Yes, TK should not be thought about as water down KG. I like your point
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The final points by Nina need to be evaluated more deeply.
I agree with the speaker, alignment across standards is important to ensure that no matter where a family chooses for pre-k they can be confident that there are systems in place that ensure the classrooms have quality standards they follow. That these standards are guided by research on how young children learn and develop
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Hello
I think these are wonderful ideas. But, realistically, we do not have the time or given the time to really use our observation skills. We need to have a program that is a 3 hour program and the rest of the day we (teachers) can have time to really focus on our curriculum and work with our assistants. There is so much paperwork and red tape that makes it difficult to have time to reflect.
Yes, having 24 students is way too much. We should have them as 20 as TK students are still very young and still require adult assistance and supervision.
Agreed that 24 is too much! I will add that this is not just a TK problem however. CSPP and other licensed programs have no maximum class size at all.
I thought CSPP had a max of 24 as well but 3 teachers in the classroom (1:8 ratio)? I worked in a program that had that many children. I have to double-check what Title 22/CCL has as a max (if they even have a max). The only ones that may not follow a min/max guideline would be private programs.
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Sorry to clarify: no technical ceiling on children per classroom in CSPP, but addition of adults with every 8 children, certain square footage, and you need another teacher in each group of over 24
quick observation…“CCTR, CMIG, FCCHENs, etc” - too many acronyms used by presenters make it a bit difficult to follow/understand for those of us that do not swim in this alphabet soup on the daily and I feel for the interpreters trying to keep up! hoping the GPG folks consider this for future presentations/mtgs.
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TK should be brought into the QRIS system
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Good Feedback Fabiola. We will try to better, and will also make an acronym list to help!
I agree that educators with the right credentials should be in classrooms where students with special needs are however, we also don’t want to use broad labels that do a disservice to the very individual/specific needs of students. For example, A student who may use a wheelchair has different accommodation requirements than a student who may use an AAC device.
CCTR=General Child Care (although I still have yet to understand why it doesn’t align with the letters)
CMIG=California State Migrant Program
FCCHEN=Family Child Care Home Education Network
CSPP=California State Preschool Program
CAPP=California Alternative Payment Program
These are all state-funded programs.
As a county office of education (COE) representative who works closely with districts operating TK classrooms, I have seen firsthand many TK classrooms that are focused on developmentally informed practice. In fact, developmentally appropriate practice has been a strong area of focus as COEs provide support to LEAs that are implementing UPK.
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Just to clarify: CDA is the Assistant Teacher requirement; Associate Teacher Permit from the Child Development Permit Matrix under the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing is the equivalent for this. For Head Start Teacher, Associate’s Degree is the minimum requirement.
I was once told it was Child Center (not sure if that is true)
That’s good to hear because I’ve heard from teachers that left their community based program and wen to the district and they said it was not developmentally appropriate practice and when they voiced their concerns and offered suggestions, they were not listened to. They’re in the classroom as the preschool co-teacher to the TK teacher but are treated like an assistant. One even shared that during her interview she asked if the program was play-based and the principal affirmed, but when she started she realized it was not.
CDA is also the requirement for Early Head Start teachers. I wonder if this was what they looked at and got confused about.
Child Center what though? What does the TR stand for? 
I also wonder if there should be a cap of the % of students who have IEPs in a classroom - No more than 30% is best practice. but we may want to consider an absolute no more than 49% to ensure students have access to peers without disabilities in a meaningful way.