INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE ADVANCEMENT ON THE CONNECTICUT CHARTS-A-COURSE CAREER LADDER

Presentation to ECE Cabinet May 24, 2012Darlene C. RagozzineDeb Flis Margaret Gustafson1CT Charts-A-Course (CCAC)State Professional Development and Program Improvement System

C - CoordinatedC - ComprehensiveA - AccountableC - Collaboration

June 9, 20081

Passed in 2004 by the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee made CCAC a state-wide coordinated child day care and early childhood education training system (A) for child day care centers, group day care homes and family day care homes that provide child day care services, and (B) that makes available to such providers and their staff, within available appropriations, scholarship assistance, career counseling and training, advancement in career ladders, as defined in section 1 of public act 03-142, through seamless articulation of levels of training, program accreditation support and other initiatives recommended by the Departments of Social Services, Education and Higher Education.2

Public Act No. 04-212 AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.June 9, 20082CONNECTICUT CHARTS-A-COURSE (CCAC) Funded through the Department of Social Services (DSS) in collaboration with Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (ConnSCU) Board of Regents for Higher Education. The goal of Connecticut Charts-A-Course (CCAC) is to help increase the quality of the early care and education workforce and the programs in which they work; by providing scholarships and access to training and higher education for staff at all levels, program accreditation support, and a career ladder specific to the field with articulated pathways toward degrees and credentials within higher education. 3June 9, 20083CONNECTICUT CHARTS-A-COURSEFunding Allocation: SFY 2010-2012 $2,645,687 Annually supports these major components:

Scholarship Assistance ProgramProfessional Registry 6 Regional Accreditation Facilitation Projects (AFP)Training Program in Child Development (TPCD)$TART Education Bonus ProgramProgram Leadership Education and Training Career Counseling (English and Spanish)4June 9, 20084EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM COMPONENTSSYSTEMS COMPONENTS

5June 9, 20085Dar - Can you get this slide in a format where we can manipulate the text in the picture to make each bigger?OVERVIEW OF PROGRAM 6June 9, 20086ACCESS AND OUTREACHTraining Partners 7June 9, 20087EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CABINET COMMITTEES8June 9, 20088PROFESSIONAL REGISTRYWeb-enable data management system tracks completed education and career ladder advancement of program staff, and monitors supply and demand of the publicly funded early childhood workforce in CT. Currently mandated for publicly funded program staff. Current total enrollment 12,000( No Fee) represents approximately 53% of estimated 20,691 early care and education workforce in CT. Provides comprehensive reports to state agencies partners, program directors and policy makers, and local communities for planning purposes. www.ccacregistry.org9June 9, 20089MedicationAdministrationBirth to ThreeJune 9, 20081011

June 9, 200811QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS IN PUBLICLY FUNDED CENTERSComparison 2008-201212Level on CC AC Career Ladder1-6%7-8%9-10%11-15%N=Entry LevelMid -LevelAS DegreeBS Degree or + December 200839725%29619%40826%49231%1,593December 200930818%37322%40924%62536%1,715December 201025014%34020%43225%70241%1,724June 201122813%32719%43026%71542%1,705May 201223714%28116%41725%75745%1,692Teachers with Bachelors Degrees continue to increase as a direct result of scholarship requests. The 45% is still short of the 2015 requirement.Percentage of teachers in publicly funded programs at or above the current state standard level 7 (CDA plus 12 ECE credits) increased from 76% in 2008 to 86% in 2012.

Source: CT Early Childhood Professional Registry June 9, 20081213

Workforce Compensation Summary Data

Prepared byCT Charts-A-CourseRegistry DataMay 2012TEACHER AVERAGE SALARYwww.ctcharts.org14SCHOLARSHIP ASSISTANCE PROGRAMProvides funding for tuition, fees, and books to individuals :currently working in the field of early care and educationenrolled in the CCAC Registrymeet scholarship priorities and wish to increase their education, training, and credentials in early childhood education

Scholarship lotteries conducted August 2010 and December 2011.

