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November 2013 ECEAP Reminders and Links

• Quote of the Month
• ECEAP Participation in Early Achievers Webinars
• DEL ECEAP Annual Outcomes Report
• New Staff at DEL ECEAP
• ECEAP Performance Standards Section F Survey due Dec. 6
• ECEAP Fiscal Reviews
• Contractor Staff Contacts Form due Nov. 29
• 2013-14 ECEAP Contractor Staff Qualifications Updates due Dec. 15
• Updated Direct Deposit Instructions
• ELMS Tip: Correcting a Child’s Application in ELMS
• ELMS Training Resources
• Teaching Strategies GOLD® Checkpoints
• Managed Education and Registry Information Tool (MERIT) Resources
• Early Learning Immunization status reporting
• The Specialists’ Corner: “E” is for Engineering
• STEM ACTIVITY: Squash
• Training Opportunities
• Resources

ECEAP Participation in Early Achievers Webinars

DEL has scheduled the following webinar for continued discussion on ECEAP Participation in Early Achievers:

Nov. 15 – ECEAP and Early Achievers from 8:30-10 a.m.

DEL ECEAP Annual Outcomes Report

The ECEAP 2012-13 Outcomes Report is now available online. Highlights from the report include:

• The lowest turnover rate in ECEAP’s recorded history – 11 percent.
• In May 2013, ECEAP had a total waiting list of 2,467 children ages 3 to 4 years old.
• ECEAP and Head Start served approximately 37 percent of the state’s children eligible for ECEAP.
• ECEAP received 9 out of 10 quality points from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).
• ECEAP children progressed from below age level to at or above age level during their time in ECEAP in social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy development and mathematics.

DEL would like to hear about local ECEAP contractor outcomes. If your program produces outcomes reports focused on early learning, please send them to eceap@del.wa.gov.  

New Staff at DEL ECEAP

Please join us in welcoming Junesca Brown to our ECEAP team! Junesca is DEL ECEAP’s new Administrative Assistant and will be working directly with PreK-3/ECEAP Administrator Nicole Rose as well as providing assistance to the ECEAP team. Junesca has many years of experience supporting programs and staff and running efficient offices! We are excited to have her with us!

ECEAP Performance Standards Section F Survey due Dec. 6

DEL ECEAP would like feedback from each contractor on Section F: Family Partnerships, of the proposed 2014 ECEAP Performance Standards. The survey will be live on Tuesday, Nov. 5. We will only accept one survey per contractor. If you would like to collect feedback from your direct-service staff, management staff and/or subcontractors, contact eceap@del.wa.gov by Friday, Nov. 8 for the link. You can request a copy of the survey at eceap@del.wa.gov.

ECEAP Fiscal Reviews

This year, ECEAP contractors scheduled for a program review and who participated in the Early Achievers pilot last year will receive a fiscal review. You will receive information soon about the fiscal review process and expectations. Katie Brown, DEL’s ECEAP Fiscal Analyst will conduct the fiscal reviews along with the specialist assigned to your program, who is also the program review lead. After this year, fiscal reviews will occur on a regular time frame, most likely during the on-site program review week. 

DEL ECEAP will incorporate Early Achievers data into program reviews. This allows DEL to maximize resources and avoid duplication of efforts. When the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ERS) ratings meet the Early Achievers threshold, program review teams will spend less time observing in the classrooms and will include the Early Achievers information in our program review report. If you have questions about this new process, please contact your ECEAP Specialist. We look forward to partnering with you as we integrate our practices.

Contractor Staff Contacts Form due Nov. 29

It’s time to update your staff contacts. This information may be different than what is entered in ELMS as you can include other administrative or support staff. The first week of November, DEL will email you a pre-filled copy of the Contractor Staff Contacts Form from last year. Please review this form, update contact information, add any new staff, delete staff who no longer work for you and return the form to DEL by November 29. We will update our distribution lists based on the information you provide.

2013-14 ECEAP Contractor Staff Qualifications Updates due Dec. 15

In early November you will receive an email of the ECEAP direct service staff listed in our staff qualifications database. Follow the directions in the email and return the edited list and any related staff qualifications forms by December 15. Send all materials to eceap@del.wa.gov. (NOTE: if you have an ECEAP Program Review this fall, your staff qualifications data will be verified during the review and you will not receive an email.)

Updated Direct Deposit Instructions

The fastest way to get your ECEAP reimbursements into your account is to use the state of Washington’s direct deposit system. With this system, funds are deposited directly into your account and are available sooner than the alternative payment method that involves printing a “warrant” (check) and mailing it to you. Most ECEAP contractors use this method.

The Washington State Department of Enterprise Systems (DES) provides direct deposit support for all contractors doing business with the state.

