“Area’s with brain power have a competitive advantage over other areas,” I researched and wrote in a column 16 years ago. “Brain power is the gold of the 21st Century in America.”
I recalled this column after reading a recent opinion column by Dr. Cathy Grace, the co-director of the Graduate Center for the Study of Early Learning at Ole Miss. Her piece highlighted Mississippi’s continued, stubborn reluctance to invest in early childhood education.
“Currently Mississippi invests $6.5 million dollars in pre-kindergarten,” she noted, adding that the Education Commission of the States report for 2016-2017 showed neighboring states Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee invested $105 million, $64.4 million, and $86.6 million respectively. All experienced higher average annual economic growth over the past decade than Mississippi, with Mississippi one of the lowest three states in the nation.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Grace concluded.
So, back to my 2003 column on brain power (excerpts shown in quotations).
“The 2000 Census shows that just one out of eight adults in our region has a university degree of any kind. Conversely, we have and continue to produce citizens without the brain power needed to compete for top 21st Century jobs. School data shows too many of our 3rd graders cannot read at ‘proficient’ levels…too many of our 7th graders are not ‘proficient’ in basic math…and too many of our students drop out.”
(While we have made some progress in these areas, particularly in third grade reading and graduation rates, we still have a long, long way to go to be a state known for its collective brain power.)
“A prerequisite for brain power is brain development. Research shows that many of our students who cannot read at grade level in the 3rd grade, who cannot do basic math, and who drop out, suffer from inadequate brain development.
“The critical years for brain development are from birth to age four. Children in poverty, unhealthy, and/or abusive environments have a high risk of poor brain development.
“Too many of our most at-risk children have little access to early childhood programs and enter kindergarten unready and unable to learn.”
(Dr. Grace brought noted researcher Dr. Craig Ramey to Jackson last year. He cited 40 years of research confirming the above but also showing that “cognitive disabilities can be prevented in early childhood.”)
(Next Dr. Grace brought Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. James Heckman to Jackson. He made it clear to Gov. Phil Bryant and others attending his briefing that investing in comprehensive, high quality, early childhood education would yield a 13% return on investment.)
“Regions determined to compete in the new economy will make sure brain development programs are in place. As more children read with comprehension, the quality of school programs will increase, the quality of high school graduates will increase, and the quality and quantity of our college and university graduates will increase, providing us significant homegrown brain power.”
(On the other hand, regions that do little to spur homegrown brain power will find themselves at a competitive dis-advantage.)
Kudos to Dr. Grace for continuing her decades-long efforts to educate our leaders on facts and opportunities most other states, including our neighbors, have understood and acted upon for years…to the benefit of their economies.
Crawford is a syndicate columnist from Meridian.
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Bill Crawford: Needed: Brain Power
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33 comments:
I'm wondering how that government shutdown is working out for you guys.
Why does "area’s" have the apostrophe? It's not possessive and not a contraction. What's the apostrophe for? Perhaps to demonstrate a lack of "brain power" by its author.
That's not standard English usage and moves the author's opinions on education over to the dumb a$$ column.
Syntax/grammar/punctuation doesn't matter?
Confucius thought otherwise:
A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.
XIII Analects 3, verses 4-7
Me too.
There are hundreds of Pre-K Programs in our state. I attended one in the 1960’s
If there is one thing that hasn't worked it's Headstart.
Why does no one address the real problem ? The best Pre-K program is a loving family in a good home and no amount of wasted taxpayer dollars can duplicate that EVER. 40% ot the State's population has a 70%+ out of wedlock birth rate. Education will never flourish in such an environment no matter how much money is thrown at it. I know this won't get published but pisses me off every time someone blames us taxpayers for something we didn't create but are expected to want to waste our hard earned money fixing.
I'm glad you included this phrase in your opening paragraph. It told me I needed to read no further, so I didn't....
"...Mississippi’s continued, stubborn reluctance to invest in early childhood education..."
Who, in his/her right mind actually believes Mississippi is reluctant to invest in early childhood education, especially an editorialist, writer, editor and man about town?
