A GREAT EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION WORKFORCE
WE ALL WANT ONE BUT HOW CAN DO WE MAKE IT
HAPPEN?
Shelley deFosset & Tracey West
FPG Child Development Institute
Sandy Wilberger
VCU T/TAC
12th National Early Childhood Inclusion Institute
May 14–16, 2012
Participant Poll


What sector do you represent?
What is your role?
What is NPDCI?
The goal of NPDCI is
to assist states in
developing crosssector professional
development plans to
increase opportunities
for high quality
preschool inclusion.
For Discussion


What is “cross-sector”
professional development?
Who should be part of
the cross-sector system
of PD?
State Early Childhood Development System
Comprehensive health services
that meet children’s vision,
hearing, nutrition, behavioral,
and oral health as well as
medical health needs.
Early
Learning
Health,
Mental Health
and Nutrition
Early identification,
assessment and appropriate
services for children with
special health care needs,
disabilities, or
developmental delays
5
Early care and education
opportunities in nurturing
environments where children
can learn what they need to
succeed in school and life.
Family
Support
Special Needs/
Early
Intervention
Economic and parenting
supports to ensure children
have nurturing and stable
relationships with caring
adults.
National Context








Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC)
Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC)
Quality Rating & Improvement Systems (QRIS)
Early Childhood Outcome Reporting
BUILD (Early Childhood Systems Working Group)
Early Childhood Registries
Multiple Quality Initiatives
Inclusion: DEC & NAEYC Joint Position Statement on
Inclusion
Quality Movement =
Multiple Quality Initiatives
7
accreditation
criteria
Fiefdoms of Early Childhood
Collaborative Approach to PD
Health
Collaboration:
a commitment to work together
to address a problem and
achieve a goal that could not be
accomplished by the
organizations working
individually (Mattessich et al., 2004)
Early
Childhood
Collaborative
PD Initiatives
Early
Intervention
Higher
Education
Small Group Discussion


How could a crosssector system of PD
that supports inclusion
be beneficial to you in
your work?
What might be the
challenges in building
a cross-sector system?
The Big Picture
Planning Guide is
designed to
support state-level
planning leading
to an integrated
professional
development
system across all
early childhood
sectors.
Big Picture Planning Guide:
Planning Sequence
Step 1: Set the Stage
 Step 2: Develop a Vision and Focus Areas
 Step 3: Develop an Implementation Plan
 Step 4: Create a Structure for Ongoing
Improvement

Professional Development Who, What and How Planning Matrix (NPDCI, 2011)
Part 1: WWH – Learners
Who are the major
To whom does this
funding agencies for
agency provide PD?
early childhood PD?
What is the content of
the PD?
How is the PD
delivered?
What is content of the
PD for PD providers?
How is it delivered?
Is this PD
integrated with
quality initiatives
& infrastructure
supports?
Part 2: WWH – PD Providers
Who are the PD
providers?
Who provides
support &
resources to the PD
providers?
Link to
infrastructure?
Professional Development
Planning Matrix


For use at state, regional and local level
The Matrix provides information that can be
used to facilitation and inform discussion of:



Unnecessary duplications in PD practices across agencies
(e.g., multiple agencies providing PD on the same content
areas to the same target audiences without intentional
planning)?
Gaps in PD efforts (e.g., important content not being
addressed in PD, content not aligned with competencies and
standards, lack of support for PD providers)?
Collaboration across sectors in how PD is funded, planned,
and implemented? How could collaboration be improved?
Professional Development
Planning Matrix



Are there unnecessary duplications in PD practices across
agencies (e.g., multiple agencies providing PD on the same
content areas to the same target audiences without
intentional planning)?
Are there gaps in PD efforts (e.g., important content not
being addressed in PD, content not aligned with
competencies and standards, lack of support for PD
providers)?
Is there collaboration across sectors in how PD is funded,
planned, and implemented? How could collaboration be
improved?
Landscape


For Use at the State Level
The Landscape provides information about:
The PD content that is being addressed most/least often
(e.g., general knowledge, practice knowledge)
 The characteristics of the learners (e.g., level of education,
age group served, work settings)
 The PD approaches that are being used most/least often
 The level of intensity representative of the majority of the
PD provided

Virginia’s Story
Virginia Cross-Sector Professional
Development (VCPD) State Team

Membership
 VA
Office of Early Childhood Development
( EC AC)
 VA Department of Education
 VA Department of Health
 VA Department of Social Services
 VA Resource and Referral Network
 VA Part C Office
 VA Integrated Training Collaborative
Virginia Cross-Sector Professional
Development (VCPD) State Team

Membership, con’t
 The
ARC of VA
 Partnership for People with Disabilities (UCEED)
 Head Start Collaboration Office
 VA Early Childhood Foundation
 VA State Technical Assistance Centers
 VA Institutes of Higher Education
 VA Military Childcare
 VA Star Quality Rating Initiative
Accomplishments of VCPD




Formation of an active, engaged cross-sector forum of all
relevant PD providers in VA that includes a statement of
purpose and a letter of agreement
A systematic statewide exploration of the status of Early
Childhood PD in Virginia through NPDCI tools (Landscape
and Matrix)
Examination of gaps and coordination of new PD
initiatives: Center for Early Learning and Literacy
(CELL),Center for Social Emotional Foundations for Early
Learning (CSEFEL) and SpecialQuest(SQ), with these
Initiatives building off each other’s efforts
Two cross sector train-the-trainer initiatives(CELL and SQ)
Accomplishments con’t




