Resources for Supporting Engagement for Each and Every Family 1

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Do your standards, environments and practices reflect your intentionality? 5

High-quality, culturally responsive early learning environments are critical to closing the achievement gap between children living in poverty, especially children of color, and their peers 18

Tourist approaches don’t work Simply exposing children to materials that represent different groups (such as diverse dolls, foods, clothing, and pictures) does not stimulate substantive conversations or challenge children’s attitudes 19 With meaningful activities and questions, children often do express, compare, and challenge their views and discuss social justice issues among themselves and with teachers 19

Culturally responsive interactions between personnel and young children are more likely to support progress toward children’s mastery of language, literacy, science, and math skills 20 8

An effective teacher can have a stronger influence on student achievement than poverty, language background, class size, and minority status 21 9

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Sponsored by Resources for Supporting Diverse Young Children in Early Childhood Settings 11

Learning Table Session on Improving Experiences

Multifaceted Resources for Language & Literacy National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness 13

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Are your professional development efforts growing the capacity of early childhood professionals to support young children who are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse? One thing we can say with certainty about professional development is that workshops are not effective if building skills or dispositions is the desired outcome 22 15

A national survey recently indicated that workshops were the primary method for delivering training and technical assistance 23 While training workshops are consistently the PD method of preference in early childhood, short-term, one-time trainings have little or no impact on quality improvements 24 16

 Is intensive and ongoing, with multiple, sequenced, active learning experiences  Is grounded in specific practice-focused content  Builds on the learner’s current level of understanding  Includes large doses of learner self- assessment of his/her learning against a set of standards, criteria, or expert feedback  Is aligned with instructional goals, learning standards, and curriculum materials 25 17

Resources for Designing Professional Development That Will Grow the Capacity of Professionals to Support Each Child 18

Learning Table Sessions on Professional Development

What is professional development? 26 20

21 NPDCI Definition of Professional Development “Professional development is facilitated teaching and learning experiences that are transactional and designed to support the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions as well as the application of this knowledge in practice…..

22 NPDCI Definition of Professional Development The key components of professional development include: a) characteristics and contexts of the learners (i.e., the “who” ); b) content (i.e., the “what” of professional development); and c) organization and facilitation of learning experiences (i.e., the “how”).”

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A Sneak Preview of a New ResourceNew Resource

 NYS has sought to assess and improve the ways in which culture and cultural competence are embedded in its QRIS:  NAEYC’s Pathways to Cultural Competence Tool  BUILD cultural competence strategic planning project

 Definition of Culture  Social histories  Identities  Socialization practices  Values and beliefs  Behaviors  Language and non-verbal communication All of which are learned, shared and exhibited by a group of people 27  Definition of Cultural Competence  “NAEYC believes that for optimal development and learning of all children, educators must accept the legitimacy, of children’s home language, respect (hold in high regard) the home culture, and promote and encourage the active involvement and support of all families including extended and non-traditional family units. 28

Revised NAEYC Pathways to Cultural Competence Program Checklist

 Cultivate buy-in  Have the discussion(s)  Allocate resources  Do the work

What will you do next with the ideas you’ve heard and the resources you’ve discovered? 32

Thank you for your generous participation and your dedication to supporting each and every child and their unique family.

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