September 2015 through March 2016
CEELO is planning to provide opportunities for small groups of expansion grantees – 4-6 state teams – to come together to address critical issues in implementing high-quality preschool programs. The Peer Exchanges will include highly interactive face-to-face meetings for state teams that include sharing of successful strategies among states, presentations by experts, time for facilitated state team action planning, and supporting materials. Each Peer Exchange also includes one or more webinars in preparation or follow up to the in-person meeting, related resources and materials, and individual technical assistance as needed.
All materials and resources developed for the peer exchanges will be made available on the CEELO website. Below are descriptions of the four peer opportunities we are currently hosting or planning.
PEER EXCHANGE DESCRIPTIONS
1) Sept. 16-17 ~ Monitoring for Continuous Improvement of Program Quality: The in-person peer exchange is scheduled for September 16-17, 2015 at the Council of Chief State School Officers offices in Washington, DC. Teams from VA, IL, AR, TN, CT and MA will be attending this peer exchange. States will assess their current continuous quality improvement process to ensure that all expansion sub grantees are systematically and intentionally improving services and increasing positive outcomes for children and families. This exchange will also address alignment with monitoring for compliance across different program rules and funding requirements, as well as the application of implementation science to improving program quality. Follow up technical assistance including webinars and individual TA in October – December, 2015.
2) Nov. 18-19 ~ Effective Curriculum Implementation: This Peer Exchange will examine curriculum from three points of effective implementation. The first is alignment of the curriculum to standards (both program standards and teaching and learning standards). Within this point, curriculum selection criteria and processes will be discussed. Second, models of professional learning and support for curriculum implementation will be presented. Teams will have the opportunity to learn from peers about various models of support other states are implementing, and then generate a plan to institute or improve upon supports in their home state. Third, examination of the fidelity of implementation of curriculum will be examined through a lens of monitoring for quality. The in-person peer exchange is scheduled for Nov. 18 (half day) and Nov. 19, 2015 and will be co-sponsored with Sharon Lynn Kagan, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy, Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families. Follow up technical assistance including webinars and individual TA in December, 2015- January 2016.
3) Dec. 8 ~ Professional Learning Communities to Build Local Leadership Capacity: Participants will hear from Vincent Costanza (NJ) and Sally Richardson (KY) and their colleagues about two models of professional learning communities they are implementing in their states to build LEA or other local organizational leadership. Vincent and a district representative will discuss the lessons learned from the second year of implementing the New Jersey Early Childhood Academy. Sally and her colleague will share the lessons learned from implementing the Kentucky Early Learning Leaders Network. They will share their rationale for creating their programs, how the programs are funded, who participates, the goals and outcomes of the initiatives, and other key information. Hurdles and lessons learned will also be communicated. Participants will have ample time to ask questions of the presenters and will work as a team to create a plan for implementation of such a program in their state. Follow-up will include problem-solving implementation issues that arise, sharing successes, and adding to the collection of models of implementation of professional learning between SEAs and LEAs or other local grantees. Participants will attend a one day in person meeting on December 8, 2015 in Washington, DC. Follow up technical assistance including webinars and individual TA in October- December, 2015.
4) March 9-10, 2016 (tentative dates) ~ Strategic Financing and Sustainability Planning: Preschool Expansion Grantees will need to develop a sustainable budget and strategic financing plan to ensure that federal funds are leveraged to expand access to high quality preschool programs. Further, it is most important to begin planning at the onset for sustaining access for children and families once federal funds are no longer available. The goal of the Sustainability Peer Exchange is to gain a deeper understanding of how to develop a strategic financing plan, including planning for the data needed on the costs and resources available, to sustain high quality programs that meet the federal requirements of high quality. Participants will have an opportunity to use a sustainability framework to assess the actions needed in their state to develop an effective sustainability plan, including strategies to support mixed income classrooms through the use of a mix of public and private funding sources. The in-person one and a half day meeting will take place in Washington, DC in March 9-10, 2016, and will be supported by 1-2 webinars, materials and individual TA in February-April, 2016.