• Set up direct deposit.
• Change your existing direct deposit.
• View more information on being a vendor with the state.

ELMS Tip: Correcting a Child’s Application in ELMS

If you discover an error on a child's application that would change his/her federal poverty level or priority points and the child is already enrolled in a class within ELMS, contact elms@del.wa.gov. The application is locked for you, but DEL staff can make most changes.

If a child’s application is changed after the parent and staff signed it, it is very important to print the revised version for signatures. This maintains a clear paper trail in case there is a fraud allegation. The signed application is your protection that you did everything possible to prove the child is legally eligible for ECEAP.

ELMS Training Resources

Several ELMS training resources are revised and available on the DEL ECEAP website:

• Eligibility and Enrollment Manual
• Completing Your ECEAP Monthly Report in ELMS

The revised ELMS Administrators manual will be released next month.

Teaching Strategies GOLD® Checkpoints

The Specialists recently discussed individual fall checkpoint dates with Contractors on monthly calls. The fall checkpoint is calculated within seven weeks from the start date of class. Contractors must finalize the following areas of development and learning: Social Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy and Mathematics.

• The document “How do I finalize a checkpoint” details the different ways to finalize preliminary ratings. You can find the document by signing in to your GOLD® online account and clicking on the help button.

Lead teachers will test “reliable” within six months of their training or within six months of the beginning of the school year. A new GOLD® Interrater Reliability Certification feature allows the user to see incorrect answers and receive recommended PDFs that offer guidance and suggestions for improving reliability. View the GOLD® Online IRR Guide 2013. Pages 11 and 12 show the new feature that users will see. The Contractor’s administrator assigns interrater reliability for GOLD® users.

Managed Education and Registry Information Tool (MERIT) Resources

The Managed Education and Registry Information Tool (MERIT) is Washington’s online portal to document and recognize the professional achievements of early care and education and school-age professionals in Washington. MERIT helps professionals find training offered by state-approved trainers and track their individual career progress as well as basic and continuing education training completion. As you begin to use MERIT, we wanted to let you know where to go for MERIT support.

• MERIT website: https://apps.del.wa.gov/MERIT
• MERIT forms, tutorials and other information. 

For MERIT questions, please contact MERIT Support Services:

• By email: MERIT@del.wa.gov
• By telephone: 1-866-482-4325.
• By fax: 360-586-0052.

Early Learning Immunization status reporting

All licensed child care centers, ECEAP, Head Start, and Early Head Start sites must report the immunization status of children in their care by Nov. 1 each year per state law (WAC 246-105-060).

• Report data online.
• View more information.
• Please send all questions related to reporting to: oicpschools@doh.wa.gov.

Thank you very much for your help to make sure our children stay healthy and free of diseases that can be prevented by vaccines!

The Specialists’ Corner: “E” is for Engineering

Science and Technology in Teaching Strategies GOLD®

Teaching Strategies GOLD® can be a helpful resource in supporting STEM practices in the ECEAP classroom. The Objectives for Development & Learning for the area of science and technology (Objectives 24-28) focus on STEM. Although these are not required objectives for ECEAP assessment, they do provide helpful information that is easy to incorporate into the classroom.

Research and Background for Science and Technology in Teaching Strategies GOLD® provides an overview of the content area of science and describes how in-depth investigations are an appropriate way for children to learn science content, the basic skills needed to use tools and other technology. Additional information is included for each of the science and technology objectives. See our November STEM activity in this newsletter, showing how an in-depth investigation can incorporate learning from many different content areas.

Teachers can also select “Activities” under the Planning tab in GOLD® to find science and technology activities. Everyday examples include “Balance Act,” “Be a Word,” “Magnify the Outside,” “Strike up the Band” and “Yes or No Sounds.”

Examples of strategies for Objectives 24-28 include:  

• Encourage children to communicate their discoveries in multiple ways. They might draw, dictate, write, take photos, dramatize, make models, or graph their findings.
• Use correct terminology when discussing living things. Use words like germinate, sprout, bud, or stalk when talking about plants. Habitat, camouflage, herbivore, antennae, or predator when talking about animals.
• Talk about what children observe throughout the day. When children paint with water they learn about evaporation. When they cook, they learn about changes that occur in matter. When they push trucks up a ramp or move boats in water, they learn about how objects can be moved in space.
• Use collections of natural objects to help children learn more about the environment. Children might collect rocks, shells, leaves, or pinecones and group them by characteristics such as size, color, shape, or texture.
• Offer a variety of tools and other technology for children to use during explorations. Ramps, pulleys, water wheels, egg beaters, and magnets help children explore their physical world. Magnifying glasses, tape recorders and digital cameras are tools to study living things. Offer sifters, balance scales, plastic thermometers, or rain gauges as they explore the environment.

