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Professional Development System
Benchmarks Year 1

GOAL I. Frame a path for professional development with clear steps and many entry points.

1. The training consortium is in place and functioning.

2. Representatives of community college programs have developed a relationship with each other and have begun planning together.

3. Kent 4C Michigan Futures training is linked with Grand Rapids Community College course work.

4. Models of assessing individual work and knowledge for college credit have been studied.

GOAL II. Implement a credit-based training system, which is affordable, accessible and diverse. Such a system would meet the individual needs of all providers, working in all settings and at all career levels.

1. An Individual Educational Plan is in place and is being piloted with students working in Kent and Ottawa County Head Start programs

2. A group is convened within Grand Rapids Community College to work on course innovation, including open entry/open exit, and modularized course options.

3. Early childhood planning day participants have been identified for mentor and leadership training through their active connection with PDS project work groups.

4. Consultants have been called in to help with diversity in leadership and mentoring projects.

5. Financial strategies to support training and higher salaries are being developed in work with Joining Forces and the state PDS consortium..

GOAL III. Create an Environment in the community for increasing professional standards in child care by building support and linking common efforts.

1. An advisory board is established. Its membership demonstrates links to the community. Work with child care as a business committee continues.

2. The communication plan of Joining Forces is used to promote community awareness of the value of a trained workforce.

3. Efforts are linked with the Joining Forces advocacy committee to promote State Legislators' understanding of the importance of higher standards for the early childhood workforce.

4. A plan for business partnership building is in place, linked with the Joining Forces Business Partnership committee.

5. Two other sources of financial support for the project are identified.

GOAL IV. Develop a sense of professional identity for the field of
early childhood care and education.

1.the Early Childhood Planning Day logo identifies the PDS. Bulletin boards and magnets with the logo are placed in all programs and family care home for the purpose of posting PDS information.

2. Planning day participants form work groups to help plan new training projects.

3. Strategies for promoting membership in WMAEYC and FCCA are identified.

4. A public event to recognize training achievements is planned in collaboration with WMAEYC, FCCA and 4C.

GOAL V. Continue to Learn about professional development and
continue to share that knowledge.

1. Nationally known experts on assessment and training registries are brought in for consultation.

2. The expertise of national consultants has been shared with the State PDS consortium.

3. Work toward common goals with the State PDS consortium continues.

4. Connections with ACCESS and NCATE are maintained

5. Documentation of the PDS project is begun, working with GRCC's institutional research department to keep a learning history.

6. Work on a registry system with 4C is begun, to record the training of early childhood professionals.

Evaluation Measures

1. Work on a common evaluation form for all training has started. Training consortium members will track all those who are trained.

2. A method for early childhood providers to evaluate the effectiveness of the training they've received is developed.

3. A consultant has been hired to set up an evaluation project using classroom observation techniques.

4. The levels of training of early childhood providers have increased by these numbers:

5. A tracking plan has been put in place to follow non-credit training participants to see if they move to credit based options.

6. Child care programs have more information on accreditation from WMAEYC, FCCA, NSACCA, 4C and Head Start.

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Professional Development System Project
Benchmarks Year 2

GOAL 1. Frame a path for professional development with
clear steps and many entry points.

1. The training consortium has reached agreement on the core body of knowledge and has defined how all training fits in with it.

2. Grand Rapids Community College has a coordinated system with other community colleges to work on agreements with 4-year institutions to accept college credits for transfer.

3. The Kent 4C MI Futures training link to GRCC course work is used as a model for connecting other non-credit/credit work.

4. Work has begun on the internal processes needed to develop strategies in order to assess individual work and knowledge for college credit.

GOAL II. Implement a credit-based training system which is affordable, accessible and diverse. Such a system would meet the individual needs of all providers, working in all settings and at all career levels.

1. The Individual Educational Plan is disseminated to all sites and programs.

2. Grand Rapids Community College offers child development courses with new options -- modularized, Open entry/Open exit. These include Cooperative Education in Child Development, Human Growth and Development, Methods in Preschool Education, and Preschool Management.

3. Training opportunities in leadership and mentoring have begun for providers active in the PDS work groups.

4. Leadership training through the Student Activities Office has been provided for GRCC students.

5. Participation in the Joining Forces financial strategies work continues in order to build progress toward support for affordable training. Participation with the State PDS in this effort continues.

