Alignment. Quality. Access.
GOECD 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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Inclusion Subcommittee Meeting
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Greetings Early Childhood Community,
In this issue we welcome and highlight new appointees by Governor JB Pritzker who will be collectively providing leadership to Illinois' early childhood system. They are: Jesse Ruiz, Deputy Governor for Education; Irma Snopek, First Assistant to Deputy Governor Ruiz; Sol Flores, Deputy Governor for Health and Human Services; Lizzy Whitehorn, First Assistant to Deputy Governor Flores; Grace Hou, Secretary of the Department of Human Services; Carmen Ayala, Superintendent of the Illinois State Board of Education; and Marc D. Smith, Acting
Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
We welcome each of these leaders and look forward to our work together on behalf of Illinois' youngest children.
We are excited that the RFPs for the Early Childhood Block Grant -Preschool for All, Preschool for All Expansion, and Prevention Initiative - have been issued. We urge any potential applicants to view the webinars on the ISBE website (linked below).
I also want to give special appreciation to the collaborative work going on in communities across the state. Recently, I had the honor of talking with members of two community collaboratives. Their dedication and passion were so inspiring!
And finally, as always, remember our young children separated from their families at the border for no other reason than that their parents want to give them better lives.
Best Regards,
Cynthia L. Tate, Ph.D.
Executive Director, GOECD
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GOECD Welcomes Dr. Tisa Charles to Our Team!
Dr. Charles joined GOECD in April of 2019 as the Manager of Budgets and Contracts for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). Previously, Dr. Charles served in a variety of financial and auditing roles in public accounting, health care administration, transportation, not for profits, and two state universities. Her primary responsibilities have been auditing, budgeting, forensic accounting and fiscal reporting. Dr. Charles brings vast knowledge on fiscal management and integrity.
Dr. Charles is a graduate of Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee WI, with a Ph.D. in Higher Education, Administration and Leadership. She also has a M.A. in Educational Administration and Leadership from Chicago State University, and a BSBA degree in Business Administration with a Certificate in Accounting from Roosevelt University.
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FY20 RFPs Released for PFA, PFA-E & PI
 FY20 Request for Proposal opportunities for Preschool for All (PFA), Preschool for All-Expansion (PFAE), and Prevention Initiative (PI) funds are available. Proposals are due in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) offices no later than 4:00 PM on June 10, 2019.
Click on the links below to:
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GOECD is Accepting Applications for New Positions
GOECD
leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of early learning and development programs to support Illinois' vision that access to a continuous, equitable, and high-quality early childhood system enables children, with the support of their families and communities, to grow up safe, healthy, happy, and ready to succeed. We are hiring for several positions to assist in the coordination, management, and implementation of activities for the Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5).
Cover letters and resumes should be sent to the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development c/o GOV.OECD@Illinois.gov.
Please share these job postings widely!
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Teach Plus: Looking For a Few Great Teachers
Applications are now open for the 2019-20 Teach Plus
Illinois Teaching Policy Fellowship
and the
Early Childhood Educator Policy Fellowship
. These highly selective leadership opportunities are for outstanding Illinois teachers looking to deepen their knowledge of education policy and gain a voice in decisions that affect students and the teaching profession. Teachers will expand their influence without leaving the classroom, and receive a $1,600 stipend for their commitment. No prior policy experience required.
Applications are due May 6th and May 20th, respectively. Please reach out to Sarah Campbell at
scampbell@teachplus.org
with additional questions.
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Dr. Tate Presents at the Fox Valley United Way Early Childhood Summit
On February 26, 2019, Dr. Tate, Executive Director of the GOECD, was honored to give the keynote speech at the Fox Valley United Way Early Childhood Summit in Geneva, IL. The summit sought to foster discussion and facilitate collaboration among organizations that serve children from birth to age five and their families. Dr. Tate's presentation, "Collaboration in Early Childhood Systems," focused on factors for success in cross-systems collaborations work and strategies for effective stakeholder engagement across Illinois' early childhood system.
