International Child Resource Institute, ICRI

The Bright Futures Developmental Tools for Families and Providers are now available in Spanish. These tools offer a framework for families and providers to begin a conversation about how best to support healthy social and emotional development in children. The tools provide a number of tips for when, where, and how to seek help. They are available at http://www.brightfutures.org/tools/index.html

Brightfutures@ncemch.org

Early Care and Education Plan for All

Alameda County launched a comprehensive planning effort in January 2006 to address early care and education (ECE) for all children from birth to five years of age. The process has built on the work of many experts, including community and business stakeholders, early childhood practitioners and K-12 professionals. Led by County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan, Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, the Child Care Planning Council, and First 5 Alameda County, this process was designed to benefit our collective efforts to ensure every child in Alameda County has access to high-quality ECE. The overall purpose of this comprehensive planning effort was to develop a vision and goals for quality ECE for all children in Alameda County, from birth to five years of age; develop a countywide consensus on the vision and goals for quality ECE; and develop a proposed implementation timeline and activities to work toward those goals. This Early Care and Education for All Plan is the result of this effort. It is based on previous tasks of this project: a needs assessment; a community visioning effort; and a work plan.

ecc@acgov.org

fsstrainings@acgov.org

everychildcounts@acgov.org

cdcorps@acgov.org

Child Care Email List Subscriptions
http://www.acgov.org/ras_app/SubscriptionListServlet?
agy=GSA-ChildCare
Potential Topics include:

After School Programs
Culture, Class, Race and Immigration
Curriculum/Program Quality
Demographic Research/Who Uses Child Care
Early Childhood Facilities
Early Childhood Mental Health
Family and Work
Family Child Care
Family, Friend and Neighbor Care
General Childhood Research Databases and Resources
Head Start/Early Head Start/Subsidized Childcare
Language and Literacy
Media and Advocacy
Physical Health and Fitness
Planning Council Publications
New National Center for Family Literacy Early Literacy Tool

The Verizon Life Span Literacy Matrix was prepared for and introduced at the National Literacy Summit (October 2006) to inspire a national dialogue around effective, research-based practices to improve literacy achievement and to encourage broad collaborations among organizations and institutions engaged in building community literacy. This tool outlines literacy outcomes, appropriate instruments for measuring the outcomes, and effective research-based practices that enable programs and individuals to increase literacy development across the life span. The outcomes, measures and key practices are culled, to the extent possible, from the latest research syntheses. The matrix is organized by populations focusing on domains and ages: early literacy (birth to three years); three to five years; parent involvement—birth to five years; elementary school (Kindergarten through Grade 5); parent involvement—Kindergarten through Grade 3; middle and high school; and adult learners (those participating in basic education and literacy programs). For each domain and age, the relevant outcomes are identified in the first column, followed in the second column by appropriate measures for assessing achievement in that outcome. The third column in the matrix identifies the key practices and strategies that have been proven through scientific research to lead to achievement in the relevant outcome. The glossary of literacy terms is also useful. Available at: http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/fileadmin/download/
13741_verizon_matrix.pdf

One Out of Five U.S. Children is Living in an Immigrant Family

The fourth KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot highlights the 15.7 million children in immigrant families living in the United States. Although 80 percent of these children were born here and are entitled to the same support other citizen children receive, 'linguistic isolation and lack of economic resources put children in immigrant families at greater risk of growing up without the opportunities they need to succeed.' See how your state rates, and learn more, in this online brief. Full text at: www.aecf.org/kidscount/sld/snapshot_immigrant.pdf.

webmail@aecf.org

http://www.kidscount.org/sld/

New Tool on Helping Children Choose a Career

The California Career Resource Network (CalCRN) offers career self-management resources to enhance after-school programs. These resources are designed to engage students in experiencing the skills they would need when they enter the workforce based on internationally recognized skills frameworks. In January, these resources were cited as one of the top ten achievements for the California Department of Education in 2006. To view these resources visit http://www.californiacareers.info.

Developmental Tools for Families and Providers in Spanish

Brightfutures@ncemch.org

Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers

This report analyzes the recent and growing trend to unionize home-based child care providers. These providers include both regulated home-based child care providers and “family, friend and neighbor” care providers who are exempt from regulation but receive public funds. This report shows that the drive towards unionization is proving to be a promising strategy, not only for improving working conditions for these providers, who are overwhelmingly women and have low earnings and few benefits, but also for securing increased resources for child care centers and for families needing child care assistance. Getting Organized provides detailed information about the progress of these campaigns in the states in which there has been the most activity. http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/GettingOrganized2007.pdf.

