Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Dynamics of Early Childhood Policies and Systems
The healthy development of children is the reason for Early Childhood Policies and Systems, the next course on the journey of my doctoral program. Upon first learning of the course, I wondered what control I have over policies and systems. I am employed in the public school system; a system of policies established by legislatures, superintendents, administrators and district personnel. Policies that range from attendance, to code of conduct, to curriculum and grade reporting.
Further reflection led me to the realization that I and other educators can have effect on policies. These policies are usually school base and include such things as school wide behavior initiatives, arrival and dismissal procedures, and participating in the School Advisory Council. At the district level teachers are invited to join committees and have a voice in policy changes. I have served on committees related to curriculum in both science and math. To be more effective, I need to gather more knowledge about the policies and systems within the public school system.
When I look at voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) I am more familiar with the policies as the program is smaller and educators are aware of the mandates. By state regulations, the school district must provide VPK. My district chooses to do so in the summer. For students to be eligible for the program the families must obtain a voucher from the Early Childhood Coalition. The parents are required to sign a contract which has an attendance clause. The VPK students receive individual assessment at the beginning of the summer and the end. The data is analyzed and stored on the state Bright Beginnings website. Starting this current school year and expanding next school year, VPK will be available at selected Title 1 schools which will provide the funding.
Two of the three professional goals that will drive my work in this course are related to VPK. I have been in contact with the district specialist for VPK and asked if there was policy issues that I could provide support. The answer was a resounding yes. The first goal is the development of the problem solving team process for VPK. I will be researching response to intervention in VPK, handling challenging behaviors and identifying resources that are available in the community. The second goal is the development of parent involvement/support program. I am interested in developing a parent and child reading program that incorporates the arts as well as other curriculum areas. Early childhood educators know that parents are the child’s first teacher and it is imperative to include them in their child’s formal education.
The third professional goal is for the future. I have envisioned an early childhood learning center that I would love to open. In that regard, I will use this course to gather knowledge of all the policies and systems necessary for the opening of a center. Children are the future and it is up us to lay a strong foundation through the establishment of effective policies and systems.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am interested in your VPK program for summer. Are all children attending and do they come five days a week? Are you teaching a regular curriculum? I think a parent/child reading program is a great idea and would work well in my school. We try to provide parent engagement, but we have seen waning results in the past few years. I am always looking for new ideas to increase participation. I, too, believe that parents are a child's best teacher and I want them to participate in learning, but I find many parents want to leave the teaching up to me during school hours.
ReplyDeleteHI Kim,
DeleteThe summer VPK program runs Monday through Thursday from 7:30am to 5:30pm for a total of 300 hours in 8 weeks. Due to the length of the day there is not much parent involvement. The parent involvement program will be more beneficial for the year long program. My school is probably getting a year long VPK program in the fall. I have been asked to be the instructor. If that comes to pass, I will be developing and implementing a parent involvement/engagement program.
Sharon
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteThe policy work you will be involved with sounds interesting! I hope that you are able to become successful with getting parents more involved at earlier ages; parental involvement seems to be a struggle for most facilities. I know that you will be a strong advocate for the children in your area and that you will be able to get changes made to make positive things happen for those in your care. I hope that you are able to become actively involved during this course so that we can be updated on the progress. Good luck to you!
HI Dixie,
DeleteI met with the VPK district specialist today and gave her a run down of our course. She is so excited as developing problem solving team procedures is something that needs to be accomplished as principals are trying to expel pre-kindergartners with challenging behavior. I firmly believe if all parties involved are on the same page more can be done to help the child. I believe this course will be enlightening as I take this policy development on knowing my district is expecting to us it starting the summer.
Thank you for your positive comments.
Sharon
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI work in voluntary Pre-K program and I would love to have more parental involvement. Parents have so much to offer schools, but getting them engage has proven challenging for me. I believe forming a parent support group would be beneficial. Do you have some allies from your collaboration groups who might be available to help you plan and implement this type of program. I hope to form a collaboration team with other child care centers and kindergartens to help ensure the children of my community have the support to be successful in school. I am nervous about how this will work, but I hope to gin more knowledge through research and other educators.
