social climate seems to be “right” for starting blended pre-K.

6. The time is right for this partnership.

7. People, organizations, and partners involved in our partnership always trust one another.

8. I have a lot of respect for the other people, organizations, and partners involved in this partnership.

Appropriate cross section of members

Members see collaboration as in their self-interest

Ability to compromise

9. The people, organizations, and partners involved in our partnership represent a cross section of those who have a stake in what we are trying to accomplish.

10. All the organizations that we need to be members of this partnership have become members of the group.

11. My organization will benefit from being involved in this partnership.

12. People, organizations, and partners involved in our partnership are willing to compromise on important aspects of our project.

Adapted from Mattessich, Paul, Marta Murray-Close, and Barbara Monsey. 2001. Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research.

Members share a stake in both the process and outcome

13. The organizations that belong to our partnership invest the right amount of time in our collaborative efforts.

14. Everyone who is a member of our partnership wants the project to succeed.

15. The level of commitment among the partnership participants is high.

Multiple layers of participation

Flexibility

Development of clear roles and policy guidelines

16. When the partnership makes major decisions, there is always enough time for members to take information back to their organizations to confer with colleagues about what the decision should be.

17. Each of the people who participate in decisions in this partnership can speak for the entire organization they represent, not just a part.

18. There is a lot of flexibility when decisions are made; people are open to discussing different options.

19. People, organizations, and partners in this partnership are open to different approaches to how we can do our work. They are willing to consider different ways of working.

20. People, organizations, and partners in this partnership have a clear sense of their roles and responsibilities.

21. There is a clear process for making decisions among the partners in this partnership.

Adaptability

Appropriate pace of development

22. This partnership is able to adapt to changing conditions, such as fewer funds than expected, changing political climate, or change in leadership.

23. This group has the ability to survive even if it had to make major changes in its plans or add some new members in order to reach its goals.

24. This partnership has tried to take on the right amount of work at the right pace.

25. We are currently able to keep up with the work necessary to coordinate all the people, organizations, and activities related to this partnership project.

Adapted from Mattessich, Paul, Marta Murray-Close, and Barbara Monsey. 2001. Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research.

Open and frequent communication

Established informal relationships and communication links

26. People, organizations, and partners in this partnership communicate openly with one another.

27. I am informed as often as I should be about what goes on in the partnership.

28. The people who lead the partnership communicate well with its members.

29. Communication among the people, organizations, and partners in this partnership happens both at formal meetings and in informal ways.

30. I personally have informal conversations about the project with others who are involved in this partnership.

Concrete, attainable goals and objectives

31. I have a clear understanding of what our partnership is trying to accomplish.

32. People in our partnership know and understand our goals.

33. People in our partnership have established reasonable goals.

Shared vision

Unique purpose

Sufficient funds, staff, materials, and time

34. The people, organizations, and partners in this partnership are dedicated to the idea that we can make this project work.

35. My ideas about what we want to accomplish with this collaboration seem to be the same as the ideas of others.

36. What we are trying to accomplish with our partnership would be difficult for any single organization to accomplish by itself.

37. No other organization in the community is trying to do exactly what we are trying to do.

38. Our partnership will have adequate funds to do what it wants to accomplish with expected funds in our proposed budget.

39. Our partnership has adequate “people power” to do what it wants to accomplish.

Skilled leadership

40. The people in leadership positions for the partnership have good skills for working with other people and organizations.

Adapted from Mattessich, Paul, Marta Murray-Close, and Barbara Monsey. 2001. Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research.

PARTNER SELF-ASSESSMENT SCORING GUIDE

Directions: Compile scores from each rater in the same partner group (same organization). Compute the sum and average for each factor. If there are more than five raters in a group, add more columns or use additional sheets.

Partner:

FULL PARTNERSHIP SELF-ASSESSMENT SCORING GUIDE

Directions: Record the averages from each partner (from each partner’s scoring guide). Compute the sum and average for each factor. If more than five partners in a group, add more columns or use additional sheets. When completed, use each factor average to examine strengths and weaknesses of the collaboration efforts of the group.

INTERPRETING YOUR SCORES

The Wilder Foundation does not provide definitive interpretations of numerical scores for the factors. Your scores are not an absolute reflection of your group’s ability to collaborate effectively. This tool cannot tell you how high your scores must be on each factor to ensure success nor can it tell you that scores below a certain level will lead to failure. Scores on each of the factors should instead be used for discussion and planning for your collaborative initiative. As a general rule, the creators of this tool advise the following:

Scores of 4.0 or higher show a strength. These factors likely do not need special attention.

