By Courtney Warren
Early childhood education is a priority for the Mississippi Department of Education, and the Canton Public School District (CPSD) is working to strengthen early learning opportunities for its students.
Shoney Harris, CPSD’s director of literacy and early childhood education, partnered with the Mississippi Department of Education to provide an in-depth look at what high-quality early childhood education should look like in early childhood classrooms.
Harris is committed to helping CPSD scholars develop foundational literacy skills and reach the goal of reading by age five.
The focus on early learning comes as Mississippi continues to see progress in kindergarten readiness and early literacy. In 2024, 67.2% of students in Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaboratives met the state’s end-of-year kindergarten readiness benchmark, compared with 59% in 2015. Additionally, 63.8% of Mississippi kindergarteners met the state’s end-of-year literacy target in spring 2024, up from 57.7% in spring 2022.
Mississippi also continues to emphasize quality in its publicly funded preschool programs. During the 2024-25 school year, 8,076 children were enrolled in Mississippi’s state-funded preschool programs, and the state met all ten of the National Institute for Early Education Research’s quality standards benchmarks.
CPSD is committed to ensuring teachers have the content knowledge, resources and instructional strategies needed to support student success and build a strong foundation for students’ academic journeys.
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