With several state initiatives increasing the focus on quality in the early-care classroom and on the credentials of the educators, Ready to Learn Providence saw a need to capture in one document all the professional development options currently available to providers across the state.

"To determine where we want to go in the future, we have to know where we are now," explains R2LP Director Leslie Gell. "This will be an extremely useful report as we seek to fill existing gaps, reduce duplication, and provide early-care teachers with an accessible and affordable pathway to higher education."

The full report can be downloaded as a PDF. For more information on this project, studies evaluating some of the programs, and a full list of the 13 agencies and colleges included in the report, please click here.

Representatives from the early-care field, higher education and state agencies endorsed R2LP's leadership role in this endeavor, and members of R2LP's Professional Development Committee and the BrightStars Quality Network reviewed the list of programs highlighted in the report. R2LP will make ongoing additions to this document if an agency or program was inadvertently omitted.

Another group of 15 parents just completed R2LP's Fun Family Activities for Preschoolers. This six-session course, offered in English and Spanish throughout the year, gives parents dozens of ideas for enjoyable activities they can do with their children at home to reinforce skills outlined in the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards.

This fall, for the first time, R2LP is taking the course to the men's minimum security facility at the Adult Correctional Institute.

Shown here is Violetta Estrella (left), a participant in our most recent class at R2LP. With her is facilitator Rosa Cabrera, a former R2LP AmeriCorps member.