HawaiiAEYC News

Developing Kindergarten Readiness and Other Large-Scale Assessment Systems: Necessary Conditions in the Assessment of Young Children

Over the past few years, interest in assessing children as they enter kindergarten has gained momentum in states. Roughly half of the states have instituted some form of kindergarten entry or readiness assessment, even before the development of such an assessment was highlighted in the Race to the Top, Early Learning Challenge funding competition. The development of readiness assessments has varied across states in terms of the areas of child
development and knowledge evaluated, and their use for policy and practice purposes. The Center for Applied Research at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC ) has developed this guidance to support states’ development and implementation of kindergarten readiness assessment systems. Such systems, properly developed and implemented, can contribute greatly to the success of early childhood programs and early
elementary programming to identify and meet the needs of children entering kindergarten.  The considerations presented in this paper are built around NAEYC positions related to assessment and research on child assessment. While focused on large-scale assessment of young children, the guidelines included here are intended to inform considerations about early childhood assessment beyond the implementation of kindergarten entry assessments.

Click here for the press release and links to the report.

In this season of giving thanks, NAEYC thanks you for all you do on behalf of children and families.

• Super Committee Can’t Come to Deficit Reduction Agreement; Next Steps?
• Linda Smith Incoming Deputy Assistant Secretary at HHS
• U.S. Office of Child Care Memoranda on Continuity of Care and Background Checks
  

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SUPER COMMITTEE FAILS TO REACH CONSENSUS – WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND THE DEFICIT?

The Budget Control Act established a Super Committee of 12 members of Congress, evenly divided between the Democrats and Republicans, to find a way to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion.  As you know from previous emails, the timeline to come to a consensus was November 23rd.  Under the Act, if a decision could not be reached, an automatic trigger of cuts would take effect starting January 2013: $600 billion in military spending cuts and $600 billion in other domestic discretionary spending cuts (such as Head Start, Title I, IDEA, WIC). The lack of consensus centered on the extent that members disagreed on dealing with deficit reduction by raising revenue (one proposal would have further reduced revenues from the top income earners) and the degree of changes to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

So what happens next? The automatic cuts (sequestration) do not start until January 2013. The good news is that some mandatory funded programs such as SNAP/Food Stamps, TANF, Social Security, Medicaid and the mandatory funded portion of child care are not subject to the automatic cuts. One strategy is to find ways to reduce the deficit between now and then that would allow less draconian cuts that could seriously impact children’s early education, health and nutrition.  For example, if the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the top income earners are allowed to expire at the end of calendar year 2012, that would make a big difference in the need to make cuts to programs that help struggling families and help meet children’s needs.  Stay tuned on next steps.

Don’t forget the appropriations process too! Congress passed another Continuing Resolution to keep the federal funds flowing through December 16th for the fiscal year 2012 spending cycle.

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NEW DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY ANNOUNCED

Last week, the Administration for Children and Families announced that Linda Smith, Executive Director for the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies since 2003, will become the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Education.  She began her early childhood career on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana.  Later, she was Director of the Office of Family Policy for the Secretary of Defense, advancing significant improvements in military child care.  Linda then worked as a legislative fellow and staff for the late Senator Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.  NAEYC congratulates Linda Smith on her new role and looks forward to working with her to create high quality early childhood education in child care and Head Start, and to build strong coordination with programs administered in other federal agencies.

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TWO NEW INFORMATION MEMOS FROM THE OFFICE OF CHILD CARE ON CONTINUITY OF CARE AND BACKGROUND CHECKS

The federal Office of Child Care recently issued Information Memoranda with guidance on ways to promote continuity of care and comprehensive criminal background checks.  The continuity of care recommendations address ways to promote retention of a child’s subsidy and reduce administrative burden.  The second guidance recommends that all child care providers receiving subsidies undergo comprehensive criminal background checks as part of their minimum health and safety requirements.

To find out more about the continuity of care guidance, click here <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/JNXRQVSNRE/GYEUQVSYFS/7635677261> .

To read the guidance on criminal background checks guidance, click here <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/JNXRQVSNRE/FATJQVSYFT/7635677261> .

HAEYC Maui Chapter Conference 2012

Hawai’i Association for the Education of Young Children  announces:

Maui Chapter Conference 2012

Save the date:

March 10, 2012 – Saturday

Location:    University of Hawai’i Maui Campus

SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN PROPOSES NEW OFFICE OF EARLY LEARNING

Participants at NAEYC’s Annual Conference had the pleasure of hearing first-hand from Dr. Jacqueline Jones that Secretary Duncan has proposed a new Office of Early Learning in the U.S. Department of Education. The Office of Early Learning will be situated within the Office of Elementary & Secondary Education, which will help support a birth through age eight continuum of early childhood education.

