State Early Childhood Advisory Council of MS

On January 8th, the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development voted to approve an alternate path to endorsement to teach in a Pre-K setting for teachers who already have an elementary license. Now educators with an existing K-3 or K-6 license, can take 9 additional credits from approved programs to teach in a Pre-K classroom or 12 additional credits from approved programs to be a coordinator of a Pre-K program.

In addition, the Commission approved proposed programs from Mississippi State University and Alcorn University to earn the PreK-K endorsement. Mississippi State University proposed three courses of three credits each for teachers and four classes of three credits each for coordinators. Alcorn proposed a menu of six courses of three credits each from which prospective teachers and coordinators could choose.

The Commission makes recommendations to the State Board of Education regarding standards for the preparation, licensure, and continuing professional development of those who teach in public schools in Mississippi.

The Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) is seeking proposals for a program that will promote recruitment and training in early childhood care, early childhood education, and preschool education. The program should utilize innovate techniques that reach out to incumbent workers in the early childhood field and to eligible adults, dislocated workers, underemployed individuals, and veterans. MDES is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) for a one year project…

For more information, visit http://www.mdes.ms.gov and select the “RFPs and Bid Notices” link. The request for proposal notice number is 10-20.

The Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI) is a national technical assistance center that creates free products and resources to help decision makers, caregivers, and service providers implement best practices to improve the social-emotional outcomes for young children with or at-risk for delays or disabilities.

TACSEI is hosting an intensive Implementation Academy for district or program-level teams who are interested in implementing the Pyramid Model in preschool programs or classrooms with a focus on children at-risk for or with delays or disabilities. The Pyramid Model Implementation Academy will take place April 26 – April 29, 2010 in Tampa, Florida.  Teams must submit an application to attend by December 4, 2009. Applications are available in the “What’s New” section on the TACSEI home page at www.challengingbehavior.org.

TACSEI is made possible by a five-year grant of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is a national resource center focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young children birth to age five. CSEFEL has created a new resource on their website where you can browse sample syllabi that illustrate how early childhood education faculty have embedded the CSEFEL material/approach into coursework. The possibilities for incorporating materials are limitless, so check it out to see how trainers of early childhood educators can use these materials! If you have used CSEFEL materials in your courses and would be willing to share your syllabus with others, please contact Rob Corso at (217) 390-0403 or rob.corso@vanderbilt.edu.

CSEFEL is funded by the Office of Head Start and Child Care Bureau for disseminating research and evidence-based practices to early childhood programs across the country. Visit the CSEFEL website at: www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/

Mississippi joined leaders from 35 other states and national experts in Charlotte, North Carolina this month to collaborate and refine their work on implementing integrated state professional development systems.  Participants’ focused on improving policies that support both the current and future workforce, and in turn positively impact the quality of child care in all settings, including Head Start, schools, and other early childhood programs.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is leading an effort to develop and enhance state professional development and career systems. NAEYC recently released Workforce Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood Professional Development Systems, along with a one-of-a-kind database of related state policies that is being used by states to build or sustain their systems.

“As policymakers and the public pay increasing attention to the readiness of young children for school, it is critical that we focus efforts and policies on supporting the preparation, professional development, and compensation of early childhood educators,” said Stacy Callender, Executive Director of the State Early Childhood Advisory Council.

The work day helped states move toward a shared vision of a high-quality early childhood workforce by connecting and sharing ideas, strategies, and successes with each other. In addition to Mississippi, other participating states included Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. This work is part of NAEYC’s Early Childhood Workforce Systems Initiative, generously supported by the Birth to Five Policy Alliance and Cornerstones for Kids.