Colorado s Great Early Childhood Education Workforce

Transcription

1 Colorado s Great Early Childhood Education Workforce Progress and Deliverables in Strengthening the Early Childhood Professional Development Infrastructure Through the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grant Program Briefs in this Series Overview Competencies Credentials Professional Development Information System (PDIS) Scholarships and Incentives Collaboration and Shared Lift December 2017

2 Early Childhood Competencies Young children (birth through age 8) develop physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills through a developmental process that is remarkable in its complexity and its implications for children s future school readiness and well-being throughout adulthood. The early childhood workforce applies their understanding of this process in countless interactions that build relationships with young children and their families. To optimize outcomes for young children (including school readiness), the EC workforce needs to understand and be able to apply knowledge about how children develop, a broad range of subject matter content areas (e.g. language development, literacy, early math concepts), and how to interact with diverse children and families and other professionals in ways that support healthy development. A competency-based system assesses key skills or knowledge in multiple contexts and ways and allows individual EC professionals to achieve higher levels of competency at their own pace. Competencies clearly articulate the specialized knowledge and skills EC professionals need to be able to provide quality care and education to young children. Because research in the early childhood field continues to evolve, the Competencies are not fixed for all time. They will be updated as this research translates to advances in practice. In articulating the knowledge base and skill set involved in caring for and educating young children, the Competencies recognize that the work of the early childhood workforce is a profession with a major impact on the futures of our communities, economy, and families. More, they provide an anchor or a foundation for all the other pieces in a competency-based Early Childhood System, from credentials, to education and professional development, to quality improvement efforts at the program level. In so doing, they help bring coherence to a workforce with highly diverse expectations and backgrounds working in different settings and roles. Competency-based Credentials provide system stakeholders (educators, administrators, mentors and coaches, training developers and providers, higher education, families, advocates, state and local agencies) with a common research-based frame that supports the professional growth of the EC workforce and contributes to EC program quality. A competency-based ECPD system aligns teacher preparation and ongoing learning to the skills, knowledge, and dispositions (including teaching practices) that research shows are associated with strong child outcomes and promote growth over time. A competency-based Early Childhood system links workforce preparation and professional development efforts to quality improvement and licensing efforts. 1

3 Foundations for the Work Colorado s Early Childhood Leadership Commission adopted Colorado s Early Learning Professional Development System Plan in 2010 (2010 Plan). A key priority of the 2010 Plan was developing a framework of performance-based competencies for early childhood educators and administrators. Through a competitive RFP process, the state selected Oldham Innovative Research to develop the Competencies, guided by the Professional Development Advisory Group s Competencies Sub-Committee. The iterative development process sought feedback from state and national experts at multiple points in the process. Oldham also led the creation of the new Quality Improvement and Rating System (QRIS) program standards at roughly the same time, achieving greater alignment between these two foundational system components than would have been likely had the two development processes occurred in isolation. The Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC) adopted Colorado s Competencies for Early Childhood Educators and Administrators (the Competencies) in May As detailed in this brief series, the Competencies provide the foundation on which other major ECPD system infrastructure pieces are anchored. Like the heart pumps blood to every part of the human body brain, muscles, digestive system the Competencies animate all the component parts of the EC professional development system. Colorado s Competencies for Early Childhood Educators and Administrators are organized into eight core competency domains: Child Growth, Development, and Learning Knowledge of Developmental Domains, Changes, and Milestones Individual Needs and Differences Identified Special Needs Fostering Healthy Attachment and Relationships 2

4 Child Observation and Assessment Principles Gathering and Documenting Summarizing and Interpreting Sharing and Reporting Family and Community Partnerships Valuing Families Respect for Diversity Effective Communication Building Reciprocal Relationships with Families Resources that Support Children and Families Guidance Positive Interactions and Relationships with Individual Children Child Guidance: Discipline/Promoting Social and Emotional Competence Communication The Role of Staff and Other Adults Health, Safety, and Nutrition Knowledge of Regulations Health Safety Nutrition Professional Development and Leadership Ethics and Codes of Conduct Reflective and Continuous Professional Development Advocacy Program Planning and Development Program Planning and Evaluation Personnel Management Resource Management Teaching Practice Planning Framework for Curricula and Learning Environment Physical Health Promotion Physical Proximity and Engagement Language and Literacy Promotion Cognitive Development Promotion Social-Emotional Development Promotion Fostering Creativity How Children Learn and Approaches to Learning Knowledge of Productivity Colorado s Competencies for Early Childhood Educators and Administrators are organized in a framework of four progressive levels: Level 1: Demonstrating basic skills Level 2: Implementing effective early childhood environments and experiences for young children 3