In his statement, Secretary Duncan said, “For too long, federal programs and funding streams for early learning have functioned in isolation, lacking strong, coordinated collaboration across agencies and even within our own Department. Establishing a dedicated office underscores a critical step in progressing the national dialogue about improving outcomes for young children. It will institutionalize, increase, and coordinate federal support for high-quality early learning, manage outreach to the early learning community and enhance support for building high-performing early education systems in states across the country.” NAEYC looks forward to working with this new office, as well as other offices and divisions working on higher education, innovation, early intervention and special education to support high quality early childhood programs, services and professionals who work with young children. More details will be available soon.

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HEAD START RE-DESIGNATION (COMPETITION) FINAL RULE ISSUED

The Head Start Act of 2007 put an even greater emphasis on program quality and quality assurance for Head Start grantees. Secretary Sebelius established a National Advisory Committee of child development experts and early education leaders (including Jerlean Daniel, Executive Director of NAEYC), which called for a “transparent, valid and reliable” system to assess Head Start grantees. The Designation Renewal System will look at several factors, including an evidence-based, rigorous classroom evaluation tool to measure classroom quality, standards of financial integrity and compliance with Head Start rules to evaluate whether programs are meeting key program quality indicators. A grantee that does not meet the quality benchmarks will be required to compete for renewal of its funding. The first group of Head Start grantees that will be required to compete for continued funding will be notified in December 2011. The new rule will take effect on December 8, 2011.

US SENATOR CASEY INTRODUCUES NAEYC’S ESEA RECOMMENDATIONS
On October 11th, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) introduced the Continuum of Learning Act of 2011 (SB 1677) to amend titles I and II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). You can view the press release here<http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/LYDJQRBBGF/7474473541> . This is the Senate companion to the bill introduced in the House in August. Both are based on NAEYC’s recommendations for ESEA reauthorization in our Call to Action <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/JBYYQRBBGG/7474473541> . Several aspects of the Continuum of Learning Act such as coordination on Title I state and local plans, joint professional development, local coordination, and several aspects from Senator Murray’s LEARN Act such as using literacy funds for birth to five programs as well as K-12, made it into the ESEA reauthorization bill. This bill was put forward jointly by Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Enzi (R-WY), which the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee is marking up this week. We look forward to working with all of the Senate when the bill moves to the floor in order to include other recommendations not yet in the base ESEA bill. We’ll report on the outcome of the multi-day Senate Committee markup when it concludes.

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NATIONAL OP-ED ON THE BENEFITS OF HEAD START AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Nicholas Kristof, op-ed writer for the New York Times, wrote on October 19th about the need to expand access to early childhood education while also highlighting Head Start. You may find this helpful for your advocacy efforts at home. To view the full article, click here <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/KGLAQRBBGH/7474473541> .

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HEAD START FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM APPLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

The Head Start Fellowship Program is a unique opportunity to spend a year in Washington, DC. Fellows are assigned to the U.S. Office of Head Start and U.S. Office of Child Care and have a mentor from various national organizations.

The deadline for applications for the 2012-2013 National Head Start Fellowships Program is January 15, 2012. TheFellowship begins on September 1, 2012 ends on August 31, 2013. To learn more, click here<http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/MMFPQRBBGI/7474473541> . To apply, click here<http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/GSVVQRBBGJ/7474473541> .

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NCCP RELEASE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD STATE POLICY PROFILES SHOWS GAPS IN SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES

The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) released its latest Early Childhood State Policy Profiles last week. The profiles highlight recent policy decisions related to health, education and family supports that impact the well-being of young children and low-income families in your state.

According to this report, nearly half <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/KSYMQRBBGK/7474473541> the children in our country under the age of 6 live in families that struggle or are unable to provide basic necessities for their young children. More than half of states do not give these struggling families (making less than $36,620 for a family of three in 2009) access to child care assistance.

In this time of high poverty and unemployment across states, additional supports for families at the federal level such as early childhood education, Medicaid, food stamps and other basics must be protected. These programs allow families to afford basic necessities and contribute more of their income to child care. They also put money back into the economy quickly and act as a stimulus.

Click here <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/BZAQQQZKIA/KPIYQRBBGL/7474473541> to view NCCP’s report and see where your state stands on this and other important indicators of child well-being.

CALL TODAY! DON’T LET CHILDREN AND STRUGGLING FAMILIES BEAR THE BURDEN OF DEFICIT REDUCTION
We apologies for any difficulties in emailing your members of Congress through the “Take Action!” link we previously sent. The link is up and running again.

Click here <http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/GJVKQPRCYT/OOZLQPRDNI/7416865761>  to take action now and email your Senators and Representatives today! Just enter your zip code at the top of the page.

It’s not too late! This is a quick and easy way to tell your Senators and Representatives that reducing our deficit must be done fairly and must not undercut the health, education and wellbeing of children and families.

Including your own short story about how these important social safety net programs have helped your family, community, or the children and families you have worked with is so powerful in a time when numbers and figures are often at the center of negotiations.