15

June 9, 200815CAREER ADVISING FUNCTIONALITY Four regionally assigned career advisors (one bilingual English/Spanish)All scholarship requests (lottery) processed through the Registry. Each reviewed by a career advisor to validate the request is part of the individuals planned program of study toward a degree and/or credential or professional development for licensingwww.ctcharts.orghttp://ctearlychildhoodcareerdev.info16June 9, 200816REPORTED IN RBA 2012SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING LEVEL $1,664,31817 June 9, 200817DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOLARSHIP FUNDINGLOTTERY COMPARISON 2010-11 PROGRAM SETTING18June 9, 200818DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOLARSHIP FUNDINGLOTTERY COMPARISON 2010-11 PROGRAM TYPE19June 9, 20081920June 9, 20082021June 9, 20082122June 9, 200822REPORTED IN RBA 2012 TRAINING PROGRAM IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT23June 9, 200823TRAINING PROGRAM IN CHILD DEVELOPMENTNationally approved entry level non-credit content toward Child Development Associate credential (CDA). Program enhanced by $TART Education Bonus program: TPCD participants achieve financial awards for CDA completion as well as successful completion of Pathways Exams for college credit. $TART continues to yield positive outcomes in completion rates. Through 09-11 there were 164 participants:95% are assistant teachers in publicly funded programs143 completed the TPCD through Module IVTo date 69% of those who completed Module IV have obtained a CDA credential and 55% of them have also taken the Pathways Exams. 24June 9, 200824PROGRAM LEADERSHIP INITIATIVEEDUCATION, TRAINING AND SUPPORTFully-funded credit-coursework and professional development opportunities for current leaders in CT programs for young children.Core based on the five CT Director Credential competency areas: Administration and Supervision, Leadership, Finance, Personnel, and Families and Community.Continued demand for credit-coursework attributed to (1) DPH regulation for child care center directors, (2) NAEYC Accreditation education requirements, (3) leadership turnover, and (4) awareness of the need for specialized education. FY 2011 participants: 74% reported never having taken this course content prior to that point in their careers; 67% had a baccalaureate degree or higher, with an additional 23% having already earned an associates degree. All participants previously had classroom teaching experience. Offerings fill the gap between early childhood teacher preparation degree programs and leadership role content needs. 25PROGRAM LEADERSHIP INITIATIVETOTAL STUDENTS BY COMPETENCY AREA THRU FY1126June 9, 200826PROGRAM LEADERSHIP INITIATIVETOTAL STUDENT PROGRESS IN TOTAL THRU FY11 FOR ALL CLASSES27June 9, 200827ACCREDITATION FACILITATION PROJECTSTATEWIDE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT SUPPORTVIA OFFICE +6 REGIONAL FACILITATION OFFICESNorth Central: HAEYC (Sandy Fowler & Wendy McGrath)South Central: Gateway ( Carol Annette)South East: LEARN (Michele Pearson)North East: EASTCONN (Debra Stipe)Northwest: Education Connection (Kristen Kennen)Southwest: Education Connection (Donna Delohery)28

June 9, 200828NAEYC PROGRAM ACCREDITATION 29

CT in ranked third in the country for most NAEYC Accredited centers behind California and Massachusetts and first in per capita state.June 9, 200829 30June 9, 200830 ACCESS AND OUTREACH RESOURCES AND TOOLSPilot project between NAEYC and CCAC Accreditation Facilitation Project Program Calculator and Classroom Scheduler as Registry tool to manage verified information needed for the reporting of staff qualifications to NAEYC as part of program accreditation Streamlines the documentation process for both the program and NAEYC; provides more robust data for CT Registry becomes a resource and planning tool for program improvement Provides a web-enabled tool to help programs establish readiness for accreditation in the area of staff qualifications.Heres how it works31June 9, 200831