✉️ VDOE Readiness Connections Update: September 12, 2023

Virginia Department of Education sent this bulletin at 09/12/2023 12:05 PM EDT

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Tuesday, September 12, 2023

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Virginia Guidelines for Early Childhood Inclusion: Newly Revised! Read more

VQB5 Registration – 3 weeks left! - Deadline October 3 Contact your Ready Region for VQB5 registration support.

September 12 at 1:30 p.m. - Webinar: OHS FY24 Monitoring Kickoff. Register

September 13 at 12:00 p.m. - Webinar: Sustaining Compensation Investments Beyond ARPA Funding. Register

September 14 at 12:00 p.m. - Webinar: Updated Guidance on VPI/Head Start MOUs. Register

September 14 at 1:00 p.m. - Webinar: VPI Coordinators: Early Childhood Screening and School Readiness. Register

Child Care Centers and Family Day Homes

September is National Preparedness Month

In honor of National Preparedness Month, the VDOE is reminding educators and caregivers to be prepared in case of a natural or man-made disaster. Review your emergency preparedness plan and update it as needed, ensure your staff are trained in emergency response, and practice emergency drills with the children in care. If you need help preparing, ChildCare Aware of Virginia offers free emergency preparedness training to subsidy programs and programs servings infants and toddlers.

Professional Development Opportunity for Family Day Homes

The Virginia Alliance of Family Child Care Associations (VAFCCA) is hosting a conference on Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7 for family day home owners and educators across the Commonwealth. The two-day conference includes sessions on business and accounting, advocacy, teacher-child interactions, family engagement, emergency preparedness and response, and more. Registration details and additional information.

Virginia Preschool Initiative

Updated Guidance on VPI/Head Start MOUs Webinar is September 14 at 12:00 p.m.

Updated guidance was shared with VPI Coordinators, Head Start (HS) Directors, and Superintendents last week via email. To support the development of local VPI/HS MOUs, the VDOE Division of ECCE will host a webinar on September 14, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. Registration is required, and the webinar recording will be shared with all registered participants. In conjunction with this webinar, coordinators will acquire supporting resources to include an MOU Look For document, MOU Rating Rubric, and an Exemplar MOU agreement.

VPI Coordinators: Early Childhood Screening and School Readiness Webinar on September 14 at 1:00 p.m.

Please join us for this optional webinar. Marie LaMonica-Sarro, from the Office of Early Childhood Learning will be discussing the connection between EC screening and school readiness, the rationale for screening, updates to screening tools, and how VKRP data and resources can be used to strengthen quality and improvement in VQB5. Registration is required. The session will be recorded and shared with all registered participants.

Early Childhood Special Education

Virginia Guidelines for Early Childhood Inclusion: Newly Revised!

The Virginia Guidelines for Early Childhood Inclusion have been revised. This guidance document is designed to assist Virginia’s school divisions and early childhood communities in identifying, developing, and sustaining inclusive opportunities within high-quality early childhood programs for young children with disabilities. The guidelines are presented in three sections: 1. Why Inclusion, 2. What is Inclusion, and 3. How to Implement Inclusion. In addition to other changes, the revised guidelines contain updates to the research supporting early childhood inclusion and an enhanced section on measuring quality in inclusive classrooms.

Updated: Transition from Early Intervention to Preschool Question & Answer Document

Smooth transitions from Early Intervention (Part C) to Early Childhood Special Education (Part B) are very important for children and families and require collaboration between sending and receiving programs. The VDOE updated the Transition from Early Intervention to Early Childhood Special Education Q&A Document with the most recent guidance for programs supporting transitioning students.

Resource Recharge: Indicator 7

As we enter the new school year, it is a good time to train or retrain teams on completing ratings on Indicator 7: Preschool Outcomes. Help ensure your teams can provide an accurate rating as children enter preschool by reviewing the resources provided in the link below, including the Outcomes Summary Decision tree.

Resource Recharge: Indicator 7

Head Start

Sustaining Compensation Investments Beyond ARPA Funding Webinar on September 13 at 12:00 p.m.

The National Early Childhood Education Workforce Center is continuing the Workforce Wednesdays webinar series. Join this week to hear from leaders in multiple states who will share new strategies for increasing workforce compensation that were previously implemented through the utilization of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

Webinar: Sustaining Compensation Investments Beyond ARPA funding
Date: September 13 at 12:00 p.m.
Register

Updated Guidance on VPI/Head Start MOUs Webinar is September 14

See the VPI section for further description and registration links.

VQB5 - Virginia's Unified Measurement and Improvement System

VQB5 Registration – 3 weeks left! - Deadline October 3

All publicly-funded programs that serve children ages birth-to-five are required by state law to participate in VQB5. The first required step is to complete registration in the LinkB5 data portal by October 3. Contact your Ready Region for VQB5 registration support.

Fall CLASS Observations

The fall observation window opens on August 15 and runs through December 22. Information about protocols and procedures for conducting Local CLASS observations for VQB5 can be found in the VDOE Local Observation Guidebook and Local Observation Guidelines Webinar Recording.

Early Learning Support

Getting to Know Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) Information Sessions Begin September 20!

ECMHC provides consultation services to publicly-funded programs seeking behavioral intervention and support for enrolled children. ECMHC is hosting “Get to Know ECMHC” sessions virtually on various dates this Fall. Interested teachers, leaders, and caregivers can register for the session of their choice to learn more about the program.

Register.
Contact Lynette Williams: LynetteW@cdr.org for more information.

ELDS Micro-Credential Registration is Open!

Did you know the ELDS microcredential is available in English and Spanish and free of cost? The Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) microcredential offers early childhood professionals insight into how to effectively use the ELDS to improve school readiness for all children. Any publicly funded ECE professional can enroll! The 5-hour class is self-paced and can be completed between now and May 2024. Interested learners receive their introductory email and log-in information from Radford University within 7 days of registering.

Register for the course.
Contact Rebecca.Shaffer@doe.virginia.gov with questions.

Early Childhood State of the State Updates for Summer 2023

Jenna Conway, Deputy Superintendent of Early Childhood Care and Education, delivers a comprehensive presentation entitled "Early Childhood State of the State Updates for Summer 2023 (PDF)" in which she shares key updates for early childhood in Virginia. Watch this informative and thorough review of key accomplishments and successes of the past year, as well as preview the exciting work that is on the horizon. Recorded July 26, 2023.

The Summer - Ready B5 Recap is Here!
Click to view the latest edition of Ready B5 Recap, the Quarterly Newsletter for Early Childhood Care and Education in Virginia.

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