R2LP to administer TEACH in Rhode Island
|  Ready to Learn Providence has been selected to serve as the home of TEACH Early ChildhoodŽ in Rhode Island.
TEACH, which is now in nearly two dozen states, increases access to higher education for early-care educators by providing scholarships. It then connects this increased education with increased compensation, which leads to better teacher retention.
"As the administrator of the state's TEACH project, we will be aggressively seeking funding for the scholarships," explains R2LP Director Leslie Gell. "For years, many of us have been trying to establish an early childhood scholarship program in Rhode Island. This poises us to do it and to raise the credentials of the workforce."
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Applications available for Pre-K lottery
|  If you have a child who will be four by September 1 - and you live in Providence, Central Falls, Warwick or Woonsocket - you don't want to miss this opportunity. Children selected in a state-run lottery will receive a high-quality pre-kindergarten experience - at no cost to their parents - for the 2010/2011 school year. For a second year, the R2LP Pre-kindergarten Classroom at CCRI/Liston Campus is one of seven sites participating in the state's Pre-kindergarten Demonstration Project. Each classroom serves 18 children. One purpose of the project, which is administered by the R.I. Department of Education, is to determine whether participation in a Pre-K program improves educational outcomes. For an application and detailed information on the application process, download this PDF. Applications are also available at R2LP, which is assisting in the scheduling of the required assessment appointments. For more information on the program, please go to our website. |
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Deborah Gist meets with PD Committee
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"I've been frustrated with the lack of investment
in early education and with the salaries for early-care educators since I
became one at 17," said Education Commissioner Deborah Gist at a meeting
of the R2LP Professional Development Committee. "We pay more for people to
park our cars than to take care of our children."
The committee invited the commissioner to attend the
June 16 meeting to discuss some of the challenges facing the field.
"How do we help programs help children when the
money is so limited?" asked R2LP Director Leslie Gell. "That's the
piece we haven't figured out." "Now is the time - when there is no money - to set
the stage for the future," the commissioner said. "The
early-care field must stay organized, focused, and have a champion."
Gist said she believes results from the Pre-kindergarten Demonstration Project will help
her and others fight for increased funding for early care and education. She
restated her commitment to a mixed-delivery system - in other words, one in
which pre-kindergarten is offered in a variety of early-care settings. The Professional Development Committee, which includes key stakeholders in the early-care community, meets monthly. Recent dialogue has focused on the shifting landscape of early childhood teacher credentialing and the need for greater alignment between early education and K-16 at the state level. If you'd like to participate on this committee, please contact Susan Zoll at szoll@provplan.org. |
R2LP expands its work with BrightStars
|  With a $40,000 grant from BrightStars (the state's quality rating and improvement system), R2LP will expand its work with child-care centers and home-based providers who are part of the BrightStars network. With these funds, R2LP will help center directors and providers complete their quality improvement and bonus budget plans after they receive an initial evaluation. With funds received last fall from The United Way of Rhode Island and Bank of America, R2LP has been recruiting centers and home-based providers for BrightStars, and providing targeted professional development to help them advance to the next star. Some 50 centers and home-based programs are currently participating in BrightStars, which got under way last year. You can hear what administrators and providers have to say about their participation on this video. |
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Activities at R2LP
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June marks the end of several highly successful initiatives at R2LP. An extension of the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development grant gave us the funds to provide additional mentoring support to 20 teachers for the past year.
And thanks to an extension of our
second Early Reading First grant, 25 teachers have just finished training in Mind in the Making.
The more than 30 educators in our third Early Reading First grant, which runs for two more years, just completed courses in HeadsUp! Reading and the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards. (Like Mind in the Making, these courses are offered for college credits.)
June 30th will be a day of farewells. Festivities at the R2LP Pre-kindergarten Classroom will mark the final day of class for this year's fabulous four-year-olds. We are confident the skills they've learned over the past 10 months will serve them well when they take the big step next fall into kindergarten. We wish them all continued success and happiness in their academic pursuits.
That night we honor this year's extraordinary AmeriCorps team at a celebration to be held at Save the Bay. Profiles of the 30 members who completed the year of service demonstrate what a talented and passionate group this has been. They will be missed by those who worked with them in the community, and by all of us at R2LP.
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