Helen Clare Taylor, PhD | Special to BIZ. Magazine
In the Shreveport-Bossier business community, we often focus on tangible infrastructure: expanding the Port of Caddo-Bossier, developing healthcare corridors, leveraging our interstate crossroads, and of course, growing our hometown four-year university, LSU Shreveport, to prepare students for the workforce. These assets matter. However, as local leaders, we must also recognize a more foundational form of infrastructure that determines our regional economic ceiling—the home literacy environment.
Our future workforce is in preschool today, and their early development is one of the strongest predictors of our long-term prosperity.
For decades, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities has preserved our state’s history. Today, they are using those same stories to build Louisiana’s future through a proven engine for school readiness known as Prime Time. Launched 35 years ago in Louisiana, Prime Time was designed to strengthen families and communities by harnessing the humanities. It has since grown into a nationally recognized model, earning the 2025 Literacy Awards American Prize from the Library of Congress. It is a “Made in Louisiana” success story that has become a national blueprint for early childhood literacy.
The Data for North Louisiana Leaders
We are at a critical juncture. While 80% of 4-year-olds in Louisiana are enrolled in publicly funded early learning programs and our K-12 ranking have improved from 49th to 37th in the nation, sustaining that progress requires stronger connections between the classroom and the home.
A recent landmark five-year study underscores why this matters. Analyzing nearly 1,000 children, researchers found that those participating in Prime Time consistently finished preschool significantly ahead of their peers, effectively moving a child from the 50th percentile to the 70th percentile in core developmental areas. That’s the difference between a child just keeping up and a child truly thriving and leading the class.
Building “Soft Skills” for the Future Workforce
For employers, this should resonate. Academic skills alone are not enough, we need a workforce capable of critical thinking and self-regulation. The study confirms that Prime Time Preschool directly impacts early reading and foundational numeracy while also contributing to broader school readiness.
Prime Time achieves this by bringing young children and their caregivers together for shared meals, guided story reading, and play-based learning. By strengthening the bond between caregiver and child through critical thinking, the program acts as a complement to our formal early learning systems. It addresses the home literacy environment, which remains one of the strongest predictors of long-term academic and professional success.
A Call to Action for Shreveport-Bossier
The greatest value of Prime Time is its ability to ensure learning continues beyond the school day. Educators, home visitors, and early learning centers in Caddo and Bossier parishes can use this program as a structured bridge to reinforce the home environment.
I urge my fellow leaders to explore the findings of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ recent report and consider how we can support this mission. Fall program locations around the state will be announced June 1, and I hope to see a strong presence in North Louisiana. Investing in family literacy isn’t just a charitable act; it is the most strategic way to “de-risk” our future talent pool and ensure that Shreveport-Bossier remains a competitive place to do business.
Helen Clare Taylor is the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Louisiana State University Shreveport.