New Study (from Washington) Reports Targeted Grants and One-on-One Coaching Boost Child Care Quality

As reported by Paul Nyhan in "Birth to Thrive" from Thrive by Five Washington:

A groundbreaking new study found one-on-one coaching and small grants made a big difference in child care programs, relatively quickly improving quality and cutting down on turnover.

Researchers found monthly intensive coaching and funding for staff scholarships, classroom and curriculum materials or parent engagement, which are part of a rating system being tested in two communities, improved quality scores. Currntely, 22 states have child care rating systems, but this is one of the first studies to pinpoint what improves quality.

BAEYC Board Nominations

Don't be shy! If you are a current BAEYC member feel free to nominate yourself for any position!

We also need 2 Members at Large to be the "voice of the membership". New committees will be forming in January.

Keep in mind, NAEYC is in Orlando November 2011. Members are eligible for lots of discounts!

"Much of the Day" clarification from the authors

Much of the day: In most items, “much of the day” is associated with the children’s access to materials typically used indoors (e.g., books, art materials, fine motor or dramatic play toys). It means most of the time that any child may be awake and able to play. If children are prevented from using materials for long periods by overly long routines when the children have to wait with nothing to do, being kept in groups that they are not engaged in, or being kept in areas where access is not possible, then credit cannot be given for “much of the day.” Appropriate group activities in which children are engaged and interested for short periods that match their abilities are permissible as long as they do not significantly affect access to materials throughout the rest of the day. If children (or any child) who are ready to play are prevented from reaching and using materials for a total of 20 minutes during a 3-hour observation, then “much of the day” cannot be given credit. The 20 minutes can be calculated as one 20-minute time period, or may be calculated as a combination of smaller time periods that equal 20 minutes. “Much of the day” should be considered separately for each item where the requirement appears. In some cases credit might be given on one item for much of the day, while not given for another item.
If children are kept outdoors for extremely long periods (1/3 of the day or more), thus limiting access to materials typically used indoors, then to give credit for “much of the day”, such materials must be provided outdoors as well.
Special attention should be paid to individual children who may not have the same access to materials as do the other children. For example, non-mobile children or children who are confined in a playpen may not have the same access to play materials as the other children in a group. For non-mobile infants, all required toys or materials do not have to be accessible at the same time during the whole observation because of problems with clutter. However, there must be clear indications that the required variety and numbers of materials are accessible at various times during the day. A cranky baby who needs close physical contact to be soothed may not be “ready to play” and thus not require access to materials during the “cranky” times.
When children are taken for stroller rides, do not count the time spent riding as part of the 20 minutes when children do not have access to materials for “much of the day” as long as children are generally engaged (one child may be less engaged than others for some part of the ride, but most children should show interest, and no child should show distress), and the actual stroller ride is no longer than 20 minutes. Some children may fall asleep in the stroller, but in this case they are not awake and ready to play, so falling asleep should not count in the timing for much of the day. Sometimes there are delays in putting children into strollers, and after the walk, removing them. If children have to wait for long periods (over 3 minutes with no access to play materials) while waiting in the strollers, then the time waiting should be counted towards the 20 minute limit that will disallow crediting “much of the day.”
If the stroller ride is more than 20 minutes, do not give credit for “much of the day” in the Active Physical Play item, since children are not able to freely move around when confined in a stroller.
If most of the children are not engaged during most of the stroller ride, consider when calculating “much of the day” in the item Peer Interaction.

Substantial Portion of the Day

I have a school where a 3-year-old room and VPK room are only open for a specific time. The other rooms are primarily open from 8:30-2:40. Before care is offered in another room and those kids who stay for after care combine.

What is the best way to calculate substantial portion of the day for the rooms that are only open for specific time? How should this be worded on the schedule so that it is clear for the verifiers?

Also, for the rooms that combine, what is the best way for the schedule to be written?

Staff Qualifications Questions & Answers

Staff Qualifications:

Question: 4 stars reads:
25% of lead teachers have associates degree or higher OR
60 credits with 18 credits in ECE. So, does that mean associates degree can be out of field and no ECE credits are needed?

