Research over the years has shown that the environment in which children spend the majority of their day is critical to early brain development. Inside or out of the home, children need exposure to a positive and rich learning environment from the start.

For years, states across America have questioned whether their child-care systems and the environments they provide for children are the best they can be. In October 1999, Mississippi joined its neighbors when the Office of Children and Youth paired up with Mississippi State's Early Childhood Institute to evaluate the quality of the state's child-care facilities.

The Early Childhood Institute, established in 1999 with funding from The Day Foundation of Memphis, Tenn., and MSU's College of Education, is assessing 100 day care facilities throughout Mississippi. The 26 evaluators trained on a national rating scale also will provide technical assistance to facilities in areas that need further support.

Cathy Grace, ECI's coordinator and an associate professor at MSU, said it is important to learn about the conditions under which some children spend most of their day.

"This evaluation is not tied to child-care licenses, but relates to the facility's learning environment," she said. "We want to deal with and improve curriculum issues and help build support for caregivers across the state. Through this research, we will be able to identify and support good child-care programs."

The 100 public facilities being evaluated are all recipients of quality improvement money from the Mississippi Department of Human Services and its Office of Children and Youth. The institute's one-year evaluation research will help the agency measure the impact of the improvement money.