Collaborating for Learning

MDE Coaches Support Early Learning Collaboratives

Heather Craig

People often think of pre-K and kindergarten education as fun and games, but Mississippi — who has supported early learning classrooms with coaching collaborations since 2015 to help them meet state benchmarks — takes this play quite seriously.

During the 2021-2022 school year, the Department of Early Childhood at the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) hosted 330 learning collaboratives with more than 30 coaches who help ensure teachers and students across the state are equipped with all the activities, equipment and knowledge they need to help preschoolers and kindergartners engage in play that results in both learning and preparation for literacy and other early childhood landmarks.

Dr. Jill Dent, director of Early Childhood at MDE, says educators are able to build trust with their

coaches because their assigned coach works alongside them for multiple school years.

“We start by building a relationship with the teachers, who quickly learn that we are there to help them with anything from room arrangement and materials to lesson planning and question asking,” Dent said.

The MDE plans to hire 10 more coaches for the coming year, along with a number of support staff to help with the program.

Michael Mozee, who supports teachers in North and South Mississippi, says it has always been important to him to see male educators in the classroom, so he dedicated his life to early childhood learning, starting his career at Isable Elementary School as a pre-K teacher.

Mozee also says that trust is the most valuable aspect of the teacher-coach relationship. “Of all the things we want to do for them, we know that building trust is everything because we sincerely want to help them give their students what they need,” he said.

“It is usually a learning experience for the coaches more so than the teachers. We are assistants who are able to offer support through our strengths-based coaching method, and that starts with learning what the teachers need to serve their students well,” Dent said.

Heather Lyons, pre-K coordina-

feature f tor in the Lamar County School District, just completed her fifth year with Sandra Watkins, the coach for her school’s collaborative.

“[Watkins] is really gifted at coming alongside teachers. She takes the time to get to know them and build trust. She is able to take the assessment components and help teachers grow,” Lyons said.

The combination of professional development, coaching and family engagement opportunities that the coaching collaborations create for classrooms and centers across the state does more than improve the quality of the programs — the concerted effort at supporting teachers also results in improved retention rates.

Opposite page: Longleaf Elementary (Lamar County School District) teachers make story time active to keep students engaged. Above: An Oak Grove (Lamar County School District) teacher gets on her students’ level to engage their attention. Photos by Rory Dyle, MS First

We start by building a relationship with the teachers, who quickly learn that we are there to help them with anything from room arrangement and materials to lesson planning and question asking.

-Dr. Jill Dent

director of Early Childhood at MDE

“It is such a great opportunity to grow staff for the long term without adding more overhead. It has proven to reduce teacher turnover in our programs. We had seven new hires last year who are all returning; that gives us 13 total who are all coming back from teaching here previously. Teachers feel a sense of support and collaboration in the coaching opportunities,” Lyons said.

Mozee explains that his role as a coach is to provide activities, methods and guidance to the teachers in his collaborative.

“I say support as a verb, and I focus on giving support from the perspective of a teacher,” Mozee, who worked in pre-K and kindergarten for almost 10 years, said.

Dent, Lyons and Mozee all agree that the coaching collaboratives result in success for students and teachers across the state.

“Teachers are welcoming and open to resources, information gathering and other help to create the best environment for their students,” Dent said.

“We begin by observing and giving feedback, but the most important thing we do is modeling,” Mozee said of his coaching experience. Above: Longleaf Elementary students (Lamar County School District) practice sight words during carpet time.

“The method of learning, observing, offering feedback and modeling is truly the key to successfully bridging our students’ learning from toddler years to pre-K and kindergarten.”

“Adults often think that pre-K and kindergarten are all fun and games, but play truly is the work of a child. There is a lot that goes into teaching children and making sure they are learning while having fun. The coaching collaboratives help us make sure that learning is happening,” Lyons said.

Above: Students at Oak Grove Primary (Lamar County School District) share their magnetic creation with their teacher. Below: Lamar County School District’s (LCSD’s) Heather Lyons helps students with their early reading skills during outdoor playtime.