March 2016 Newsletter
Your Voice Counts
 
Greetings!

We want to hear from you!  Over the next few weeks, Southeast Education Professionals Partnership, in partnership with Early Childhood Associates (ECA), will be reviewing the landscape of professional development in Region 5; how it links to EEC goals, strengths, challenges and opportunities with regard to Professional Development services around three key EPS grant services of Educator and Provider Support:  Coaching and Mentoring, and Competency Development and Degree Attainment.  During this time we will be gathering information from you and other stakeholders throughout Region 5 to get your input on this important topic. We will be reaching out to programs and providers to assist us through surveys, webinars and focus groups. Watch for the outreach - we appreciate your participation so that we can ensure the highest quality of professional developments services to our Educators in Southeast MA!



Registration will be available shortly- Keep a look out in your emails!  This .5 CEU'd conference will offer Best Practices for QRIS Advancement.
 
Sign Up Today for your CEU Trainings through the rest of FY16
April Professional Development

 
Upcoming College Courses

Massasoit
Prerequisites: ENGL 092 Preparing for College Reading II and ENGL 099 Introductory Writing; waiver by placement testing results; or departmental approval
Prerequisite: CCED 102 Development in Early Childhood completed with a grade of C or higher, CCED 105 Introduction to Early Childhood Education, or PSYC 102 or 202 Child Psychology; or departmental approval. 
Cape Cod Community College is offering ECE221 Classroom Management: Skills & Strategies for Early Childhood Teachers
 
The course will "explore classroom management strategies for inclusive toddler, preschool and after-school settings; including creating a pro-social environment, resilience and risk factors, and using a positive, reflective approach to guiding children." Quick Term courses are the same 3-credit courses offered at the college, but condensed into an 8-week face-to-face/online hybrid. This particular course will meet on Thursdays from 6:30 to 9:30pm,plus 3 hours per week online. Spring session will run from March 28 through May 19. . This course will be added to the Q Term listings shortly, but for more information about how to apply, please click the following link.
http://www.capecod.edu/web/semester-information/quick-term#spring2 
(PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A Region5 EPS SUBSIDIZED COURSE)

Please direct all questions regarding this course to the college.
Prerequisite: PSY201 or ECE110
EEC Early Childhood Educators (ECE) Scholarship Program

This scholarship was created to increase the quality and availability of teachers and care providers to work with young children and youth in inclusive settings including infant/toddler, preschool and school age programs. The scholarship is designed to provide financial assistance for currently employed early childhood and out of school time educators and providers who enroll in an associate or bachelor degree program in Early Childhood Education or related programs.

Before you apply for the upcoming 2016-2017 ECE Scholarship, you must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Your ECE Scholarship application cannot be processed without receipt of your FAFSA. The ECE Scholarship application is expected to be available April 2016 on the OFSA website. You must also be matriculated at a college to be considered for this financial assistance.
Please visit www.osfa.mass.edu  to complete your FAFSA.

All applicants for the 2016-2017 ECE Scholarship are required to have an active Professional Quality Registry (PQR) number.  EEC has Online Resources available to assist educators in accessing the PQR. 
 




Upcoming Training Opportunities

 
Utilizing Data for Planning Individualized Learning 
April 4, 2016 and April 11, 2016 
Norwell, MA from 6:30PM-9:15PM 
Register Here

Understanding and Implementing Developmental Screening
April 21, 2016 and April 28, 2016
Marshfield, MA from 6:30PM-9:15PM
Register Here

Teaching Strategies GOLD- April 30th and May 7th-Hyannis MA
Educators are required to bring their own laptops (no IPads please)
Register Here 

CES also offers Follow-up Support for Teaching Strategies GOLD FREE of Charge
For information click here to download flyer 
  
 
 If your program is interested in hosting the
Understanding and Implementing Developmental Screening training and you are not already using the ASQ, your program will receive a free ASQ-3 kit; a $275 value. For information and to set-up this training, please contact Nicole Miles at
 
 
If your program is interested in hosting any of the Formative Assessment Training provided through CES, please contact Nicole Miles at [email protected]
or 781-870-7009
teacher_students.jpg
Post Master's Certificate Program in Early Education, Research, Policy, and Practice at UMass Boston

