Alignment. Quality. Access.
OECD leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of quality, early learning and development programs to help give all Illinois children a strong educational foundation before they begin kindergarten.
Learn more.
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See
calendar for more events and details.
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Dear Early Childhood Community,
We have so much to share with you this month. Eligibility for the Child Care Assistance Program was increased to 185% of the Federal Poverty Level. The Illinois Department of Human Services was approved to extend the deadline for the Health and Safety training, allowing providers more time to complete this requirement. Unfortunately, federal lawmakers missed two key funding deadlines for the Children's Health Insurance program and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Child Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. You can find out how to get involved with MIECHV reauthorization below.
As always, thank you for your hard work in service of Illinois children and families!
Best Regards,
Cynthia L. Tate, Ph.D.
Executive Director, OECD
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October is Infant Safe Sleep Awareness Month
Did you know that unsafe sleep is the leading cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age? According to the Center for Disease Control, about 4,000 infants die unexpectedly during sleep time, from SIDS, accidental suffocation, or unknown causes. Safe Sleep Awareness Month is a unique opportunity to encourage community members to remind the public of safety measures they can take to reduce the risk of SIDS and other infant sleep-related deaths.
Safe sleep is more than just putting a child on their back to sleep. The sleeping guidelines can look overwhelming to new parents who have so much to learn, but they can mean the difference between life and death. The Department of Health and Human Services has simplified the rules for safe sleep into three easy to remember tips, referred to as the ABC's of safe sleep.
Babies should sleep ALONE, on their BACKS, in a safe CRIB with a firm mattress. Keep crib bumpers, stuffed animals, pillows, blankets and everything else out of the crib.
Read
Governor Rauner's Proclamation regarding safe sleep.
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Illinois Attends Annual BUILD State Team Meeting
The Illinois BUILD Team is comprised of state agency representatives and private partners. They recently spent one and a half very productive days together at the annual BUILD State Team Meeting, working on how to bring a racial equity lens to early childhood systems-building. The team is composed of Bryan Stokes (Illinois Action For Children), Lynn Burgett (ISBE), Dr. Kimberly Mann (DCFS), Andrea Palmer (IDPH), Karen Berman (Ounce of Prevention Fund), Sandy De Leon (Ounce of Prevention Fund), Julia Zhu (GOECD), and Dr. Cynthia Tate (GOECD).
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IDHS Extends
Deadline
for CCAP Health & Safety Training Requirements
On September 27. 2017 Illinois Department of Human Services
announced that it made revisions to the
deadlines
around the the health, safety, and child development training requirements for CCAP providers.
- Current CCAP Providers: Providers approved for CCAP payments before 10/1/17 will now have an extended period to complete the required Health and Safety training in order to remain eligible for CCAP payments. The due date for this training is still to be determined.
- New Providers: Individuals hired for a licensed or license-exempt center must complete all required training within 90 days of hire in order for the center to maintain CCAP eligibility
- All providers must complete the additional Child Development training. The due date for this training is still to be determined.
View the official Illinois Department of Human Services
announcement
that details new required training deadlines, and orientation periods for new staff.
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Building Inclusive State Childcare Systems
The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, in partnership with Child Care Aware of America and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, recently released
Building Inclusive State Child Care Systems
.
The resource is intended to support child care administrators, IDEA Part C and Part B 619 Coordinators, early childhood advocates and other relevant stakeholders in achieving full inclusion of young children with disabilities in early care and education programs.
The publication provides detailed examples of requirements for inclusion in child care programs through specific state overviews of policies and practices used to improve the quality of inclusion in child care programs. The publication provides context for current debate on inclusion as well as how The Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 2014 can maximize opportunities to promote inclusion.
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New Research: The "Magic 8" of Preschool Classroom Practices
A new study published this month in the journal Child Development, found that eight key teacher actions can make the difference between a mediocre preschool classroom and an excellent one.
