1. Guiding and Preparing Staff in the Mississippi Delta: Empowering One Child At a Time Kimberly Triplett, Ph.D. Field Supervisor/Training Coordinator of Mississippi Delta Initiatives Early Childhood Institute Mississippi State University

2. Mississippi Delta

3. Famous for Blues legend B. B. King Football great Archie Manning Civil rights leader and advocate Fannie Lou Hamer Extraordinary actor Morgan Freeman The Muppets creator Jim Henson Soul singer Sam Cooke Famous for One of the highest crime rates in the state Extensive drug and alcohol abuse issues Alarming, increasing rates of teenage pregnancy Poor economic development Devastation number of young children living in poverty and their families’ struggle to overcome everyday hardships

4. The Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State University promotes high-quality care through a plethora of programs. For over ten years, we have been the forerunners of a relentless fight for improving care and education of children in rural and low-resource areas in the state of Mississippi.

5. Mississippi Delta Initiatives Sisterhood program Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker project (MIHOW) Delta Promise School Mississippi Delta Early Learning Corps

6. The primary focus of the Mississippi Delta Early Learning Corps (MDELC) is to provide a successful professional development model based on individual teacher’s needs, straying from lectures and workshops.

7. MDELC’s Purpose Provide guidance to teachers of infants and toddlers Offer on-site education to teachers Improve the quality of educational services Raise the caliber of the overall education of participating teachers

8. MDELC’s Goals Improve the quality of early care and education for infants and toddlers so participating children will be more likely to be successful when entering public school To build capacity of non-traditional infant and toddler providers that serve low-income children

9. MDELC’s Objectives Recruiting participants Providing support and education information Promoting employment in the state’s technical assistance unit

10. Discoveries in brain development has resulted in early childhood professionals realizing the need for children to be provided with rich literacy, numeracy, and social/emotional opportunities in high-quality early care and education sites in the early years.

11. Training Topics Professionalism Brain development Best practices and developmental milestones for infants and toddlers Diversity and culture of child care in the Mississippi Delta Right from Birth Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale-Revised Infant/toddler early learning guidelines

12. MDELC’s Implications Local level: More jobs for an underutilized segment of the workforce in an economically depression region of the state Local level: Quality of care and care in education to support attempts of measurable improvements in terms of teachers’ perceptions and implementation of quality care and improved environmental and children’s outcomes

13. MDELC’s Implications State level: Another career path for non-traditional workers State level: Another technical assistant model being utilized as a vital element in the professional development of infant/toddler providers Federal level: Program worth replication to improve education and training of infant/toddler providers and to provide employment opportunities

14. Program Evaluation Distributing routine feedback forms Providing multiple, on-site evaluations of the trainees during field experiences Completing the 12-month, 32 hours-a-week training course Reviewing attendance records Being awarded the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential

15. Project Growth and Assessment Another training program is currently being funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Technicians’ (graduates of the training program) project of working on-site and modeling best practices to infant/toddler providers is funded by the Mississippi Department of Health.

17. Score Performance Measure Comments ++Trainee and teacher have established a relationship that encourages various opportunities for learning to occur. It was quite evident that the teacher wanted the Trainee to do well; she was very supportive of all of his efforts. The worked extremely well together. +Trainee makes an effort to implement correct sanitation practices (e.g. hand washing, toileting, diapering, etc.). Children’s runny noses were consistently not cleaned; Trainee used sanitizer instead of washing his hands. +Trainee is actively engaged in daily activities that take place within the classroom (e.g. interacting with children, sitting at children’s eye level, interacting during learning centers, etc.). The Trainee did an excellent job of interacting and talking with the children. Trainee did not sit on the floor while the children were playing. +Trainee assists teacher with daily classroom duties (e.g. preparing for meals, organization of classroom materials, daily chores, etc.) The Trainee does not have any problems with assuming duties in the classroom. He just needs to be reminded that he is a “living model” of best practices for infant and toddler teachers.

18. ITERS-R Summary Report Facility: TVCL Address: Greenville, MS County: Washington Pre Test Date: 3.17.09 Post Test Date: 2.5.10

20. There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children. -Nelson Mandela Former President of South Africa

21. Kimberly Triplett Post Office Box 6013 46 Blackjack Road Mississippi State, MS 39762 662.325.5116 (office) 662.325.5436 (fax) kmt74@colled.msstate.edu