Scores of 3.0 to 3.9 are borderline and should be discussed by the group to see if they deserve attention.

Scores of 2.9 or lower reveal a concern and should be addressed.

APPENDIX D

This budget and accompanying narrative is intended to provide a realistic estimate of how much a new pre-K classroom meeting MDE guidelines may cost to operate.

This budget assumes that the pre-K program is housed within an organization that is already paying for overhead costs—rent, utilities, and maintenance—as well as general administration. If a provider expects to add multiple classrooms, then the provider should multiply each line item by the number of classrooms except for the “student assessment” line. Furthermore, if a provider has three or more classrooms, then the provider should consider a part-time or full-time pre-K coordinator, depending on the number of classrooms.

Revenue estimated in this budget is separated into three categories—program revenue, match revenue, and other revenue—in order to show how much participants in the state-funded program can expect. Program and match revenue assume a provider will receive the minimum guaranteed by the state-funded program—$7,000 per child with half paid by the state and half matched by the provider—for each of 20 children in a classroom ($3,500 per child from the state; $3,500 per child matched). “Other Revenue” is additional revenue that the provider may raise, either through over-matching or other sources. If a classroom is not part of the state-funded program, the provider should only expect to raise the total revenue amount for each year of the budget.

SALARIES/WAGES

Justification: Salaries comprise the largest single item in the budget. We budget for two full-time employees (FTE) for each pre-K classroom: a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. For both lead teachers and assistant teachers, we estimate that salaries will grow by 1% annually (Year 1 Salary * 1.01Year-1= Annual Salary). Salaries are estimated conservatively by assuming higher pay as noted below:

Lead Teacher: Salary for a lead teacher is estimated at $49,900.00 per year. A lead teacher in a public school classroom must hold a valid pre-K license. A salary of $49,900 assumes the teacher holds a bachelor’s degree with 10 years’ experience.

Assistant Teacher: Salary for an assistant teacher is estimated at $22,370.00 per year. This reflects the additional qualifications required for pre-K paraprofessionals but is on the high end of what school districts typically pay assistant teachers.

PLEASE NOTE: Salary for a pre-K coordinator is not included. Many school districts designate a pre-K coordinator who may have other responsibilities, such as the federal programs director. If the position is new, an additional salary should be included here.

*These are salary approximation and does not include local salary supplements.

FRINGE BENEFITS

Justification: Fringe benefits per FTE are estimated at 28% of salary per year as follows: Salary * %Fringe = Fringe. Because salaries increase at a rate of 1% annually, the cost of fringe benefits is also estimated to increase by 1% per year.

TRAVEL

Justification: We estimate $2,956 in Years 1-3 for in-state travel to state meetings, conferences, or trainings. We use state government rates for travel for budgeting purposes. More details on these estimates are provided below:

Mileage: State government policy mandates the state mileage rate when traveling in state in a privately owned vehicle. The approved mileage rate is $0.70/mile in FY2025. Since school districts may be located in any part of the state, a round-trip of 400 miles is estimated per trip.

Hotel: We assume a government rate of $110 for in-state hotels.

Per Diem: We use the government in-state rate of $68 per day for meals and incidentals.

Trips planned per staff member are as follows:

Pre-K Coordinator: The pre-K coordinator will take four trips (two 1-day trips and two 1.5-day trips), equaling five total travel days, for quarterly meetings with MDE staff. Two of these trips will require overnight stays. This will allow the pre-K coordinator to take one round trip per quarter between the pre-K site and MDE’s Jackson, Mississippi, headquarters. ($68 per diem x 5 travel days) + ($0.70 mileage x 400 miles x 4 trips) + (2 nights x $110 per hotel night) = $1,680

Lead Teacher: The lead teacher will take two trips of 1.5 days each, equaling three total travel days, for professional development opportunities. Each of these trips will require overnight stays. ($68 per diem x 3 travel days) + ($0.70 mileage x 400 miles x 2 trips) + (2 nights x $110 per hotel night) = $984

Assistant Teacher: The assistant teacher will take two trips of 1.5 days each, equaling three total travel days, for professional development opportunities. Each of these trips will require overnight stays. ($68 per diem x 3 travel days) + ($0.70 mileage x 400 miles x 2 trips) + (2 nights x $110 per hotel night) = $984

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

Justification: We use the Mississippi Beginnings curriculum to create the Educational Materials section. Mississippi Beginnings is the open source, evidence-based curriculum that MDE provides to ELCs. We suggest using Mississippi Beginnings because it is an evidence-based curriculum that many existing blended pre-K programs are using. Blended Pre-K programs do have the option of using other curriculums (see Program Requirements).

