Maximizing Resources from the Stimulus Package

Welcome,Anne. We're so glad you were able to make time to join the conversation today!

Thank you for your work Ann and Louise in putting this all together in one place in an easy to read and process format. Here in VT, our funding for our Regional Council Coordinators have been cut and their positions end as of the end of March. Here in Franklin County, we are trying to cobble funding together to maintain this position locally. I am wondering if you think that the State Fiscal Stabilization Dollars would be able to be applied to the early childhood regional council positions that have been cut. Do you think that would be an allowable "Education" expense since the position supports the early education system? Is this something we should be advocating for with the Governor and Legislature?

Absolutely -- the Fiscal Stabilization dollars are very flexible. You could also try the CCDF quality funds

Anne: First of all, thanks for doing this.... I'm just beginning to come up to speed with this stuff ...so... How does the "Maximizing" paper dovetail with the presentation and paper that Helen Blank presented at NAEYC in Dallas last fall? Are you all in these conversations together?

Good connection! Helen Blank was talking about the "vision" for re-authorizing the CCDF -- which includes QRIS. This Maximizing paper was specifically written to focus on the funds that are coming to states right now, immediately and can be spent over the next two years.

I am very excited to particpate in the ongoing discussion of the potential efforts within states to improve quality EC systems and inclusion. Currently, I am reviewing the existing QRIS in the 17 states for specific language that addresses inclusion and more specifically inclusion for infants and toddlers. The stimulus Bill is an opportunity for states to fine tune their quality efforts to intentionally focus on the indicators within the QRIS. The descriptors within the levels is a place to ensure that attention is given to our babies and toddlers who are must vunerable in regards health & safety, responsive caregiving, family partnerships, professional development specific to special needs and infants and toddlers.

There are now 18 states with statewide implementation - Arizona rolled out its system this January 12th, 2009. We began with opening up our voluntary system to 300 programs across the state (200 centers/100 homes). We received over 700 applications from providers wishing to participate. We are about to conduct our first round of selection from those 700 applications, provide initial assessment of quality, have ongoing coaching, child care health consultation, TEACH scholarships and financial awards and then do our first rating in 2010.

We are rating programs using a hybrid method of ERS tools (ECERS/ITERS/FCCERS); the CLASS instrument; and a state points scale which includes administrative practices (ratios, group sizes, inclusive practices etc); staff qualifications; curriculum and assessment; and family involvement. If anyone would be interested in seeing our rating system/methodology, please email me at alandy@azftf.gov and I would be happy to share our work. We do have inclusion embedded as part of our full system.

Where will the info on inclusion be psoted when your review is done? I'd really liek to see that. We are designing a QRIS in NY now -- it's called QUALITYstarsNY and you can find out about it by going to www.earlychildhood.org/QSNY
We have some inclusion items and some items on language diversity, too.

And just for the record, I think there are now 20 states with QRIS -- 21 now that Arizona has launched. The states and year each was launched are: Arizona (2009),Colorado (2000), Delaware (2009), District of Columbia (2000), Illinois (2007), Indiana (2008), Iowa (2006), Kentucky (2001), Louisiana (2007), Maine (2008), Maryland (2001), Montana (2002), New Hampshire (2006), New Mexico (2005), North Carolina (1999), Ohio (2004), Oklahoma (1998), Pennsylvania (2002), Rhode Island (2009), Tennessee (2001), and Vermont (2003).

It is exciting to hear of more and more states developing QRIS and beginning a limited/pilot implementation. The inclusive language review is based on my work with the National Infant Toddler Child Care Initiative at ZERO TO THREE and our continuing work to ensure that infants and toddlers are included in all discussions for quality initiatives. This review will be a part of a presentation at the May 09 Smart Start Conference. "Including Family Culture When Developing Quality Systems to Include Special Needs and Infant/Toddlers Care".

I will definitely come to your Smart Start workshop!

Can you say a little more about what "family culure" means?

Let's try that typing again...

Can you say a little more about what "family culture" means?

The premise of this session is to explore how a family's culture (values, norms, language, etc)are respected and included in the care of their child, more specifically, infants and toddlers. Quality care for infants and toddlers includes responsive caregiving, continuity, primary caregiving, health and safety and caregivers that have specific training and education for infants and toddlers. Understanding child developmenent is one part of quality care and another key aspect is developing family partnerships. A strong responsive relationship between the child/parent -child/caregiver and parent/ caregiver is necessary to provide quality care. If this exists then the familiy culture is incorporated in the decisions about care and inclusion. Family child rearing may be one of interdependence or independence and this must be respected and included in the decision for that child's care. If the relationship is trusting, respectful and built on information then any special needs will be a part of the plan for this child no matter the diversity of the family and the caregiver.
States can ensure inclusion in child care if the QRIS supports the nessary standards for including the family and specific criteria for professional development of all early childhood to include special needs and age specific training and education for the age group assigned.
I think I answered your question with a whole lot more than your question.

A great discussion, thank you all! I am very interested in the results of the review of state QRIS in relation to inclusion Kathy mentioned and in the rating system mentioned by Alison. I think making quality as it relates to children with disabilities explicit within the QRIS will help provide guidance for centers and teachers. Anne, any specific tips for how to use funding to pull inclusion and children with disabilities into a QRIS?

Also, as an FYI, some of you may be interested in another blog posted on our site today that raises some similar issues: Inclusive Program Quality and Professional Development: http://community.fpg.unc.edu/[…]/inclusive-program-quality-and-pd

NPDCI also just posted a concept paper: Why Program Quality Matters for Early Childhood Inclusion. Recommendations for Professional Development: http://community.fpg.unc.edu/[…]/view

Hi Kathy, Looking forward to learning more from you about your review of inclusive language in QRS. I saw Valerie Lane this week and she mentioned the session at the Smart Start Conference. Hope to be able to attend.