STEM ACTIVITY: Squash

A STEM activity for November could be to visit a local farm and gather a variety of squash from the farm and begin an investigation of squash. Once you bring the squash back to the classroom, set them out and give children time to observe them. Later, ask the children to tell you what they noticed. Document their responses. Some questions to help guide their observations could be: How are all the squash different and how they are the same? How are the colors alike or different? The shapes? What do you think the squash would taste like? Who has eaten squash before? What do you think is inside the squash? Work with the children to identify how many different kinds of squash there are and define what makes a squash a squash. Ask children to estimate how much each squash weighs. Create a chart where children can record their estimations. Then weight the squash and record the actual weight. Have children compare their estimate to the actual weight. Then get measuring tapes and repeat this process. Have children estimate the circumference and then have them measure it. These activities can lead to math learning about weight, measurement, more/less, heavy/light, hypothesis and estimation, scales and numbers and much more! This could be followed by wondering if the squash would float or sink. Put some water in a bucket and watch water displacement. Wonder aloud about why the water comes up so high in the bucket when a heavy squash is submerged and not when a little squash is put in the water. Later discuss what they think will be inside the squash. Again record their ideas and then compare to what they observe once the squash are opened. Some guiding questions could be: Do you think they all have seeds? How big would the seeds be? What colors do you think they will be on the inside? Carefully cut open the squash and display them again. Let children describe what they see and smell and feel as they explore the squash. If you have access to cooking facilities, plan to cook the squash and serve for snack if you can. Find out what children think about this. What parts of the squash could we eat? Make a list of all the food items you can make with squash with the children. They start planning for those food experiences in class. Obviously this investigation into squash could go on for weeks! Follow the children’s lead and extend this scientific and mathematical work for as long as they show interest and enjoyment in the topic. Have fun!!

Training Opportunities

WAEYC’s Annual Conference

• Nov. 14-16; SeaTac

Registration is open. Read the registration booklet and register online!

NAEYC’s 2013 Annual Conference and Expo

• Nov. 20-23; Washington DC

Washington Educational Research Association (WERA) Early Learning Track

• Dec. 11-13; SeaTac

Registration is open for the pre-conference on December 11 focusing on PreK-3rd grade issues. The two-day conference features two nationally known keynote speakers and two days of breakout presentations from educators across the state. Registration includes a one-year WERA membership.

Resources

Classroom

• Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes can predict a child’s academic ability in school. Preschool games lay the foundation for how children learn skills needed for academics.
• The updated, iOS 7-compatible version of the Teaching Strategies GOLD® Documentation App is now available for download on the App Store. Teaching Strategies suggest that users upload their current documents in Version 2.0 of the app before updating to iOS 7. If you experience any issues, please contact Teaching Strategies at 866-736-5913, Monday – Thursday 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. ET, or Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Family Support

• Technology and Media – The National Institute on Media and Family resources on modern parenting in a digital world.
• Up and Away and Out of Sight reminds families of the importance of safe medicine storage.

Tips for school and home

• How to help a child transition smoothly between places and activities.
• Help a child learn to trade toys.

Current Practice and Research

Military children and families – The Fall 2013 issue of The Future of Children journal summarizes existing research on:

• Risks and resiliency of military children and families
• Military children from birth to 5 years
• Building communities of care for military children and families

The entire journal may be viewed here for more related articles.

Math in the Early Years discusses findings about the strong relationship between early math instruction and later student achievement.

A Governor’s Guide to Early Literacy: Getting all Students Reading by Third Grade

The National Governors Association (NGA) released a guide examining the gap between research and policy. The guide describes five policy actions governors and other state policymakers can take to ensure all children read at grade level by the end of third grade. States’ early childhood and elementary education efforts to promote reading proficiency by third grade need to take into account results from three major educational research findings:

• Starting at kindergarten is too late.
• Reading proficiency requires three sets of interrelated skills and knowledge that are taught and cultivated over time.
• Parents, primary caregivers, and teachers have the most influence on children’s language and literacy development.
• Read the guide.

Professional Development

• Planning Transitions to Prevent Challenging Behavior is a free webcast that offers a discussion of why challenging behavior occurs during transitions and strategies for more effective transitions.

Early Learning Policy Reports

• The Alliance for Early Success and Child Trends released a report, The Research Base for a Birth through Eight Policy Framework. It provides details and references on the evidence base regarding early childhood needs and services in the areas of Health, Family Support, and Learning.
• The Society for Research in Child Development released an education-focused report, Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education, in conjunction with a panel discussion held October 16th. Investing in Our Future is also one of CEELO’s Featured Resources, highlighted below.
• Ready Nation published a point-by-point response to a recent Wall Street Journal Opinion piece, analyzing some comments about early childhood research, including references to support each point.