This Program is designed to meet the needs of working professionals from across the state.  The two-year program offers an advanced leadership pathway for experienced educators in the early education and care field. Students take four 3-credit courses, for a total of 12 credits. The program's blended format includes both face-to-face and online class sessions. Face-to-face sessions are held approximately once/month on Saturdays. For online classes, students will use a variety of instructional technology platforms to communicate and collaborate remotely. Reliable high-speed Internet access is recommended.
For further details about the program, please visit
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY FOR ADMINISTRATORS ~QRIS~ 

Please join us as we delve deeper into the QRIS Program Assessment tools and explore strategies for program improvement and higher QRIS scores!
Our goal: To analyze elements of the QRIS program assessment tool(s) and share strategies for implementation and program improvement.
 
We will:
1. Discuss current successes and challenges in relation to QRIS program assessment. 
2. Identify tool(s) to explore in depth. 
3. Share strategies and suggestions for implementation of quality elements in the early childhood setting. 

When: April 15, 22 & 29
Location: Fisher College
 451 Elm Street
 North Attleboro, MA 
To register online click here

DEC Institute on Family Engagement
On March 16, the Division for Early Childhood will bring together a passionate group of dedicated individuals who work with or on behalf of young children (0-8) with disabilities and other special needs and their families. Attendees will gather from all over Massachusetts and its surrounding regions to unite with other participants who are invested in supporting and facilitating family engagement in early intervention and early childhood special education.

DEC Members - $75
Non Members - $125
 


The Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (MAP) would like to invite you to participate in two upcoming STEM initiatives detailed below. The initiatives are not related and do not overlap; your organization or program may participate in one of the following or both initiatives!

1. Zero Robotics Middle School Program 2016 - We are bringing back the Zero Robotics (ZR) Middle School Program for 2016 and making it bigger and better than before! The Zero Robotics Program is a robotics programming competition where the robots are satellites (SPHERES) inside the International Space Station (ISS). Teams program the SPHERES to solve an annual challenge, and after several phases of virtual competition, finalists are selected to compete in a live championship aboard the ISS

The Middle School Summer Program is a 5-week program where younger students learn to program through a graphical interface. All you need to do to get started is have a team of 5-20 students and a mentor and fill out the ZR application for 2016. If you are interested in applying or know somebody who may be interested, please send an email to [email protected]. Previous participants in the program are welcome to reapply as the game changes from year to year. The deadline for applications is Friday, April 15, 2016.


2. Mott-Noyce STEM Assessment Initiative (Spring 2016) - The Mott-Noyce Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) initiative is a nation-wide capacity-building project that has the aspiration of changing the quantity and quality of STEM offerings to young people in out-of-school time (OST). MAP is participating in this initiative which aims to increase the level of diversity of STEM offerings in more OST programs while evaluating youth outcomes in STEM and 21st Century skills. MAP will be using a suite of informal science assessment tools from PEAR/Harvard to evaluate and measure youth outcomes in STEM OST learning. Each participating program will receive an individual brief assessment report on the program.

We need your help to learn more about effective STEM afterschool programming in Massachusetts! We are seeking 10 sites who are interested in having their programs measured and evaluated for the study. Several incentives are offered for program participation: 
  • Portable, Wi-Fi-enabled tablets 
  • Training and resources for the survey and observation tools
  • Individualized data report for program improvement and advocacy work
Please email [email protected]  if you are interested in participating and meet the criteria listed below:
  • Program delivers STEM programming for 2+ hours/week for a minimum of 6 weeks
  • Program serves youth in Grade 5 and above
  • Staff willing to administer one survey electronically
  • Staff willing to be observed twice by Dimensions of Success (DoS) professional 
If you are interested in either of these initiatives, please email  Andrea Chiang at [email protected] and she will provide you with the necessary information. 


English for Speakers of Other Languages

New 12 week session starts on
March 29, 2016

Class will meet on Tuesday and Thursdays 9AM-11:00PM
Free transportation and Child Care Provided!
Click here to download flyer
Celebrate NAEYC's Week of the Young Child™ April 10-16, 2016!

Lead Agency: Child Development and Education, Inc.

 Sponsored in part by the Department of Early Education and Care