5 Level 3: Designing policies, procedures, and practices that are optimal for young children Level 4: Advancing the field through advocacy Early childhood educators progress through the levels by furthering their education, participating in training opportunities, getting involved in mentoring/coaching, and intentionally reflecting on their practice. A professional s skills and knowledge may present at varying levels depending on the Competency domain and the professional s role, work setting and experience. The four levels are cumulative, meaning that EC educators at the higher levels meet all the skills and competencies associated with the lower levels as well. The Levels are less about different roles and more about mastery. The EC credentialing system (with six levels that help define various career paths in the professional) also incorporates this progression from basic skills to more advanced forms of leadership. Distinguishers of the Colorado Competencies include: A specific domain focused on teaching practices. The embedding of Competencies related to cultural competence, social-emotional health and development, and the inclusion of all children across the eight domains. The availability of an individual Competencies-based self-assessment and professional development planning tool through the PDIS that helps each EC professional identify gaps in her or his knowledge and raise skill levels over time. Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant Accomplishments The Technology Infrastructure A sophisticated and layered technology infrastructure infuses the EC Competencies through components of the state ECPD system. These components include the criteria for awarding professional credentials, the Quality Rating and Improvement System for EC programs (QRIS), the registry and learning management system for the EC workforce (PDIS), and the alignment of EC coursework and degrees across two- and four-year institutions of higher education. The PDIS brief details this infrastructure. Colorado Shines QRIS Level 2 Colorado Shines, the new, second generation QRIS, connects to the state EC system for licensing early childhood programs. All licensed programs receive a Level 1 rating in the QRIS. To earn a Level 2 rating or above in the QRIS, an EC program s workforce must register in the Professional Development Information System (PDIS) and at least 75% must complete Competency-aligned Level 2 courses. Race to the Top grant funds supported development of 20 Level 2 trainings to help programs meet this training requirement and transition to the new QRIS. Thirteen of these trainings are also offered in Spanish. These trainings are available online and at no cost through the PDIS. Their focus is to: Introduce the elements of the new QRIS, Review the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines and Colorado s Competencies for Educators and Administrators, and 4

6 Offer in-depth content related to children s social and emotional well-being, family engagement, cultural competence, supportive learning environments and more. More broadly and as detailed in the Credential brief, the credential point system emphasizes Competency alignment through increased points for Aligned Coursework, Aligned/Approved Training and Demonstrated Competencies. Aligning Training to the Competencies Another focus of Race to the Top ECPD activities was aligning ongoing professional development for the EC workforce to the Competencies. As detailed in the Credential brief, a training alignment and approval process was developed, piloted, refined and adopted during the grant term. This approval process requires the training provider to detail research-based components of training design, including identifying the specific EC Competencies addressed by the training s learning objectives. As a result of this process, EC professionals enjoy increased access to quality trainings aligned to the Competencies. The access assists the EC workforce to meet the requirement in Child Care Licensing rules that EC professionals annually complete 15 hours of continuing education. Aligning and Articulating Pre-Service Preparation (Education) to the Competencies The complex work of aligning EC courses and degrees to the Competencies remains underway. Significant progress during the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant program paves the way forward: In 2013, the Colorado Department of Higher Education reinstated a four-year Early Childhood Education degree. In 2014, the Community College system completed an EC competency mapping project that aligned existing EC courses to the Competencies and identified any gaps. The entire Community College System uses a common course numbering system across the Early Childhood programs of individual colleges. Common course numbers significantly facilitated and simplified the process of competency mapping at the Community College level. In 2015, community colleges revised the learning outcomes of specific EC courses to address the identified gaps. After approval by both the Community College System and individual community colleges, these revisions became effective in fall of At the four-year level, state rules for authorization of four-year programs were reviewed and revised to reflect the Competencies. This groundwork opened a discussion with four-year colleges about aligning the coursework and degree programs at individual institutions to the EC Competencies. By 2016, EC faculty members from two- and four-year programs were meeting regularly to talk about alignment and articulation between their programs, including how to provide students with meaningful and robust field experiences at both levels In 2017, four-year programs completed the EC competency mapping project. The process of drafting a statewide transfer and articulation agreement between two and four year early childhood education programs began in earnest. The updated agreement was finalized by the participating faculty and administrators on November 13 and approved by CDHE s General Education Council on November 20. Participating Institutions are set to return their signed acknowledgement on November 27 when the agreement will go into effect. In addition to the alignment between two and four year programs, the new articulation agreement is aligned to 5

7 the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) Standards for Accreditation. In the future, ECE faculty from two- and four-year institutions will continue to meet regularly. The transfer and articulation agreement will be finalized with support from the Colorado Department of Higher Education. By the Numbers (As of October 31, 2017) Number of courses in two-year and four-year institutions of higher education that have been aligned to the EC Competencies: 317 Number of ongoing professional development offerings that have been aligned to the EC Competencies: 183 6