A team of Vanderbilt University researchers partnered with the principals, teacher coaches and teachers in three different Nashville early learning centers. They collected data on teacher actions and student achievement across 26 preschool classrooms. All of the participating teachers were certified in early education, held bachelor's degrees and were paid on par with K-12 teachers. Each classroom also had an assistant. There were a maximum of 20 students per classroom. The study ran for two years, from 2014 to 2016, and covered a total of 840 children. Here's the list of classroom actions they found had the largest effect on student success, dubbed "The Magic 8":
- Reduce time spent in transition.
- Improve level of instruction.
- Create a positive climate.
- Increase time teachers listen to children.
- Plan sequential activities.
- Promote cooperative interactions between children..
- Foster high levels of child involvement.
- Provide math opportunities.
A full version of the study,
Data-Driven Improvement in Prekindergarten Classrooms: Report From a Partnership in an Urban District, can be found
here.
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The Illinois Early Learning Project has a New Website!
The
Illinois Early Learning Project (IEL) provides evidence-based free resources for parents and caregivers of young children.
The IEL Project also provides support, resources, and information for teachers, administrators, and trainers interested in the implementation of the Project Approach i
n classrooms for young children.
The IEL Project provides Tip Sheets, Videos, and web resources that are aligned to the Illinois Early Learning Standards and to the Illinois Early Learning Guidelines for Children Birth to Age Three. The website is available in both English and Spanish.
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Early Learning Council Meeting Calendar
 The committees and subcommittees of the Early Learning Council meet several times a year to work towards each of their goals and priorities. You can find a calendar of all Early Learning Council meetings on the OECD website on the
ELC Meeting Calendar, which lists the date, time, location, and links to any meeting materials. Some upcoming meetings are:
November 20, 2017 11:00am -2:00pm
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Governor Signs Legislation Increasing CCAP Access
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Federal lawmakers have missed two critical funding deadlines for programs that kids count on.
They failed to extend funding for the popular and bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) before the September 30 deadline, which means health coverage for 9 million American children and 370,000 pregnant women is now in limbo. There's a strong bill in the Senate (S. 1827) to fund CHIP for the next five years and another bill in the House (H.R. 3921).
They also missed the deadline to reauthorize another popular and bipartisan program: the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, which funds evidence-based home visiting programs in every state to improve the early health, school readiness, and economic stability of families.
In Illinois, the MIECHV Program is a vital part of our home visiting system and our broader early childhood system. Your voice and participation are important-now more than ever-in outreach efforts to keep the MIECHV Program funded. Visit The Ounce's
MIECHV Reauthorization Webpage
where resources about MIECHV reauthorization are available, including
legislative
updates, latest news coverage, shareable graphics and action updates.
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YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago Developed and Implemented an Anti-Bias Curriculum
"I dreamed a world where all kids could live in peace. The world would be good and the people could take care of it. No kids would die from guns and when they grow up there could be no wars, fighting, gangs, homeless, hungry, segregation, and racism.
What world do you dream of?"
-YMCA students
In the Fall of 2014, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago set out on a new initiative as part of their commitment to elevate the quality of early learning programming and measure the impact on children and families. The aim of the initiative is to be an early learning "network of excellence" where culturally appropriate practices build enduring academic and social emotional learning skills for all children within the Y's reach. After two years of testing their approach, they had the opportunity to refine and codify their work through a three-year grant funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
In 2016, the Y scaled this initiative to all early learning educators within the organization. The Y's quality improvement efforts in early learning are fueled by a comprehensive professional development system. Over the course of eight months, directors and teachers engage in bi-weekly, collaborative learning experiences that build their child development knowledge, teaching skills, and educational dispositions. All sessions are designed and executed by an internal team of early learning professional leaders at the Y. Currently, the Y is focusing efforts on building anti-bias education and emergent literacy practices in the preschool classrooms. The approach is a unique process, one that integrates an anti-bias philosophy with child-centered practices and academic content.
The Y's anti-bias literacy approach infuses anti-bias education with literacy development practices. This approach combines skill-based learning with platforms that address issues of personal and social identity, cultural competence, and social justice. Through this anti-bias framework, Y teachers engage children in interactive read alouds and small group representational drawing activities (
i.e. storybooks created by the children
) as a way for students to: express and communicate their real life experiences; develop collaboration skills; and become empowered through problem solving and storybook development.