For multiple decades this state has been saturated with Head Start Centers (Friends of Children their proponents call themselves) as well as kindergarten and pre-K for quite awhile.
How can anybody with half a grain of sense make the claim you did?
You would have served us better had you bemoaned the fact that all that money is pissed away, rather than claiming it's not invested.
See previous post.
Mr Crawford
The “ white guilt” ploy doesn’t have traction on this blog.
I have to fly this week, I hope the TSA agents have gas money, I plan to slip them a few dollars for lunch if they show up.
1:33, let me get this straight...when mobs of liberal rioters yell "shut it down" and interfere with the government it is acceptable, but when conservatives hold liberals in the Congress accountable to their previous statements relating to border security (for example Obama (when he was a Senator), Hillary Clinton (when she was a Senator), and Chuck Schumer, and so on...) it isn't. Please explain.
Please be intellectually honest and admit that that this is all about the current President, and not about the issue of border security.
Unfortunately in many areas Pre-K is more about baby sitting and free meals than education. More unfortunately, this is one of those areas.
You aren't getting an education if you are taught the world is flat.
You aren't getting an education if you are taught to memorize but don't comprehend the meaning of the words regurgitated or learn to think logically and empirically.
The existence of pre-schools and kindergartens doesn't mean they are effective or are based on accepted teaching methods.
If you continue to reward ignorance and punishment enlightenment, ignorance wins.
If your culture emphasizes beauty and athletics as the vehicles to success rather than education, then that's what children believe.
If you'd rather your children stay close to home and be just like you rather than recognize the world is large and complex and there are things you know nothing about that may interest them, you hold them back.
And, if you are afraid that reading all points of view is dangerous and don't have enough faith your beliefs to be confident that a well educated , well adjusted child will reach the same conclusion if given all the available information, then you just pass along your own insecurity to your child. And, you miss the opportunity for them to teach you new thing as you age.
You know what else is a great Pre-K program...A FAMILY! Strong families lead to strong morals and work ethic. When liberal policies began to reward irresponsible behavior and abandonment of the traditional family, we started to see kids seeking other pseudo-familial associations, like gangs. Did you know that one of the most prolific street gangs in the United States was initially funded by a government grant?
Thanks liberals for ruining our country!
@7:23 Sorry, but the WHOLE system pre-K thru 12th grade is about mostly about babysitting, free meals, AND to throw jobs to the low hanging fruit of the state - poor whites and blacks but making sure they'll vote for those promising the most stuff. Nothing's changed since the cotton-ginning days of old. Keep the poor in its place with just enough to exist and provide the upper class white supremacist leaders "data" to hide the masquerade, while scooping the cream from the top and sending it to the big house (based only on who they know, because they wouldn't make it outside of Mississippi). An OM degree will open doors for you within the state and depending who your mommy/daddy knows, outside of it, you're laughed at.
◈◈◈ The best Pre-K program is a loving family in a good home and no amount of wasted taxpayer dollars can duplicate that EVER. ◈◈◈
24-Karat GOLD
Hasn't the federal Head Start program been running for over 50 years? Has that federal program born fruit?
I will tell you what my head start was. I had a 2 parent home that wasn't rich but did their best. I don't recall them taking any federal benefits despite qualifying for them.
Books were read to me when I was young. I was taken to the library. And I still enjoy reading to this day.
LaVar Burton has tried for years. Some people just won't ever get it. There is more to life than basketball sneakers and Marijuana cigars.
Have always thought that we should force the criminals in our jails to read Bill Crawford and Lynn Evans columns aloud once each day though I'm sure the bleeding hearts would consider that cruel and unusual punishment.
@8:48
Still deflecting the blame. Fatherless "homes" are the root of many (if not most) of the social and educational problems in this state but it's never the fault of the "parents" and no one wants to talk about it much less correct it.
8:37 let's remember 1st that Mexico is supposed to pay for the wall, tariffs are paid by the consumer not forgien countries. The house has passed bi partisan legestation previously passed by the Senate and because Coulter and Rush embrassed the president he now refuses to sign these bills.