More communication between pre-service and in-service
through new Federal Office of Special Education Programs
(OSEP) paraprofessional grant and SQ
Updated the Competencies for EC Professional to support
inclusive practices, with interest in incorporating other at-risk
populations
Assessed needs of state PD from all sectors to develop a
statewide collaborative framework/network
The expansion of the ECSE Institutes of Higher Education
Council to become the Preparing Educators of All Young
Children (PEAYC) Group, linking to community Colleges,
locality PD providers, and 4 year colleges
Virginia’s Landscape
In Virginia, a team identified PD providers and
these providers were invited via email to complete
the Landscape.
Response rate



VA (n = 256)
of those who followed the link in the invitation email
to the Web site with details about the survey 69%
of the total number invited 33%
Results
WHO were the learners who participated in PD?
Learners
Practitioners
91%
Administrators
60.00%
Family members
34%
PD providers
23%
VA
Specialists
Other
25%
7%
Practitioners Work Setting
Practitioners’ work settings
Child care centers and homes
76%
Head Start or Early Head Start
67%
Private preschools
54%
Public Pre-K programs
42%
Preschool for children with disabilities (Part B)
30%
Early intervention (Part C)
26%
Home visiting/family support
22%
K and/or primary grades
Other
20%
4%
Age Groups Served
Age groups practitioners served
Infants/toddlers
77%
Pre-K
K-3rd grade or higher
88%
37%
Groups Served
Groups of children and families practitioners served
Low income
89%
Diverse race, ethnicity, culture
88%
At risk for learning difficulties or
62%
Identified disabilities/delays
69%
English language learners
66%
Children with special health care needs
Don't know
2%
Characteristics of PD providers
Almost all survey respondents
were female 96%,
Not Hispanic or Latino
 White 79%

Primary Employer
Primary employer
Local or regional agency
28%
Self-employed independent contractor
13%
University, college, or community college
18%
Federal agency
State agency
Other
12%
6%
22%
VA
VSQI
17%
InfantToddler
Specialist
Network
15%
VA CCR&R
14%
Cooperative
extension
agencies
1%
Other
17%
Home Visiting
Consortium
2%
Head Start
6%
Infant &
Toddler
Connection of
VA and ITC
5%
T-TACs
11%
Child care
trainer for VA
DSS
12%
WHAT was the content of the PD?
Topic
%
Knowledge about
children’s development and learning
86%
Strategies for improving general classroom practices,
learning environments, and program quality to
support development and earning for all children
75%
Strategies for collaborating, communicating with,
and/or supporting families
71%
Knowledge about
children’s health, safety, and nutrition
59%
Content of the PD (con’t)
Strategies for improving inclusion,
participation, & learning for children…
%
At risk for learning disabilities or with
challenging behaviors
50%
With identified disabilities
54%
From diverse cultural and linguistic groups
42%
Content of the PD (con’t)
Content
%
Strategies for communicating and
collaborating with other professionals
53%
Assessment approaches
45%
Other
12%
How were PD activities delivered ?
Type of PD Activities
%
Workshops or institutes
94%
Consultation
47%
Mentoring
49%
Coaching
44%
Technical assistance
50%
Distance learning approaches
50%
COPs/practitioner study groups
23%
Co-teaching
14%
Other
3%
Recommendations for Strong
Cross Sector State Infrastructure


A coordinated needs assessment process
Accessibility and availability of
early childhood credential and licensure

A career lattice that is broad and aligned

A cross-sector trainer registry


Coordinated PD standards:
trainer competencies and content
State policies and regulations that support a
coordinated system
Recommendations (cont.)






Recruitment & retention
(tiered reimbursement, scholarships, incentives, etc.)
Content aligned with other
local, state & federal standards across sectors
A training and technical assistance structure to support
mentoring & coaching (for providers and recipients of PD)
Aligned ECE professional competencies
Unified birth-five licensure for all
early childhood educators
Articulation from entry level training through
higher education.
Regional
Professional Development Consortiums
PD Consortiums coordinated out of the following cities:
Fairfax, Richmond, Harrisonburg, Blacksburg and Norfolk.
Consortium Tasks
Identify
priorities through routine needs
assessments
Develop a work plan to address identified
regional needs
Convene quarterly regional consortium meetings
(F2F or virtual)
Develop and maintain a Web site for their region
Coordinate and promote cross-sector regional
trainings
Regional
Professional Development Consortiums
PD Consortiums coordinated out of the following cities: Fairfax, Richmond,
Harrisonburg, Blacksburg and Norfolk.
Consortium Tasks, con’t
 Coordinate
distance learning opportunities with other
consortiums
 Maintain a list of trainers that provide training on special
initiatives
(i.e., SpecialQuest, CSEFEL, etc.)
 Maintain communication with other regions to maximize use of
resources and expertise across regions
 Participate in activities coordinated by State Lead and VCPD
 Regional consortium leads will attend an annual planning
meeting.
Professional Development Who, What and How Planning Matrix (NPDCI, 2011)
Part 1: WWH – Learners
Who are the major
To whom does this
funding agencies for
agency provide PD?
early childhood PD?
What is the content of
the PD?
How is the PD
delivered?
What is content of the
PD for PD providers?
How is it delivered?
Is this PD
integrated with
quality initiatives
& infrastructure
supports?
Part 2: WWH – PD Providers
Who are the PD
providers?
Who provides
support &
resources to the PD
providers?
Link to
infrastructure?
Small Group Discussion
How could these tools be used
to support your work around
building a professional
development system that
supports inclusion?
Additional Resources
Early Childhood
Inclusion:
A Joint Position
Statement of
DEC and NAEYC
Recommendations
for States for
Linking PD,
Quality and
Inclusion
Research
Synthesis Points
on Quality
Inclusive
Practices
NPDCI Professional Development
Concept Paper
The Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP):
Moving Beyond Global Quality
The Inclusive Classroom Profile, developed by
Elena Soukakou, is a tool designed to complement
existing classroom quality measures & standards
Reflections
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