West Virginia Department of Education Office of Special Programs, Extended and Early Learning

1. West Virginia Department of Education Office of Special Programs, Extended and Early Learning WVDE – RESA Early Education Initative: Supporting High Quality WV Pre-k through a Sustained, Regionally Focused Professional Development Approach

2. WVDE – RESA Early Education Initiative Early childhood in West Virginia has developed and grown like most of the rest of the country with a myriad of funding streams, rules and regulations, and professional development and technical assistance methods. Currently the WV Early Care and Education System, which includes the WV Pre-k System, offers a wide variety of technical assistance (TA) and professional development to WV’s early childhood teachers and staff from a number of sources.

3. WVDE – RESA Early Education Initiative Much of the TA and professional development offered through the WVDE is based on a first come first serve method, with interested local agencies and partners contacting the Department of Education for their individual needs. This approach has led to inconsistency and inefficiency in its delivery system for professional development. The result establishes a need for a more cohesive and coordinated system of professional development for the state.

4. WVDE – RESA Early Education Initiative This initiative targets the strategic planning and professional development for WV early childhood at the RESA level, thus developing a framework for the WVDE to offer professional development in an organized and more effective approach. The WVDE anticipates that the goals outlined will result in a more efficient systemthat can be built upon to create strong early childhood learning communities at the local and regional level. 3 Goals for the WVDE – RESA Early Education Initiative:

5. Goal 1 Systematic Support System for County Early Childhood Coordinators and Core Team Members 1. Two day Summer Institute for County Pre-k Coordinators and RESA Directors – kick-off to the yearlong services and professional development, as well as setting the stage for regional community of learners and support system. 2. Strategic planning sessions for county pre-k core team members targeting primary challenges – county plans and collaborations, universality process, contracts and budgets, funding, etc.

6. Goal 2 School Administrators and Principals Early Childhood Workshops 1. A series of workshops will be provided for county administrators and school principals to orient them to WV’s Universal Pre-k System. Topics for the seminars include – Policy 2525, Policy 2520.14, Curriculum and Assessment, Universal Pre-k accountability and reporting, preschool special needs, and collaborative standards. These seminars are intended to assist the local education system with building and developing a strong instructional and leadership capacity.

7. Goal 3 Begin Organization of WVDE Annual Professional Development Opportunities via the RESAs 1. Offer current early childhood professional development opportunities at each RESA by WVDE and Early Care and Education System partners. Additional professional development opportunities will be offered as need and resources dictate. Current professional development categories include curriculum - Creative Curriculum, assessment - creativecurriculum.net and ECERS-R, content standards, developmentally appropriate practices and inclusion of children with special needs. These workshops are designed as an introduction to early childhood and are appropriate for new teachers, teacher assistants, county collaborators, administrators and parents. Individual workshops will be offered for targeted audiences, for example preschool special educators and itinerant teachers utilizing creativecurrciulum.net. Once the framework is developed, the above mentioned workshops would be established as annual professional development opportunities. Future professional development opportunities would then be created to differentiate instruction and offer a continued and sustained professional development system for WV’s professional educators through RESA’s.

8. WVDE – RESA Early Education Initiative The goals outlined during year one are intended to establish a framework at the regional level on which a larger and more complete network of strategic planning, technical assistance, and professional development for WV early childhood educators and stakeholders can be developed. This initiative will begin to establish the capacity and network of early childhood leaders who will be able to assist with facilitating professional development. The foundation for a state-wide early childhood support system in which all levels will have the opportunity to grow professionally through a differentiated approach will be established.

9. Tentative Timeline July 24-25, 2008 County Coordinators’ Summer Institute TBA September – May 2008-2009 Core Team Strategic Planning Meetings TBA (County plans and collaborations, universality process, contracts and budgets, and strategic planning) RESA PD for teachers and assistants Currently Scheduling (Creative Curriculum, Creative Curriculum.net, ECERS-R module I, content standards and developmentally appropriate practices, positive behavior support) School Administrators’ Early Childhood Workshops Currently Scheduling (Policy 2525, Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability, and collaborating with Head Start)

10. WVDE – RESA Early Education Initiative For questions or comments about the WVDE-RESA Early Education Initiative contact : Clayton Burch WVDE – Office of Special Programs, Extended and Early Learning Building 6, Room 304 Charleston, WV 25305 1-304-558-2696 (ext. 53212) wburch@access.k12.wv.us