.
This fall, the Y launched the first in a series of events that highlight anti-bias education practices at the Y and across the field. The events take place at the Learning Institute, a convening space housed on the 7th floor of
the YMCA Center
. The Y 's long-term goal, made possible by the generous support of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, is to manualize and disseminate the professional development model so that other organizations have the opportunity to implement it in their own communities, transforming the early learning landscape through sustainable, replicable growth in anti-bias teaching practices and program quality.
The Y's overall mission is to develop strong children, families, and communities across Metropolitan Chicago through academic readiness, character development, violence prevention, and fitness & healthy living. The Y operates 18 early learning programs serving approximately 1,000 birth to five-year-old children across the Chicagoland region.
For more information on the YMCA of Metro Chicago and their work with implementing an anti-bias curriculum, visit their website or reach out to Ashley Nazarak at anazarak@ymcachicago.org. Ashley is the Vice President of Early Childhood Programming, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
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Erikson Institute's Fussy Baby Network
All babies cry, but some cry more than others. One in five babies is fussy - difficult to comfort and may have trouble feeding and sleeping. For parents, caring for a fussy baby can be exhausting and frustrating.
There is no quick fix - but there is help. At Fussy Baby Network, infant specialists work with families through a range of support services to find more ways to soothe, care for, and enjoy their child.
Available Services:
- Warmline: The Fussy Baby team is available by phone to listen and provide support and resources. This service is available nationally, and is free of charge. 888-431-BABY (888-431-2229)
- Home Visits: Infant specialists can meet with families in their homes to explore concerns and offer support.
- In-service workshops: Specialists are available to come out and provide workshops for agencies that work in support of infants, toddlers, and their families.
- Support Group Presentations: Fussy Baby Network is also available to provide informational presentations for community-based parent support groups about our services.
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Community Systems Webinar: Finding and Enrolling Highest Need Children in Early Childhood Programs
On Tuesday, October 31st from 12pm-1pm Leah Pouw, Community Systems Director at Illinois Action for Children will be conducting a webinar called Finding and Enrolling Highest Need Children in Early Childhood Programs. Parent educators, ERSEA specialists, and others in charge of outreach and enrollment are eager to connect the most vulnerable children to early learning programs. In this webinar, participants will learn about one strategy, tried by many Early Childhood Innovation Zones. This will be an interactive session with activities designed to help you hear from your colleagues around the state.
Registration is now open! Join the webinar by registering here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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Upcoming Conference and Professional Development
The Sharing a Vision conference, coordinated by the Illinois Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children in collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Human Services, will take place Oct. 25-27 in East Peoria. It is open to both professionals and families and is designed to improve policies and practices for young children. Several full and half-day p
re-conference
sessions
are being offered on Wednesday, Oct. 25, including:
- Opening the Culture Door: Understanding the Impact Your Culture has on Your Teaching Style and Expectations of Children's Behavior
- Maximizing the Danielson Framework for Teacher Evaluation in Early Childhood Classrooms: New Tools and Early Childhood Video Resources to Promote Effective Teacher and Leader Collaboration
- Working with Families: Refresh Your Knowledge of IDEA and How to Work with Families of Children with Disabilities
- Powerful Interactions: How to Connect with Children to Extend Their Learning
- Lead Learn Excel Leader Learning Exchange
- Implicit Bias: The Thief of Progress
- Whose Team Are You On? Positive Teaming and Collaboration in Early Intervention
The conference will be held at the Embassy Suites and Conference Center in East Peoria and will host more than 70 sessions in alignment with Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices. To register, please visit the
Sharing a Vision webpage
.
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Early Childhood Expulsion Webinar Recording.
In case you missed it! This webinar, hosted by Illinois Action for Children and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, discusses Illinois' recently enacted legislation prohibiting expulsions due to challenging behaviors of children birth to five in licensed child care and early childhood programs receiving funds from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Check out the webinar recording
to learn more about what the law means for providers, as well as resources available to support both children and providers.
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