School Readiness Quality Improvement Project

School Readiness Project

Mission:
The ACECC School Readiness Team collaborates with early care and education professionals to improve the quality of learning environments and promote school readiness in all children.

Task:
Collaborate with each Center to develop and implement quality improvements.

Scope of Responsibilities for individual consultants:
• Actively participate in the school readiness team building process
• Develop individual skill and expertise as a school readiness team member
• Provide on-site, work embedded coaching to help providers develop and implement an improvement plan based on areas evaluated by Qualistar
• Support providers' efforts to receive an Early Childhood Professional Credential and access ECE accredited coursework/training
• Coordinate quality improvement services with other community programs and projects
• Be actively involved in the Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council
• Support the ECE Resource Center
• Provide resources and technical assistance in area of expertise to the early care and education professionals in Arapahoe County
• Be an advocate for the School Readiness Project
• Follow the administrative processes and procedures for the project

Overview: The School Readiness Project

The Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council has been awarded a second three-year grant from the State of Colorado to improve the quality of early care and education for children under five and better prepare them to enter elementary school.

The ACECC School Readiness Grant allows the Council to invest in at least 85 classrooms in Arapahoe County. An estimated 1500 children and 25 centers will benefit from this program.

HB 1238, a bill that was signed into law in 2005 as a continuation of HB 1297, the original school readiness bill, funds the School Readiness Grant. Participating counties were required to complete an extensive program application and community school readiness plan.

With support from Qualistar, the funding for the three-year program will come from federal funds. No state tax dollars are being used for this program.

ACECC School Readiness Strategies

Quality Improvement
• Participating Centers receive a Qualistar Quality Rating and identify areas for improvement
• A School Readiness Consultant provides on-site, work-embedded coaching to help providers develop and implement a quality improvement plan
• Centers receive funding to purchase materials and equipment to support quality improvement

Program Development
• Continued support for the ECE Resource Center at Community College of Aurora and Arapahoe Community College
• Scholarships for providers to access ECE accredited coursework
• Trainings and workshops to address the special needs of a Center
• Training stipend for providers to attend professional development activities to improve quality of staff education
• Support providers to receive the Early Childhood Professional Credential

Parent and Community Involvement
• Engagement of parents in activities to enhance their child's school readiness
• Coordination of quality improvement services with other community programs and projects
• Establishment of a Director's Round Table to share ideas/techniques for quality improvements

The purpose of the School Readiness Project is to improve the school readiness of children five years of age or younger. Authority for the School Readiness Project was established by House Bill 02-1297 and signed into law by Governor Owens on June 7, 2002. The School Readiness Project provides a quality environment rating assessment by the non-profit organization, Qualistar, a quality improvement plan, funding for materials, equipment, resources, training and education and mentoring/coaching support from highly trained Early Childhood professionals. The Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council has been supporting early childhood care and education programs in our community through the School Readiness Project for three years. This new grant, HB 1238, is a re-authorization of the original HB 1297 School Readiness Grant. We have included criteria information so you can determine if your program would be eligible to apply for this project.

Qualifying childcare providers must meet the established eligibility criteria:
• Program must be located in Arapahoe County.
• Program must commit to the project for three years.
• Provider is licensed by the State of Colorado Division of Child Care.
• Provider is willing to cooperate with and participate in the Environmental Rating Scale as part of the Qualistar quality rating system.
• Provider must be willing to collaborate and cooperate with an assigned school readiness consultant.
• Provider has not had any of the following negative licensing actions since January 1, 2000:
  • Denial, suspension, revocation or demotion of the license to probationary status;
  • Founded serious complaint of severity 1 or 2;
  • Founded child abuse or neglect;
  • Founded serious violations in licensing from a follow-up investigation to a county child abuse case
• Faith-based programs can participate as long as they are licensed, their curriculum is not faith-based, and they do not discriminate against potential program participants.
• Provider must participate in the Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council. Participation includes attending monthly/quarterly Council meetings or sub-committee meetings, or attendance to Council events. There is no charge to become a Council member.
• Child-Care/Preschool site must have one of the following elementary schools within the vicinity of the site to qualify for the School Readiness Project. Programs that are not near one of these elementary schools may still apply and will be considered under other funding sources: Aurora Public Schools: Altura, Crawford, Elkhart, Fletcher, Fulton, Jamaica, Kenton, Lansing, Laredo, Lyn Knoll, Montview, Paris, Park Lane, Sable, Sixth Ave., Vaughn, Wheeling / Cherry Creek: Cimarron, Holly Hills, Ponderosa, Village East/ Deer Trail - Deer Trail Elementary/ Littleton - East Elementary/ Sheridan - Alice Terry, Fort Logan Elementary

What to Expect:

The ACECC School Readiness Project began services in July 2006 and will continue through June 2009, depending upon funding source availability.

*Participating Child Care Centers will be notified of their start date and an initial environmental rating assessment will be scheduled.

*The licensed Child Care provider in collaboration with the ACECC School Readiness Early Care and Education consultant will establish an individual "Plan for Improvement" for each center/home classroom based on the recommendations from the environmental rating scale (ECERS/ITERS/FDCERS).

*The "Plan for Improvement" will identify recommended resources based on the individual classroom's need.

These resources include:
• On site work-embedded coaching in the areas of Health & Safety, Behavior/Guidance Strategies, Early Literacy and Curriculum, Caring for Children with Special Needs, Adult/Child Interactions and Parent Involvement
• Funds for improvements to settings
• Purchase of equipment and materials
• Professional development for staff (including college scholarships and training opportunities)
• Access to a professional resource library