In 2016, Washington, D.C. passed regulations that sought to increase the education and credentials of the early educator workforce. To meet the needs of Spanish-speaking educators, leaders at the University of the District of Columbia Community College (UDC-CC) collaborated with community stakeholders and organizations, to design and implement a…

Child- and family-serving programs in community-based settings wield tremendous power for improving the lives of infants and toddlers. In this article, three authors, from Ohio, Montana, and Sierra Leone, describe the principles of adaptive leadership and will share their real-world applications. Their stories explore critical questions for…

Second Substitute Senate Bill 5903 (2019) directed the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to contract with an organization providing coaching services to early achievers program participants, i.e., Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA WA), to provide statewide Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH-C) to Early…

About one in five Minnesota children under age 8 has a parent who speaks a language other than English at home. These Dual Language Learners (DLLs), who numbered 136,000 in 2011-15, come from a wide array of national, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds--a reflection of Minnesota's sizeable refugee communities from East Africa and Southeast Asia…

This book is designed to provide child caregivers with a structured framework for guiding the behavior of young children in a manner that respects individual differences, builds healthy self esteem, and develops responsibility while allowing the caregiver to maintain limits and supervisory control. Section 1 of the guide offers a framework for…

This report presents information collected at a pre-conference roundtable on various aspects of mentoring programs which are seen as a potential solution to the staffing crisis in early childhood education. Part 1 defines the terms "mentoring" and "mentoring programs." It describes the nature of the relationship between mentors…

This guide details the core competencies for early care and education professionals in Kansas and Missouri. The guide's introduction provides background information about what core competencies are, why they are important, and how they can be used by practitioners, directors, trainers, higher education faculty, agencies, and professional…

Noting that parents are the prime educators and nurturers of their children, the Performance Standards for Head Start require staff to offer varied opportunities for parents to expand and enhance their role. This directory was developed for use as the first segment of an ongoing plan to assist local Head Start grantees in selecting the resources…

This report is a description and summarization of the Child Development Associate (CDA) competency-based training approaches designed and implemented by 13 federally funded pilot training projects. Chapter I provides a historical narrative of the program design and implementations in the first seven years of the CDA program. Chapter II describes…

This training guide presents background information about the Child Development Associate (CDA) program, including a definition of quality CDA training that incorporates six criteria established by the Office of Child Development. The purposes of the guide are (1) to provide a clear and specific description of the CDA criteria in order to promote…

Presents reasons and specific "how to" information for increasing the comfort level and learning possibilities for toddlers. Notes that toddler-sensitive child care recognizes that toddlers are distinct from infants and from preschoolers in terms of developmental characteristics. Lists characteristics of toddlers, ways to make child-care…

One of a series of curriculum materials developed for training Child Development Associates, this set of training materials focuses upon program planning skills. After successfully completing this area of the curriculum, trainees should be able to perform in several ways, including the following: (1) develop awareness of the scope of the 13…

These case studies describe the design and implementation of eight selected Head Start Supplementary Training/Child Development Associate (HSST/CDA) programs. (HSST/CDA training programs are intended to prepare Head Start classroom staff to meet the competency requirements of the CDA credential.) Each case study, selected for its training methods,…

This guide is designed to enhance communication and cooperation between preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers so that they can help young children more easily adapt to the differing environments in which they develop and learn. Topics covered in this guide include: (1) information on preschool programs including enrollment statistics,…

Noting that teachers and caregivers need an understanding of the fundamentals of developmentally appropriate practices in order to implement programs that meet the needs of young children, this guide serves as a practical tool for staff trainers and supervisors in early childhood education. It addresses four specific groups of early childhood…