Cynthia Thralls
Hi Cynthia,
DeleteI agree, getting parents engaged is challenging. Usually the parents that participate are the ones who are confident in their parental skills. I have not had the opportunity to develop a parent involvement program. What I have done is family nights structured are curriculum usually science or math. Some nights are successful others not so. I just keep trying.
Sharon Lloyd
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I enjoyed reading your blog. I wish I had you working at my school because I know that you are an asset to your school and the district. There seems to be a lot of interest about the VPK program. Like you, I tend to agree that there is not much time in the summer program for parent participation. I had not thought of a yearlong VPK program. How will that work? If it works out that you are the instructor, I am sure you will do well. I wish you the best in this endeavor.
Darla
HI Darla,
DeleteThanks for your comments. The yearlong VPK program runs the regular school year calendar and follows the schools hour. The program runs with 20 four year olds with a certified teacher and an assistant that has a least a CDA, child development associate. The students participate in special area: art, music, pe, and media. The curriculum is Scholastic Big Day and follows Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for 4 year olds.
Sharon Lloyd
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteYour state’s summer Voluntary Prekindergarten program (VPK) would be an excellent option in some of North Carolina’s counties. In addition, I am excited to hear of the possibility for you to become involved in a VPK problem solving team. Responding to intervention concerns, handling challenging behaviors and identifying community resources are vital to a quality care in education. As your summer VPK program is only 8-weeks long, how difficult do you believe it will be to identify children who need special support systems in such a short time?
Thanks so much,
Debi
Debi,
ReplyDeleteSome children in the summer VPK program have obvious delays and are assessed by Child Find for services which begin in Kindergarten. Other children are still "feeling out" the environment and challenging behaviors don't appear immediately. Identification isn't the issue, having time to provide effective intervention is the issue. The policy being developed is for VPK yearlong and summer with interventions and strategies being recorded for dissemination to kindergarten teacher.
Sharon Lloyd
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI too had a moment of reflection when beginning this course. I was thinking broad when I heard the word polices. I was thinking about state and county level decisions that were being made, I wasn't thinking about smaller decisions at the school level. As you stated such polices as grading, attendance, and conduct are all school policies. As a teacher at a small school I do get a voice and opinion during SIT meetings about such policies. I am happy you brought those types of policies up because it made me think of the school policies I have been a part of creating. It makes me feel a little better about the policy knowledge I didn't think I had! Thank you!!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. This Walden journey speaks globally but I believe the changes I can make begin in my back yard (the school) then expand to the community and onto the state. Baby steps to develop walking in advocacy for children.
Sharon Lloyd
Hi Sharon,
ReplyDeleteYour project on VPK sounds really interesting. I would love to learn more about all of the progress towards your goals. Working as an ECC literacy specialist, it is especially intriguing to connect with other professionals about providing programs for parents as a way to support literacy development. I am in the process right now of putting together a proposal to my administration on offering a parent support program on this very same issue. I would love to hear some of the ideas you have in mind in building your program and could maybe offer some ideas to you as well.
The problem-solving team you discuss is also crucial in early childhood. There are so many plans of action that can be put into place that will benefit children and get started down the right path. Having a team that focuses on individual goals and planning courses of action that will ultimately benefit a child is an effective way to prevent later difficulties for children.
I look forward to hearing more about the progress on your goals.
Sincerely,
Jessica C.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteThe parent involvement program is simply in the idea stage. The idea is called FLARE - Family Literacy through Art Reading Enrichment. The idea is to show parents how to make reading come alive. For example with the story Little Yellow Little Blue by Leo Lionni I would show the parents with the child how easy and fun it is to make yellow play dough and blue play dough and then mix like the story. Parents need to see the enjoyment of sharing with their child building strong relationships that set a foundation for learning.
Sharon