Jeanne Holland
Mississippi State University
National Center for Early Childhood Institute
46 Blackjack Rd., P.O. Box 6013
Mississippi State, MS 39762
(662) 325-4836, (662) 325-5436 fax

Mississippi State University’s, Partners for Quality Childcare (PQCC) is a program funded by the Mississippi Department of Human Services that evaluates the level of program quality of childcare centers serving low-income families. The goals of the project are to enhance the quality of childcare for children in Mississippi by identifying the level of quality present, to develop a technical assistance system for childcare providers based on identified needs, to develop a quality childcare evaluation model, to introduce national rating scales and training curriculum to a larger population, and to fully utilize technology in the delivery of information to childcare providers.

The technical assistance for childcare providers is a combination of traditional, on-site/ hands-on modeling, individual consultation, and technology. The project Web site (www.educ.msstate.edu/cni/eci/partners) is a unique tool that assists centers in learning about quality childcare. It is animated and engages the learner through examples of quality pictorially displayed with a minimum amount of text. Due to the large number of rural childcare centers participating in this program, the provision of on-site training and technical assistance to providers enhances the overall quality of care provided to children of Child Care Development Funds income-eligible families and promotes literacy skills among young children in all areas of the state.

The overall goal of the project is to see significant improvement in the quality of the environment and to promote literacy skill development for young children. The improved quality of teaching that accompanies these additional educational experiences translates into improved learning opportunities for children.