We estimate significant costs in Educational Materials for start-up—$12,061.85. A detailed list of items serving as the basis for these estimates is provided in this toolkit under “Start-Up Costs.” In Years 1-3, we budget for consumables and replacement costs only, as follows:

Language and Literacy: We budget $110.93 annually for consumables, such as paper, pencils, and other writing instruments. We estimate an additional $200 in replacement costs for damaged, worn, or missing items.

Dramatic Play: We estimate $150 in annual replacement costs for damaged, worn, or missing items.

Math: We estimate $250 in annual replacement costs for damaged, worn, or missing items.

Science (sensory): We budget $29.95 in annual replacement costs for sand for the water table.

Science (general): We estimate a small budget of $70 in annual replacement costs for damaged, worn, or missing items.

Arts (general): We estimate a small budget of $60 in annual replacement costs for damaged, worn, or missing items.

Arts (consumables): As consumables are expected to be used within 12 months, all of these items must be replenished annually.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Justification: Every classroom in a Mississippi public school pre-K or collaborative program is monitored by MDE using the CLASS evaluation. This evaluation is also common among non-collaborative Head Start classrooms. We estimate a budget of $1,000 a year to help teachers prepare for their CLASS evaluation, which is conducted by MDE. This budget can be used for CLASS resources, such as the video library or training workshops.

Justification: We estimate significant costs in Equipment or Technology for start up. In Years 1-3, we budget for periodic replacement only.

Desktop/Laptop/Tablet: We budget for one desktop, laptop, or tablet for staff use per classroom. We estimate replacement of this staff machine every five years, which is beyond the scope of this budget.

Tablets (4): We estimate that each pre-K classroom will need a minimum of four tablets for assessment purposes, as well as any desired technology center. Annual replacement costs are estimated at $2,800.000 This will cover full replacement of an iPad as well as any needed repairs.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Justification: We suggest budgeting $3,500 per year per classroom for costs associated with professional development for teachers and assistants. This may include registration to attend trainings or purchase training materials.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Justification: Pre-K programs commonly use literacy and math progress-monitoring assessments throughout the year. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, MDE is contracting with Amira Learning for the next five years to provide the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment and progress monitoring at no cost to school districts. Amira Learning offers additional services for school districts seeking more alignment with the Istation assessment.17 Collaboratives intending to use a different assessment for progress monitoring should contact the vendor to determine the cost structure.

17 Contact Chris Blevins, Amira Learning, via email at clenvins@istation.com.

Justification: Teacher office supplies are estimated at $700.00 per classroom. These office supplies include printer paper, pens, staples, ink cartridges, tape, etc., for each pre-K classroom.

START UP COSTS

This section provides a list of items, organized by center type, for furnishing a new pre-K classroom meeting the MDE Guidelines. All example items were estimated using prices from Kaplan Early Learning Company, except where otherwise noted. Pre-K programs may find many comparable items at a lower cost from other vendors, such as Creative Playthings, Scholastic, Lakeshore, Walmart, Target, or Amazon. Items marked in green are specifically required by the MDE guidelines, while items marked in yellow are specifically recommended.18 To fully furnish a classroom, pre-K providers should purchase more than the essential items (those in green or yellow). This means the total cost of furnishing a start-up classroom will be somewhere between the essential items’ cost and the recommended items’ cost, after curriculum materials are accounted for. Items that appear in the “Technology” line of the budget (fixed assets for public schools) are marked with an asterisk; all other items fall under “Educational Materials” in the budget. See the main budget narrative for more information on all expenses, including expenses beyond start up.

Summary of Center and Classroom Costs

For the purposes of this budget, we use the Mississippi Beginnings curriculum as the example curriculum because it is an open-source, evidence-based curriculum that MDE is requiring new collaboratives to use. The Mississippi Beginnings curriculum is free and comes with most of the items needed to implement it. The Building Blocks curriculum is embedded in the Mississippi Beginnings curriculum. However, MDE suggests budgeting for the two-volume teacher edition (Volume 1 and Volume 2) and, optionally, the classroom manipulative kit.

