Also want to add that if a contractor has both CSPP and a CDSS contract (CCTR, CMIG, etc.) this regulatory requirement regarding DRDP applies, as well.
1 Like
Want to echo and second Gloria’s comments about ensuring curriculum supports home language development, especially since research shows that having a strong home language supports English development
3 Likes
We are now in the session about Program Administration, Monitoring, and Governance recommendations
1 Like
we need to align assessments within the UPK MDS. TK is not required to use DRDP. Other ECE programs within UPK are. SPED is also required to use DRDP.
we need a kinder readiness tool that is universally used and adopted (e.g. KSEP)
2 Likes
Hello
I have not heard anyone talk about how students with special needs services will be administered. Who will provide the services for special needs - Speech, OT, Low incidence ( blind/deaf or hard of hearing) ? Who will be responsible for making sure the IEP is being followed?
yes and when TK is pulled out like this from the rest of the UPK MDS it creates a huge barrier for accessing and becoming an educator for the TK grade level for other ECE professionals
in NYC, we developed a curriculum specific to mixed age settings. You can find all the NYC curricula here! - Instructional Resources
Now discussing Recommendation #12: Provide information, technical assistance, and guidance to encourage and enable eligible agencies to apply for a Family Child Care Home Education Network (FCCHEN) contract.
Many Head Start and Early head Start networks that include family child care offer comprehensive services and resources for children and families in those settings. Specialists work directly with FCC providers and bring services for children into the FCC homes
1 Like
LEAs are required to provide special education services under IDEA.
in addition, how will the visual language/linguistic be provided to the d/hh children in the systems?
1 Like
Just wanted to support Rec #12 and the importance of supporting FCCs to join FCCHENs, reiterating the many benefits FCCs bring to our children and families.
Yes, LEA are required to provide services. However, since LEA are unionized it will impact the caseload/workload of the services provider. It is complicated but not impossible. But, we do need to see how this will happen.
Context: In my past district, we adopted and adapted the Connect 4 Learning curriculum. It embeds the math progressions from Doug Clements and Julie Sarama (the same as Building Blocks from Boston). Our principals commented that we had students leaving preschool as 4 year olds with mathematical understanding and skills stronger than those leaving kindergarten. That particular curriculum also embeds SEL learning aligned with the Pyramid Model and is funded by the National Science Foundation, providing lots of inquiry, hands on learning, non-fiction, and access to real life learning and opportunities for connection to lived experiences. There was also room for teachers to incorporate other activities that were regionally and culturally relevant. Formative assessment for SEL, math and literacy was built in. We made this shift after years of using the Creative Curriculum and seeing very uneven implementation from classroom to classroom and across our settings in our mixed delivery system.
All teachers are not strong curriculum developers and using a domain specific curriculum allowed teachers to spend their time strengthening their relationships with families, and children, building home school connections, and collaborating with their colleagues around individual student needs, rather than having every teacher spend their own time in isolation planning themed base learning that may not have explicit, play based, developmentally appropriate, learning opportunities rich in early numeracy, geometry and algebraic exploration, explicit play based structured early literacy opportunities, and with inquiry and exploration opportunities connected to their every day lives built in. We used Teaching Strategies Gold (similar to the DRDP that we have here in CA) and our teachers reported that using a domain specific curriculum, gave them opportunities to really know where each student was, and made their checkpoints much more accurate as the formative assessment system naturally built in opportunities for natural and authentic, play based assessment over time. Using learning progressions allowed us to serve all students - meeting them where they were at and provided access points for students at all developmental levels, including students who were more significantly impacted by their disability. We were doing this as an LEA but had plans to begin rolling this out to our FCC and private partner sites. We were already providing Pyramid Model coaching across all settings. (Our own LEA sites as well as our private and FCC partner homes that were part of our mixed delivery system model.)
Recommendation: I think it would be very doable to start providing, at a minimum, professional learning around the math progressions, how to develop culturally relevant and play based learning opportunities with multiple access points for all children, and how to implement a corresponding system of formative assessment that is aligned with the DRDP check points.
It is the responsibility of the LEA to service students with IEPs. IDEA and CDE allows for these services to be delivered in all settings. Support to LEAs with cost analysis may be helpful. It is often less expensive for LEAS to provide those services through an itinerant model, in children’s natural settings and it builds capacity and supports for our Family Child Care Providers and private programs.
Will there be further discussion on identifying UPK pathways for inclusion of Private-based Child Care centers as well as the FCCs. Both these types of care offer the wrap-around care that is desperately needed and I feel they have been left out of the UPK mixed delivery system.
1 Like
It would probaby require LEAs to negotiate a different type of job description that can be used for itinerant staff. (Example - caseload of 16 for ECSE teachers teaching am and pm sessions 5 days a week, caseload of 21 for Mild/Mod ed specialists at a school site - Maybe a caseload of 18 for itinerant staff who have to build in travel to partner sites? - these caseloads could be prorated by FTE if staff were implementing different models in their work day.)
1 Like
Hello
Thank you for your input. I understand that LEA is responsible for delivering services to all children who have an IEP. But, since this is a union position- it needs to be very clear on how this will impact caseload and workload We do have itinerant teachers and they work for the COE. I really appreciate the comments.
Now discussing Recommendation #36. Ensure CDE program monitoring develops and implements a consistent process to evaluate the submission and approval of reports required by other local, state, or federal agencies in the annual Program Self-Evaluation (PSE) process and program monitoring (e.g., Head Start and Quality Counts California reports).
1 Like
Coordinated and aligned
1 Like