It's my bet that the Republicans in the Senate will come to theirs senses shortly and cocurr with the house by passing the individual bills with veto proof majorities. You better watch out when that happens too, because then the president will really be embrassed.
We have for several decades punished those poor parents who married while rewarding those who remain single and then blaming those recognizing and taking advantage of one of the greatest opportunities available to them.......... So who's really stupid here?
@ 10:45 AM
Nice talking points. Rush is on the radio right now replaying the soundbites of the Cable News talking heads repeating that he and Ann Coulter are to blame for the shutdown. Rush was on vacation and not shaming anyone on the air.
Rush Limbaugh leaves to go on vacation the week before Christmas and just returned today. He has guest hosts for the duration of his holiday leave and he gives his staff, including his producer Bo Snerdley, the same holiday break. The man takes his Christmas Vacation seriously. Regular listeners know this.
10:45 - 8:37 here...what in the hell are you even talking about? Was my post about a wall, or Mexicans, or any other blather you wrote? Focus - the topic is about the degradation of the nuclear family and it effect on society writ large.
And Hannity is not advising Trump to keep the government shutdown until the STU address. It's just too bad the millions of people are not being paid, 1000s of them are Mississippians. Wicker and Hyde Smith will not be moved but remember 22 Republicans are up for re-election in 2020. Trump is already toast as far 2020 is cocerned. His base continues to get smaller. Folks are catching up to his lies as like with the coal miners who now see more coal fired plant closings in 2 years that Obama had in his last 4. He lied to them saying that he was going to bring it back and they realize it now was all a lie. Talk to a soybean farmers here in Mississippi and ask him if he voted for tariffs. Also ask him about the agriculture department being shut down during one the most important times of the year.
By the end of the week 13 Senators will vote to open it up.
Women have a choice over whether or not their child is fatherless. Choose wisely, and you, your children, and your family will be happy and successful.....choose shortsightedly? You and your child will be on your own, because you the woman did not think things through carefully enough. Anyone can tell if/when a man is ready to be a father - or if he is not. It's not that complicated. Don't bring children into the world full-well knowing that their "father" has no intention of being one, or is completely ill-prepared to be one. Roe vs. Wade was rightfully passed for a reason. Unfortunately, the gub'mint wants to keep the female vote, so they've subsidized their selfish choice to be a "mother" when in fact they probably aren't ready themselves to be a parent.
Trump is going to address the nation on the crisis he is trying to create on the border tomorrow night. I am guessing he is going to tell 1.3 lies per minute. Buckle up & get ready for the fact checkers, Fox even hit SHS with fact checks and it was brutal.
1:38, have you ever been to the border (the real border)? It is a crisis, and has been for a long time. I lived in a couple of border communities while my wife was a Border Patrol Agent and I worked for another agency, it really is like a third-world country. She cleaned up body dumps by cartels, recovered children's bodies in the desert, arrested terrorists, fought for her life on several occasions, and spent our money on baby clothes and formula for children who were abandoned by human smugglers. Don't tell me about the crisis on the border - we lived it.
Tickled pink to pivot to THE WALL. There is no crisis or emergency at the southern border. THE WALL was a campaign ploy dreamed up by Trump to appeal to his base. Illegal immigration is down over prior years, as is the number of crimes committed by immigrants. Not a single terrorist has been stopped at the southern border. They enter through airports, where security is less effective due to the Trump shut down. Trump is peddling fear to justify a $5.7 billion expenditure that is not necessary and will not work.
What is the explanation for the fools injecting Trump, Rush Limbaugh and Mexico into this story ? Are they just examples of typical Dem dumb asses OR folks who didn't get their Pre-K degrees ?
We need to declare a national emergency against nostalgic idealism because that sh*t is causing some real problems.
Since Trump has no brain power, it makes sense to mention him in these posts.
Wow this was fun and I didn't start it. Trump has hurt more than he's helped here in the Sip with the tariffs alone. He isn't worried thou, these his people all the way overboard.
Tonight Trump should just say the wall has been built already, 90% of his supporters and 20% of the rest would believe him.
Snowflake alert at 3:50!!!
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