Answer: No, this has been re-worded to make it clearer. It is an Associates degree or 60 college credits, including at least 18 credits in ECE.

Question:Level three says all lead teachers need Staff Credential
Level four says 25% have associates degrees
Let's say at one of my schools, I have one lead teacher who doesn't have a Staff Credential, but more than 25% have associates degrees. What level would we score? We have 6 classes - 4 have degrees (2 are definitely ECE, one is elem. ed, the other is something else)..but, the only (hence, lead) teacher in our young infant room (4 max) does not have staff credential. Now, the lead teacher in our big infant room is a degreed teacher and IS responsible for the younger room as well, whenever it is in use (we don't always have it open). So, can we say she is lead for both rooms??

Answer: The requirements at each level must be met in order to move up, so if there is one lead teacher who doesn't have a staff credential, the score for part A of Professional Qualifications would be a 2 no matter how many other lead teachers have degrees. The lead teacher is the person in charge of each classroom when it is open. The infant room teacher with the degree can only be considered the lead in one room at a time.

Question: What constitutes a professional development plan....is it an individual plan for each staff member or a program-wide plan?

Answer: It is an individual plan for each teacher that sets the expectation that they will continue their formal education. So a teacher with a staff credential would be encouraged to work toward an Associates degree, etc.

Curricula approved by the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County

These curricula are currently listed as approved for ages 0-5 by the Broward County ELC:

• Beyond Centers and Circle Time Series
• Creative Curriculum®
• High/Scope®
• La Petite Academy – Journey
• Montessori
• Building Language for Literacy®
• DLM Early Childhood Express®
• Doors to Discovery®
• Funshine Express™
• High Reach Learning
• LifeSmart ™ - Tutor Time
• Opening the World of Learning™
• Preschool First
• WEE Learn

These have been approved for Pre-K only:

• High Reach® Passports for Pre-K
• Houghton Mifflin Pre-K
• InvestiGator Club®
• Let's Begin with the Letter People® for Pre-K

Question about "accessible materials"

Question:
Good Morning Anita,
Jennifer asked me to e-mail you with my question on the discovery area.
We have an unique school. Our classrooms are very small and so we have our centers set up in an open area called the bay in front of the classrooms. My question is, do we need to have live items in both areas, the room and the bay, in order for them to be counted?

Answer:
Thanks for your question. I hope you don’t mind if I post it on the blog for others to see.
There are two issues at play with this. One is access to and the opportunity to interact with living things. The other is having materials available for a “substantial portion of the day”.

In the ITERS-R, item 22 Nature/Science, indicator 5.2 states: “Some daily experiences with living plants or animals indoors (Ex. Plant in the room to look at,; staff point out trees, flowers, or birds from a window; children visit an aquarium).” (in the school). The key here is that it is evident that there is some interaction with nature while indoors, and it must take place during the observation to receive credit. It should be obvious that it is a daily occurrence. It can be in the classroom, your bay area, or anywhere inside your building.

In the ECERS-R, item 25 Nature/Science there are two things to consider. One is that “living things” are one of the nature/science categories referred to in the scales (see p. 51 in the ECERS-R scale). To receive credit in 3.1, items from 2 categories must be accessible. In 3.2 they must be accessible to the children for at least one hour during the day. To receive credit for 5.1 there must be 3-5 examples from three categories accessible, and 5.2 requires that they be accessible for at least 1/3 of the hours your program is open.

To score this item, the assessor will observe where the items are located and will record the times that the items in all locations are accessible to children, meaning that the children are free to use the items and can access them on their own. Therefore if the time that the children use the centers in the bay area is restricted, it may not be possible for the children to have long enough access to receive credit. You’ll need to assess the daily schedule and how that area is used. Also, the assessor will interview the teacher at the end of the observation. The teacher will have the opportunity to state other times during the day that these materials are accessible. Also, the posted schedule should list all the times during the day that materials are freely accessible.

I know this was a long answer, I hope it helps.