In all honesty, I am having a hard time looking up agencies or communities of practice that I am interested in. While I am looking things up, I keep finding articles on preschool agendas and individual preschools, but am not finding a lot of information about ones that I do not know about.
One program that I am currently involved in is Early Achievers. This is a program that supports preschools in the valley by providing coaching and money to schools to improve on the care that they are giving to children. The support that given is important for preschools to improve on the quality of their services to children. The coaching shows the providers ways to improve their services and the way they can get there. With the monetary awards given to the providers, you can use it for a training for staff and purchasing supplies. The goal of Early Achievers it to give children the best chance to succeed in their early years. In regards to job openings in this organization, I would have to be a rater, a coach, or a technical advisor. If I was a rater, I would be working at the University of Washington. I would have to be trained in the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECER-S), and have all my clearances through the department of early learning. I would also have to be fair, unbiased, and observant. I would need to take great notes to stay organized with the different centers. If I was a coach or a technical assistant, I would be in the classrooms assisting teachers and directors in preparing their centers and classrooms for the visit from the University of Washington. This would require me to stay organized to keep track of what each center is doing and to make sure that the proper documentation is done. I would also need to possess strong communication skills to make sure that I know where they are and how I can assist them. I would need to have a working knowledge of the CLASS system and the ECER-S scale.
A community of practice that I am involved in is the West Valley P-3 Initiative. I really like this program because it has provided trainings for myself and staff, it has introduced me to new resources, and has given me resources that I would not have had otherwise. I became interested in this group when I went to a training that talked about WAKIDS. What intrigued me about this group was that they were taking the initiative to pair area preschools with the school district to build relationships between the two. The point of doing this is to connect the two when sharing information about the children and where they are learning wise. This also allows the teachers to discuss the successes and the struggles of the child. With this information, the quality of care for each child increases. I also really enjoy that another goal of this group is to educate early learning providers. It is not required for providers in my area to have a college education, but the state is working towards that now. With the increased education, the providers learn how and why they are doing the things that they do. With that, they can ground what they are learning in research and practice. I feel that it is a partnership that allows me to access a lot more resources in the community and through the school district. I have learned more in the past two years that I have been involved with this group than I had in the previous four years. I have also been able to share what I know with the group. I like that my ideas are taken into consideration when I share. I feel that because this is a school district group, there is not necessarily a job that you have to have to be part of the group. The people that are involved are directors of preschools, school teachers, principals, the superintendent, and community members that provide resources. As a member of this group, you need to be able to talk about issues, discuss ideas, lead groups, and write grants. I feel that because it is a community of practice, the more variety of people that you have the better the results will be.
The last group that I am looking at is the Children’s Alliance. This is a group that promotes the well being of children. In looking at their website, I found that they have information about current laws that are being changed and ones that are new. There were linked to help fight childhood hunger and on finding oral care for them. I really like that there are links on the page, and that there is information for parents and providers. In looking at their website, I cannot find an employment page. I did find an announcement that their food policy director is retiring, so that would be a job that is available. I would think that there is a director that oversees all the program, as well as directors of the individual departments. To do this job, you would need to be able to present to people, talk to people to encourage them to help you with the project, you would need to be organized to keep the steady stream of information flowing in and out of your organization, and you would need to be able to budget. With the broad scope of the information covered, this would be an interesting group to be involved in. As I look into it more, I may try to join the group, but it appears that most of the groups are from the western half of the state. I would have to see if the group extends to the east side of the state to see if I could join.
The big take away I had from this week is that it is hard to find groups that I was interested in. Some of the groups that I saw were more focused on the political and law changing part of the early childhood field. I strongly feel that my passion is sharing the information and resources that I have with others to make sure that each child is receiving a quality education.
Early Achievers Website: www.del.wa.gov/care/qris
Children’s Alliance Website: www.childrensalliance.org
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