Info@nwlc.org

ASSOCIATION LINKAGES

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC)

California Counties' Websites

ENVIRONMENTS

California's Preschool Space Challenge

Advancement Project , a non-profit policy and legal action organization, has produced the first comprehensive analysis of preschool space in California. The forthcoming report examines the availability of preschool space under two scenarios: "Preschool for All" in which preschool is made universally available to all of the state's 4-year-olds; and "Targeted Preschool," which makes preschool available to children in low-performing school districts. http://www.advanceproj.org/preschool/

Mailing Address

Phone Number

Facsimile Number

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Pesticide Residues Routinely Found in Child Care Centers:

In September 2006, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the findings of a study that found pesticide residues in 100 percent of a sample of child care centers across the country. According to the lead scientist, at least one pesticide was found in every one of the 168 child care centers studied. Over two-thirds of the studied centers reported routinely using pesticides. As many as 10 different pesticides were used in some of the centers. These findings are particularly disturbing because significant residue was found on floors where young children spend much of their time sitting, playing and crawling. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) estimates that 50 percent of lifetime pesticide exposure occurs during the first five years of life. Early pesticide exposures may increase risk of illnesses such as cancer later in life. States are moving toward regulating the use of pesticides in schools and child care centers. The state of Massachusetts now mandates that schools and child care centers file IPM plans that outline infestation problems and identify steps for correcting the problems. (To access the entire report, you have to be a subscriber, but this contains the abstract.) http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/2006/40/i20/
abs/es061021h.html

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Clearing a Career Path: Lessons From Two Communities in Promoting Higher Education Access for the Early Care and Education Workforce

This report documents recent groundbreaking effort in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, CA, including challenges faced and lessons learned, as a guide for other counties and institutions seeking to improve professional development in the early care and education field. Produced with support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Clearing a Career Path is available at: http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/pdf/
clearing_careerpath06.pdf. Areas covered include: Student counseling, advising and communication, Programs for English language learners, BA degree options, and Leadership development.

http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/index.html

danbellm@earthlink.net

http://www.ackids.org

http://www.e3institute.org

Early Steps with Ready Schools

In this report, the School Readiness Project at the Council of Chief State School Officers examines learning and accomplishments from state teams focused on developing Ready Schools in six states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia. The report presents each state’s efforts to support children’s transition to kindergarten; encourage continuity and alignment between early care and education programs and elementary schools; and ensure high quality learning environments. States also identify strategies for addressing the challenges of linking these efforts to school improvement planning and sustaining funding. Information about supplemental resources is included to support the states involved in the School Readiness Project as well as the larger community of those interested in improving this crucial transition. The six Ready Schools states have demonstrated key successes in facilitating broad inter-agency collaboration, planning, and implementation. However, there is much work to be done to improve the transition from early care and education to the early grades nationwide. We hope that this publication will supplement current efforts and encourage the development of new initiatives so that states can continue to provide the best start for students.
http://www.ccsso.org/content/pdfs/Early%20Steps%20
with%20Ready%20Schools.pdf

Council of Chief State School Officers
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW · Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001-1431
voice: 202.336.7000 · fax: 202.408.8072

Project Staff
Alyssa Alston, 202-336-7050, alyssaa@ccsso.org
Morakot Masokas, 202-336-7035, morakotm@ccsso.org

PARENTS

Conceptualizing a “Strong Start”: Antecedents of Positive Child Outcomes at Birth and Into Early Childhood

What Maternal Factors Help Form a "Strong Start" in Life? A variety of elements of a mother's circumstances before and during pregnancy are associated with a child having a strong start in life. Child Trends' latest research brief examines factors associated with positive outcomes for children.
http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-
2007_02_12_RB _StrongStart.pdf.