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Dr. Tate Presents at Early Childhood Cross Collaboration Conference
On April 17, 2019, Dr. Tate presented at the United Way of Kankakee & Iroquois Counties Early Childhood Cross Collaboration Conference: Strengthening Connections between Early Intervention, DCFS, and Home Visiting Services. Dr. Tate's presentation, "The State of Early Childhood in Illinois," focused on the importance of systems coordination and what it actually takes for major child-serving systems to collaborate in order to meet
the needs of young children and their families across the State
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Results of PDG Administrator Survey Regarding Pyramid Model Implementation
As part of the pilot evaluation of the PDG federal grant for the Pyramid Model for Social Emotional Competence, Pyramid Model Consortium distributed an online Participant Survey to each program's Leadership Team during December 2018, approximately seven months after training began. All 22 sites completed the survey for a 100% response rate. The survey was designed to assess participation in training and overall early Pyramid Model implementation efforts.
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New ExceleRate Illinois
® Resource for Continuous Quality Improvement
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is more than a plan for compliance. It is about teams taking ownership of program quality, involving stakeholders, developing a shared vision, and trying something new every week or every month. It requires a "culture of improvement." Even programs with the most limited resources are finding ways to incorporate CQI.
Over the past year, the ExceleRate Subcommittee of the ELC Quality Committee has worked to describe how program leaders manage a CQI process. Click here to read the document "Continuous Quality Improvement: What Does a Program Leader Do?", which is also posted on the ExceleRateIllinoisProviders.com website under Resources by Standard, for Centers and Schools, standard 3C. It's the first link under Continuous Quality Improvement Tool Kit.
At its April 1 meeting, the ELC Executive Committee approved a Quality Committee recommendation for ISBE and DHS to consider stronger focus on the 8 CQI Component Categories listed in the document, including flexibility for technical assistance providers to establish local Communities of Practice and other locally-determined ways to support program leaders to strengthen their CQI practices.
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Inaugural Illinois Risk and Reach Report Now Available
The Illinois Risk and Reach Report presents a set of curated data indicators representing risk factors that undermine optimal child development, and compares them to the reach of publicly funded programs and services that support early childhood well-being. This analysis is conducted at the county level with the intention of understanding the extent to which programs and services for young children and their families are reaching communities in need of support.
Click here to access the printed Illinois Risk and Reach Report.
Click here to explore the interactive maps of county-by-county data.
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The original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study has helped raise public awareness about this critical public health issue. The term ACEs has since been adopted to describe varying lists of adversities. It is important to understand how ACEs differ from other commonly used terms, including childhood adversity, trauma, and toxic stress.
The increased understanding that childhood adversity, including ACEs, can cause trauma and toxic stress-and, in turn, have a lasting impact on children's physical and mental health-presents an important opportunity to turn this awareness into action. To learn more about the differences,
read Child Trends.
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Community Systems Development and Birth to Third Grade Continuity Conferences
Registration is currently open for the annual Partner Plan Act and Birth To Third Grade Continuity Project conferences. Both conferences will take place at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Bloomington, IL.
2019 Partner Plan Act Conference: Equity from the Start
The 2019 Partner Plan Act Conference will take place on June 11, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. This annual conference brings early childhood system stakeholders to learn, network, and deepen their community systems knowledge and skills. For more information and to register,
visit the conference website here.
2019 B-3 Continuity Conference
The Birth-to-Third Grade (B-3) Continuity Conference is scheduled for June 12-13, 2019. This year, Blythe Keller Robinson will provide an engaging keynote session, sharing about birth-to-third grade systems alignment and the recently released work in Atlanta. School administrators can also check out details about the
Administrators Academy-Supporting and Evaluating Developmentally Appropriate Practices (AA3021)
that is being offered through the conference. Additionally, a variety of breakout sessions will be offered covering topics like transitioning through collaboration, the role of family support specialist, using data for the collective, and KIDS. Additional information about the conference, lodging information, and registration is available on the
2019 B-3 Continuity Conference website
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