I'm excited to say that after a year-long roll out, Indiana has gone statewide with our Quality Rating System...Paths to QUALITY. Our roll out period was January 2008-January 2009. We have four levels. In order for any child care provider (home, center or ministry) to achieve a Level 3 status, there are certain disability-related indicators that they must meet. We have developed a tool for the Inclusion Specialists in our 11 child care resource and referral agencies to use to assist providers as they prepare for the indicators in Level 3. Our state child care center regulations also require center directors to attend a two day training on including children with special needs. This is a great way to get the information to the center directors regarding the disability-related requirements of Paths to QUALITY. It's all very exciting!

I also thought folks might be interested in visiting our website. Our system is called Quality First - and you can find it (and watch a video targeted to providers as we marketed around the state) here: www.azftf.gov/qualityfirst .

Anne, congratulations on boiling down all the information into the report you and Louise have done. What an invaluable resource for folks. FYI, I stumbled on a much more general resource I wanted to share with folks. The National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI), like several other orgs is tracking Stimulus ongoings and their relation to Education. Their page is at: http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/[…]/ Cheers! Jonathan

Just wanted to mention that in addition to the states listed in the NPDCI paper that include language on inclusion in their QRIS (IN, NH, NM, OH, PA, VT), and AZ which noted it above, DE has fairly extensive language about inclusion in its sections on qualifications, learning environments, and family and community partnerships. NPCDI's paper notes that "A review of existing QRIS standard suggest that these six states emphasize different aspects of inclusion." (This is true for many dimensions, not just inclusion, where the emphasis and complexity of the standards differ from state to state.) I think a key will be for inclusion advocates to come together to identify which are the essential inclusion standards (with a rationale/research base) so as to promote these across the country.

Great suggestion Abby. I wonder if we might do some of that work at the 2009 FPG Inclusion Institute (July 14-July 16 in Chapel Hill, NC). Many inclusion advocates will be there, including you Abbey; and a working session focused on this question would provide a good start. Agenda is being planned now. Does this sound like an interesting session to others?
Here is link to registration to the Inclusion Institute http://www.fpg.unc.edu/news/highlight_detail.cfm?ID=823

I like the idea of having this as a work group at the meeting in July however right now Indiana has a hold on any out-of-state travel so I'm unsure if I'll be able to attend. Perhaps this conversation could start there and continue in some other manner such as a webinar, conference call, etc. I'd really like to be a part of this discussion. Thanks!

Good idea Renee to extend the conversation from the Inclusion Institute. We are worried about travel restrictions. Wonder if there is any way that the stimulus money might be used to help states come together to share strategies at the Inclusion Institute. We could help design sessions with that in mind.

I don't know about the stimulus money being used for that but I definitely think it's something to look in to. It would be amazing what we could come up with as a group!

Thank you for drawing our attention to the QRIS in DE! As we were working on the Program Quality paper, we found that the number of states with a fully implemented statewide QRIS was a moving target as so many states are in the process. Some states' QRIS were not included in the paper because they are still in pilot phases or have only implemented in selected areas. However, we anticipate having to revise at some point in the near future. Thanks again, for pointing out DE.
Also a great point about identifying essential inclusion standards. I like Pam's idea about a working session at the Inclusion Institute.

Abby, thanks for your insightful comments about the need for inclusion advocates to come together to identify the essential inclusion standards as part of the QRIS movement. I couldn't agree more! In this regard, we are very excited at NPDCI to have played a role in leading the effort to create and validate the DEC/NAEYC joint position statement on inclusion, which includes, for the first time, a definition of inclusion. It also includes a description of the desired results of inclusion, along with three essential components that can be used to identify high quality inclusive practices--access, participation, and supports. If the two boards approve the draft position statement, the final version should be ready for release in late April.

Building on all these comments, I think it would be great to hold a working session at the Inclusion Institute to begin the conversation around what the appropriate inclusion standards are that could be promoted for "inclusion" in the developing QRS standards around the country. The discussion could use the position statement, research, what has already been included by states, such as DE for further discussion and refinement, including rationales. As a national observer, I also think it is important for each stakeholder group developing standards to share some responsibility for thinking about which standards make the most difference because if each stakeholder group comes forward with their 3,000 best ideas, these fragile systems will collapse under their own weight (difficulty and complexity). The group might also need to think about three sets of recommendations; one for those states developing building block or foundational systems in which there is a progression of standards, all of which must be complied with to move up, the points systems where providers are given the option of choosing which standards they will meet to gain enough points for each star level (and if providers can choose how to ensure that all choices do contribute even if done alone), and hybrid systems where certain basics have to be met (so what would be absolutely essential for inclusion) followed by points earned through a menu of choices. Hope this is clear.

Abbey, This sounds like a great session at the Inclusion Institute, especially if we can extend the learning beyond the Institute (and perhaps before the Institute...as we are doing on the blog). Do others have ideas for the session? Please invite others in your networks to join in.

 Applaud the idea of continuing the discussion about inclusion at the institute. Would like to ask participants to think about specific practices they use to provide access to inclusive opportunities, to support children's participation in play and learning, and the systems-level supports such as PD and collaboration used to promote inclusion.

Am so intrigued by the growing list of states with approved QRIS standards. It is not easy to find this information withou a lot of help from your friends. Suggest we continue to update the list and expand the QRIS table as a resource for the field.

The Inclusion Institute is very much the place where early childhood colleagues can come to learn and share about what others are doing with stimulus dollars. Registration opens next week! Link to http://www.nectac.org/[…]/splash.html