www.childtrends.org

Parent Involvement at Selected Ready Schools

At school entry, gaps already separate the readiness skills of white and higher-income three-to-five year olds from their black, Hispanic, and lower-income peers. While strong parent involvement has clear benefits, schools need specific strategies for involving low-income and culturally diverse families during the early grades. To contribute to these efforts, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) commissioned a small study of parent involvement in four Ready Schools states: Connecticut, Indiana, Oregon, and Washington. Ready Schools states have been working with CCSSO for several years as part of the School Readiness Project. This project works to assist schools as they ease children’s transition into kindergarten and improve the alignment between early care and the early grades, with a focus on low-income communities. The purpose of the study is to describe school-based opportunities to (1) create strong partnerships with parents and (2) involve parents in the life of the school generally and the learning experiences of their children in particular. An important focus of the study is highlighting school efforts that target communities most in need of high-quality early childhood services, including those with large populations of low-income, Latino, African American, and English language learner (ELL) students. Throughout the four states, schools profiled in this study have tailored formal and informal welcome strategies to family needs, despite little or no earmarked funding. While practices vary from school to school, respondents emphasized the importance of offering multiple ways for parents to access information and support, offering activities at different times of the day, accommodating language needs, and providing refreshments. Schools offered a range of parent involvement opportunities including traditional parent organizations; advocacy and leadership activities; classroom help; home-based learning support; school and community events; and ideas generated by parents themselves.
http://www.ccsso.org/content/pdfs/Parent_Involvement_
at_Ready _Schools.pdf

alyssaa@ccsso.org

morakotm@ccsso.org

Close to Home: State Strategies to Strengthen and Support Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care

This report offers a summary of key research and an array of strategies for supporting the FFN care that millions of working parents rely on for their children. In particular, many low-income children—who are often most at risk for starting school behind their more advantaged peers and stand to benefit the most from a good early learning environment—are in FFN care. By focusing a portion of state resources and attention on FFN care, states can help improve the quality of care these children receive. Increased investment in FFN care also matters because many FFN providers are low-income women who themselves are in need of support and resources. http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/CloseToHome2007.pdf.

Early Steps with Ready Schools

alyssaa@ccsso.org

morakotm@ccsso.org

Roots of Decline: How Government Policy Has De-Educated Teachers of Young Children

Dan Bellm and Marcy Whitebook, analyzes labor trends for the early care and education workforce over the past 25 years - notably, an overall decrease in educational qualifications, and persistent wage stagnation - in the light of federal and state policy, and makes a series of recommendations for reversing these downward trends. This report, produced with support from the Foundation for Child Development, is available at: http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/pdf/roots_decline06.pdf

http://www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/index.html

The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action

A new report from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action, provides the impetus for educators, policymakers, parents, community leaders, and other stakeholders to change the conversation about learning and schooling from reforming its structures to transforming its conditions so that each child can develop strengths and restore unique capacities for intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual learning. The Compact asks local, state, and national policymakers to ensure conditions that support comprehensive approaches to learning – to engaging the whole child.
Download at http://www.ascd.org/learningcompact
http://www.wholechildeducation.org/

Quality of Child Care Affects Language Development

A study recently published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology examines for the first time how the quality of childcare affects the development of specific language components. The study is unique in that participants were demographically homogenous — all were white children of dual earner parents who had some level of higher education and were of middle income. To read a brief summary of the findings go to http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap40.pdf

The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics

The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics released a national report, Para Nuestros Niños: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, that urges Hispanic children enrollment in high quality education programs as early as possible in order to make more rapid progress in closing the Hispanic-White achievement gap. The Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics, along with the California Community Foundation and Los Angeles Universal Preschool, will address educators and community leaders at a briefing this morning to reveal key findings and recommendations.

Hispanic children, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, continue to lag behind non-Hispanic Whites on measures of school readiness and school achievement, including in reading and mathematics. At the same time, there is growing evidence that large state-funded pre- kindergarten (pre-K) programs are producing valuable school readiness gains for Hispanic youngsters who have the opportunity to attend them. Head Start also is beneficial. In addition, high quality infant/toddler programs can contribute to greater school readiness. Thus, the earlier Hispanic children have access to high quality educational programs, the better.

The National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics released a national report, Para Nuestros Niños: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics ---PDF available directly at: http://www.ecehispanic.org/work/expand_MainReport.pdf

VPGarcia@asu.edu

Alameda County Child Care Planning Council

The Alameda County Child Care Planning Council advises and makes recommendations to policymakers to ensure that all children and families have access to quality child care that educates children and enriches their lives.
http://www.acgov.org/childcare/index.shtml

FCCADP Information

About the Project

2007-2008 Grant Information

Fact Sheet
Grant Announcement
Guidelines
Application Instructions
Application Checklist
Application Forms in Word Format
Cover Sheet
Application Questions and Budget Form

2007-2008 Training Information
and Dates

2007-2008 FCCADP Grant Awards

Resources

Contact Information

FCCADP Información

Informacion Sobre el Proyecto

Informacion Sobre el Proyecto
2007-2008 Información de Subvenciones

Hoja de Datos
Anuncio de Subvenciones
Reglas de Subvenciones
Instrucciones de Aplicacion
Lista de Aplicaciones
Carátula
Aplicación Preguntas y Presupuesto