What’s Inside Your Toolbox? Core Competencies for Youth Development Practitioners Webinar by: Brodrick Clarke & Lynn Sobolov March 19, 2015 Dial in: Access Code:

Core Competencies Toolkit: A Youth Development Practitioners Guide to Professional Development  Designed to serve as a resource to help improve and support a practitioner’s work with children and families  User friendly guide to aid in one’s journey seeking knowledge and training to further one’s career Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Objectives  What are the Montgomery County Core Competencies and why are they important?  Who are these tools intended for and why?  What’s inside our Toolkit?  How do you implement the Core Competencies and align them to your organizations work? Document Link: Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Excel Beyond the Bell Our Vision Our Excel Beyond the Bell Collaborative is a public- private partnership created by the Montgomery County Collaboration Council to inspire our youth to realize their full potential by offering safe, quality and accessible out-of-school time programs. Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

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Goal of Our Core Competencies  To promote professionalism in the out-of-school time arena by establishing standards and providing a foundation for aligning professional development efforts & Youth Development activities  To foster an effective and high quality out-of- school time workforce leading to quality programs that produce positive outcomes for children and youth. Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

What Are Core Competencies? A set of skills, abilities, and knowledge essential to youth development practitioners and their work. Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Core Competencies: What’s their Purpose?  To identify knowledge and behavioral expectations  To outline a set of characteristics and attributes that define a continuum of professional development, that develops over time, along multiple pathways, and supports effective job performance  To create a common language Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Core Competencies: What’s their Purpose?  To provide a blueprint for developing, tracking, supporting and promoting staff qualifications  To establish a framework that allows professionals to achieve recognition in the field, provides access to competency-based trainings/education, and ensures compensation commensurate with educational achievement Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

A Closer Look… Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

The 4 Domains: Youth Development Practitioners AS…  Resources to Youth  Partners with Families  Partners with Schools and Communities  Partners with Colleagues and Organizations Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

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Levels  The Core Competencies are divided into three levels of skills and knowledge  Entry  Intermediate  Advanced & Administrative  Practitioners may be at different levels within the competency areas depending on their background, experience and training  Levels and competencies build on one another enabling career progression – providing clear expectations for skill acquisition & professional growth Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Core Competencies Toolkit: A Youth Development Practitioners Guide to Professional Development  Resources that allow practitioners to reflect on their own practices, plan and track professional development, and demonstrate their understanding and achievement of the Core Competencies  Enable staffs to more uniformly evaluate competency levels and knowledge necessary to support professional growth and improve program quality within organizations Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Toolkit Components  Core Competencies  Core Competency aligned Checklist  Training Collaborative Resources  Electronic Portfolios  Digital Badging  Universal Job Description Templates  Interview/Screening Questions Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

How Are Core Competencies & Toolkit Resources Used?  Clearly defined job descriptions, skill classifications, effective hiring, evaluation, rewards, incentives, interview screening, reference checks, trainings & professional development and higher education course development  Providers, Youth Practitioners, Teachers…  Directors, Program Administrators…  Trainers…  Higher Education Faculty, Staff, Administrators … Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Ways a Program Director Could Use the Core Competencies…  Assist in describing job skills and expectations of staff  Promote professional growth  Self reflection  Staff evaluation & Peer Observation  Specific levels of training / education for individual roles Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Professional Development Resources Domain, Sub-Domain and Item (s) TimeframePerson(s) Responsible and Task e.g. observing a peer with expertise in program implementation in a similar program Domain 1, D. Program Activities, item (s) , 6, 8 February 2015 through May 2015 Executive Director—provide support to the program manager and site coordinator in terms of encouragement and funding if possible or necessary Program Manager— contacting other site locations or organizations to arrange visit Site coordinator—logistics working with staff, may fill in to accommodate peer observation Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Resources to Address Program Quality & Professional Development  Other youth development practitioners  On-line classes (e.g. OST-PD, CypherWorx)  Webinars & Roundtable Discussions (Brown Bag Lunches & Breakfast Briefings)  Live trainings  College classes for credit (credentialing and certifications, eg. Montgomery College at (cms.montgomerycollege.edu/OSTProfessio nals )cms.montgomerycollege.edu/OSTProfessio nals  Peer observations & Peer Coaching Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Resources to Address Program Quality & Professional Development  Provide resources to become a trainer for workshops in the Youth Program Quality Intervention model ( )  Free on-line resources (see for examples)  Weekly meeting time with staff  Connect with your statewide afterschool network (Maryland Out of School Time Network, )  National outlets like National Afterschool Association (naaweb.org) National Summer Learning Association ( )  Advancing Youth Development (visit the DC Trust at ) Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Testimonials  Organizational/Personal Spotlights - Reaction and/or use…  M-NCPPC – excitement/energy for adoption  Ellie Mitchell – statewide perspective Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Summary  Provides a roadmap for training and curriculum development while illustrating advancement opportunities, informing organizational hiring & evaluation practices in the youth development field.  Enriches practices and strengthens the knowledge and skills of practitioners  Core competencies are most successful to the extent to which they are viewed as one piece of a larger professional development plan and fully integrated into the entire organization. Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Next Steps? Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Where Do You Go From Here?  Use Your Toolkit Document Link:  Check out Our Website  Professional Development Implementation Plans Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Professional Development Implementation Plan Be One of the First to….  Provide an organizational professional development plan as it relates to your staff and overall Program Quality Improvement efforts.  In aligning the plan to the Montgomery County Core Competencies, we ask that you identify at least 1 goal under each Domain outlining the activities you will pursue, measurement outcomes and a timeline for implementation. Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

RFP Details  Submissions will be reviewed and awarded a minimum of $1250, with a maximum of 4 organizations selected.  The award funds can be used to assist organizations in the implementation of their improvement plans.  Deadline for Submission: April 24, 2015  Award Announcement: May 1, 2015  Submit RFP to: with subject line: PD implementation Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org

Contacts Lynn Sobolov Manager, Excel Beyond the Bell Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families, Inc Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD (direct) Brodrick Clarke Youth Education and Policy Specialist Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation Special Programs Division 7833 Walker Drive, Suite 110 Greenbelt, MD Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Excel Beyond the Bell excelbeyondthebell.org