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

DRAMATIC PLAY

There are no comparable Mississippi Beginnings curriculum or manipulatives kit items.

BLOCKS AND ACCESSORIES

There are no comparable Mississippi Beginnings curriculum or manipulatives kit items.

SCIENCE - SENSORY

SCIENCE - GENERAL

– GENERAL

MUSIC (IF NO SEPARATE MUSIC CLASS IS AVAILABLE)

P.E. (IF NO SEPARATE P.E. CLASS IS AVAILABLE)

There

APPENDIX E

This is an adapted one-pager provided to collaboratives each year. The one-pager provides potential donors with information about how to use the state tax credit.

Early Learning

Collaborative tax credit Program

History OF THE PRE-K TAX CREDIT

In 2013, the State of Mississippi took an historic step by passing the Early Learning Collaborative Act. The law established a collaborative delivery, state-funded pre-K program in which private or parochial schools, private childcare centers, and/or Head Start centers may join with a local public school district and compete for state funds in order to provide pre-kindergarten services to a specific community. All funded collaboratives must adhere to state regulations requiring that they meet nationally recognized standards of quality.

Under the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013, individuals or corporations who make a contribution to support the local matching fund of an approved early learning collaborative may be eligible to receive a state tax credit for the donated amount up to $1,000,000.

HOW CAN INDIVIDUALS & CORPORATIONS HELP?

The Pre -K Tax Credit is unique because any individual or business paying state taxes can qualify if they make a proper donation to an approved collaborative.

The cost for providing pre-kindergarten services to four-year-old children amounts to $7,000 per child enrolled in full-day programs and $3,500 per child enrolled in half-day programs. The State of Mississippi provides half of these costs ($3,500 per child enrolled in full-day pre-K and $1,750 per child enrolled in half-day pre-K). However, the State requires that the other half be provided by local matching funds, which may include local tax dollars, federal dollars (as allowed), parent tuition, philanthropic contributions, or in-kind donations of facilities, equipment, and services required as part of the program, such as food service or health screenings. Individuals or businesses who are interested in donating can help ensure early learning collaboratives can provide high-quality care by donating to their local matching funds.

Pre-K Tax Credit

HOW IT WORKS

Each legislative session, the legislature determines how much funding is invested into the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013. In 2024, allocated $29 million for the early learning collaboratives. This increased funding will improve access to pre-K for all families in Mississippi. With each funding increase, not only does the number of impacted communities continue to grow but so does the amount of available tax credits. Since the fiscal year and the calendar year do not align, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) averages the appropriation amounts across fiscal years within a calendar year. The legislature appropriated $24 million in 2023 and $29 million in 2024, making the tax credit cap $26.5 million for 2024.

$29 million is the 2024 appropriation for the Early Learning Collaborative Act.

The sum of donations eligible for the tax credit may not exceed $26.5 million.

Tax credits are often confused with tax deductions. Tax deductions reduce the amount of your taxable income (what you earned), while tax credits reduce your tax liability (what you owe).

Without any credits or deductions, this is how tax liability is calculated with a income of $50,000 and a tax rate of 20%.

How Tax Credits Work

How Tax Deductions Work

$10,000 is the amount of liability. $2,000 credit

$8,000 is the new amount of liability. — = A tax credit of $2,000

With a tax credit, you apply the credit directly to your liability.

Securing THE TAX CREDIT

The tax credit is first come, first served based on the date of a qualifying donation. First, contact the lead partner for the collaborative to which you wish to donate. See below for your local approved early learning collaborative, along with contact information for the person responsible for collecting donations. MDE tracks qualifying donations towards the cap. When contacting the lead partner, verify that the tax credit cap has not been reached. If the program is nearing the cap, a donor can request that MDE “hold” the contribution spot for 30 days, pending the documentation of the donation, to ensure the donor’s place in line for the credit.

After you make a donation, MDE will issue you a donation certificate documenting that you have contributed to the local matching funds of an approved collaborative. This documentation preserves your place in line to claim the tax credit.

Indicate your donation when you file your state taxes. Use form 80-401, which can be found on the Department of Revenue’s website. The Department of Revenue will verify your donation with MDE.

