Project Description:
Boston Ready (BR) has formed a partnership to implement the Early Childhood (EC) Educator PD Program to meet critical needs of Boston?s expanding public and private EC providers. BR is composed of University of Massachusetts, Institute for Community Inclusion, Roxbury Community College, Wellesley College, public and private EC providers, and EC experts. BR will provide intensive instruction in and modeling of scientifically validated curriculum and practices (e.g., OWL, Building Blocks, ). BR proposes a sustainable PD system to ensure school readiness of ALL of Boston?s children by improving the skills of ECE?s who work with these children. To this end, the project proposes to:
1. Develop a PD infrastructure and related materials including: a 12 credit EC certificate aligned with EC grant achievement indicators and state standards addressing literacy, numeracy, and positive social emotional development with the needs of English language learners, children with disabilities and families integrated within each course; train/trainer materials; a website containing project material and e-portfolio that aligns professional roles with competencies with career aspirations and linkages to AA, BA, MA degree options.
2. Conduct EC PD for at least 125 (each) teachers and paraprofessionals, including career counseling, mentoring on implementation of research-based curriculum, Capacity Building Institutes (train/trainer) to integrate researched-based curriculum into EC agencies and IHE programs, and 6 Family Institutes.
3. Evaluate BR PD system using an experimental design to ensure effectiveness in preparing 2,500 children from disadvantaged families, with limited English proficiency, disabilities, and/or have challenging behaviors for Kindergarten.
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Empowerment Zone