Here is an example of a message:

Hi my name is                   and I am from (city/state). I am writing as someone who works (with/on behalf of) children and their families. From my experience, I know how important it is to protect the basic safety net programs (such as Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance) that support children and their families. Already 25% of children under age 6 live in poverty – we must do better. The plan that the Select Committee develops to reduce the federal budget must protect these programs through fair and balanced measures, including increased revenues from those who it is fair to ask more of and closing loopholes. The Committee’s plan cannot put the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of children and families who are already struggling. I urge you to work with the Select Committee and leadership to develop a fair plan, and to reject proposals that will harm our nation’s most vulnerable children and their families.

Updated 2011 HAEYC Conference Information -

Friday and Saturday updated conference information

Friday Session092511

Saturday SessionPDF092511

Looking forward to seeing you on October 7th and 8th…

2011 Conference Registration Forms Available!  HawaiiAEYC, 1806 So. King St.#30, Honolulu, HI 96826

Click to download conference information and registration form.

2011 Conference Registration Form 083011

2011 Conference Flyer Updated082911

Presenter Form for Friday 10/7/2011

Presenter Form for Saturday 10/8/2011

Exhibitor Form 2011

Not a day goes by that we do not hear about how the current economy is affecting our family, friends, and neighbors. Furloughs, lay offs, reduction of hours… These are not easy times for any of us. As the Vice President of Membership Services I see how the economy is affecting all of us. In June 2008 we had 992 HAEYC members. Here we are one year later, and we have 834 members. That’s a loss of 158 members. The loss can be attributed to members moving out of state. Other members may have had their membership paid for by employers, who are not able to do so now under their current budget constraints. And yes, there are our colleagues who, in this current economy paying $45, $55 or $95 (the cost for student, regular, or comprehensive membership respectively) to be a NAEYC/HAEYC member may seem more like a luxury than a necessity.

Below are some ideas on how you can create a “membership dues savings plan” that will hopefully be easy on you, your family and your pocketbook.

Download the article.

NAEYC’s Call to Action Recommendations Introduced in Two Bills to Amend the Elementary & Secondary Education Act; Additional Legislation to Address Dropout Prevention through High-Quality Early Childhood Education. NAEYC is very pleased that Representative Mazie Hirono (HI), joined by Walter Jones (NC), Don Young (AK), and Jared Polis (CO), introduced today the bipartisan bill, the “Continuum of Learning Act of 2011,” that tracks NAEYC’s recommendations in our Call to Action for the reauthorization of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (also known as No Child Left Behind). Last week, Senators Brown (OH) and Hagan (NC) introduced the Ready Schools Act of 2011, which is incorporated in the more expansive House bill. To read NAEYC’s Call to Action for the 112th Congress, click here:

http://capwiz.com/naeyc/utr/1/LSXUQJPFRS/NNMJQJPQHD/721724624

Here are highlights of the Hirono/Jones/Young/Polis bill (H.R. 2794) amending Title I and Title II of ESEA:

Have states review and revise their K–3 standards as needed to ensure they cover all the areas of development and learning, including social and emotional development, and approaches to learning as recommended by the National Research Council;
Promote joint professional development between schools and community-based early childhood education programs; allow Title II funds to be used for scholarships tied to compensation rewards for teachers who earn an Associate or Baccalaureate degree in early childhood;
Provide professional development for elementary school principals in child development and learning, developmentally appropriate teaching practices and collaborations with community early childhood setting;
Require states to create teaching certificates that reflect the specialized knowledge and skills of teaching young children for those teaching in the early grades and younger;
Prevent inappropriate high-stakes use of child assessment for grades 2 and below;
Help elementary schools evaluate their readiness to support all children’s learning success in the early grades; and
Strengthen collaborations between community-based early childhood programs and schools for more effective and supportive transitions for young children.

Under the Ready Schools Act of 2011 (S. 1439), school districts would help elementary schools undergo a “ready schools” needs review to support children’s success particularly in the early grades by examining conditions such as the use of developmentally appropriate curricula and teaching practices, support for teachers to enhance their knowledge of child development and learning, strong collaborations with families and community early childhood education providers, and professional development for school principals.

NAEYC also was pleased to provide feedback to Senator Murkowski (AK) on her bill which she just introduced, “Early Intervention for Graduation Success Act of 2011” (S. 1495). The bill would allow the current dropout prevention program in the Elementary & Secondary Education Act. The funds could be used for loan forgiveness for teachers earning a degree in early childhood education; support the state’s development of its quality rating and improvement system; aligning learning standards from preschool through college; and expanding access to early childhood education programs. States would be required to provide funds to local partnerships of school districts and early childhood providers with high percentages of children with risk factors associated with failure to graduate from high school and to create or expand a database to identify and ensure services for children at risk of dropping out of school.