Support Mississippi kids by investing in the early learning providers who work endlessly to provide high-quality education to those who need it the most. Your support will allow Mississippi’s statefunded pre-K program to continue to grow and grant more Mississippi kids access to excellent early childhood education.

EARLY LEARNING COLLABORATIVE CONTACTS

Collaborative

Biloxi Early Learning Collaborative

Trenisha Weekley trenisha.weekley@biloxischools.net

Brookhaven Early Learning Collaborative Stacy Walker stacy.walker@brookhavenschools.org

Clarke County Early Learning Collaborative Dixie McCollough dmccollough@qsdk12.org

Cleveland Early Learning Collaborative

Patsy Clerk pclerk@cleveland.k12.ms.us

Coahoma Early Learning Collaborative Peggy Hemphill phemphill@cmsd.k12.ms.us

Corinth Early Learning Collaborative Kate Killough kkillough@corinth.k12.ms.us

George County Early Learning Collaborative Kristi Kirkwood kristi.kirkwood@gcsd.us

Greenwood Early Learning Collaborative

Edshundra Gary egary@glcsd.org

Grenada Early Learning Collaborative Kim Ezelle kezelle@grenadak12.com

Hattiesburg Early Learning Collaborative Hope Mikell hope.mikell@hattiesburgpsd.com

Hollandale Early Learning Collaborative

Shontelle Johnson sjohnson@hollandalesd.org

Holly Springs Early Learning Collaborative Sherna Jones shjones@hssdk12.org

Holmes County Consolidated School District

Early Learning Collaborative Alfreda Brown alfreda.brown@holmesccsd.org

Jackson Public Schools/Hinds County Early Learning Collaborative Felicia Thomas fthomas@jackson.k12.ms.us

Jefferson County Early Learning Collaborative Yashica Suddeth ysuddeth@jcpsd.net

Kosciusko Early Learning Collaborative Suzanne Crosby suzanne.crosby@kosciuskoschools.com

Lafayette-Oxford-University Early Learning Collaborative

Cara Buffington cbbuffington@oxfordsd.org

Lamar County Early Learning Collaborative Heather Lyons heather.lyons@lamarcountyschools.org

Lee County Early Learning Collaborative Jodie Boyd jodie.boyd@leecountyschools.us

Leland Early Learning Collaborative Linda McAdory lindamcadory@lelandk12.org

Long Beach Early Learning Collaborative Kelleigh Broussard kelleigh.broussard@lbsdk12.com

Lowndes County Early Learning Collaborative Kristie Jones kristie.jones@lowndes.k12.ms.us

Marion County and Columbia Early Learning Collaborative Haley Green hgreen@marionk12.org

McComb Community Collaborative for Early Learning Success

Monroe Early Learning Collaborative

Betty Wilson-McSwain wilsonb@mccomb.k12.ms.us

Jennifer Calvert jcalvertmelc@gmail.com

Collaborative

Noxubee Early Learning Collaborative

Helen Gilkey hgilkey@ourncsd.org

Pascagoula-Gautier Early Learning Collaborative Kelly McCorkle kmccorkle@pgsd.ms

Pass Christian Early Learning Collaborative Mandy Lacy mlacy@pc.k12.ms.us

Petal Early Learning Collaborative

Picayune Early Learning Collaborative

Pontotoc Early Learning Collaborative

Rankin Early Learning Collaborative

Jana Perry jana.perry@petalschools.com

Pamela Thomas pthomas@pcu.k12.ms.us

Felicia Pollard fpollard@pontotoc.k12.ms.us

Lakeisha Maxer lakeisha.maxer@rcsd.ms

Scott County Early Learning Collaborative Nyisha Wells nwells@scott.k12.ms.us

Senatobia Early Learning Collaborative

South Panola Early Learning Collaborative

Starkville Early Learning Collaborative

Tallahatchie Early Learning Collaborative

Monica Mitchell mmitchell@senatobiaschools.com

Lashunda Hamilton lhamilton@spanola.net

Mary Coleman mcoleman@starkvillesd.com

Cheryl Swoopes cheryl@sonedna.com

West Jasper Early Learning Collaborative Tony Keys tkeys@westjasper.org

West Point Early Learning Collaborative Eloise McClinton emcclinton@ics-hs.org

Yazoo City Early Learning Collaborative

Sametra Brown sbrown@masd.k12.ms.us