GOAL III. Create an environment in the community for increasing professional standards in child care by building support and linking common efforts.

1. The advisory board continues its efforts in the community to build support for standards.

2. The communication plan of Joining Forces continues to be used to promote community awareness of the value of a trained early childhood workforce.

3. Efforts to make state legislators aware of the importance of higher training standards for the early childhood workforce are linked with the work of the Joining Forces advocacy committee.

4. Work with the Joining Forces Business partnerships committee continues and business partnerships are strengthened.

GOAL IV. Develop a sense of professional identity for the field of
early childhood care and education.

1. A central place for training information has been established for those working in the field.

2. Information about membership in professional organizations is available with all training opportunities. WMAEYC membership has increased from 285 to 325. FCCA membership has increased from 72 to 92.

3. Public recognition of training achievements is celebrated, with media coverage of the event.

GOAL V. Continue to learn about professional development and
continue to share that knowledge.

1. Workshops and training opportunities offered by national experts on assessment and registries are shared with state PDS consortium members.

2. The work toward common goals continues with state PDS consortium, including sharing what has been learned in this process.

3. Maintaining the documentation of the PDS continues with the development of the learning history of the project.

4. Data is being entered in the registry for early childhood professionals.

Evaluation Measures

1. As a measurement of the quality of training, a common evaluation form is in use and connected with the training registry.

2. The early childhood program evaluation consultant has carried out classroom observations. The development of a process for tracking programs to see whether increased training results in better staff retention and quality classroom practice is in progress.

3. The levels of training of early childhood providers have increased by these numbers:

4. 15 child care center programs are in the process of self-study for accreditation by WMAEYC. 3 family child care homes are in the process of self study for accreditation by FCCA.

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Professional Development System Project
Benchmarks Year 3

GOAL I. Frame a path for professional development with clear steps and many entry points.

1. The training consortium has become a functioning part of the professional development system.

2. The training institutions have agreements that communicate how training fits into the system.

3. A method is in place for connecting credit and non-credit work 4. Individual work and knowledge can be assessed for college credit.

GOAL II. Implement a credit-based training system which is affordable, accessible and diverse. Such a system would meet the individual needs of all providers, working in all settings and at all career levels.

1. Outreach is provided to all entering college students through the Individual Educational Plan program.

2. Non-traditional options are available at GRCC for students to take classes. Internet and Distance learning are among the options.

3. Mentor and leadership training are available with attention paid to diverse populations.

4. Progress is made toward affordability of training and increased wages by the continued work with the Joining Forces financial strategies committee and the state PDS consortium.

GOAL III. Create an environment in the community for increasing professional standards in child care by building support and linking common efforts.

1. The advisory board, with its links to the community, continues its efforts to build awareness for increased professional standards for child care.

2. Public support exists for professional standards in child care.

3. Work with the Joining Forces advocacy committee has made state legislators aware and supportive of the need for higher training standards for the early childhood workforce. 4. Champions in the business community are advocating for higher standards and support for professional development in child care.

GOAL IV. Develop a sense of professional identity for the field of early childhood care and education.

1. A professional development web site has been established to connect the field of early childhood practitioners.

2. Membership in the professional organizations has increased by these numbers: WMAEYC from 325 to 365 FCCA from 92 to 112 3. Media coverage calls attention to the annual celebration of early childhood training achievements.

GOAL V. Continue to learn about professional development and
continue to share that knowledge.

1. The local PDS project is working in concert with the state professional development consortium.

2. Documentation of the PDS work continues using the system established by the GRCC institutional research department.

3. The knowledge gathered through the professional development system project is shared with others at conferences.

4. The early childhood professional training registry system is functioning.

Evaluation Measures

1. The early childhood classroom observation study is providing positive indicators of the effects of training on staff retention and the quality of classroom practice.

2. The levels of training of early childhood providers have increased by these numbers

Family Home providers Group Home providers Center Providers       MI Futures Trained MI Futures trainees who go on to credit based trainig

CDA CDA CDA A.A. B.A. M.A.

From 28 17 142 208 176 35 324   20

To 50 25 150 240 188 37 364   3

3. 15 programs are accredited by NAEYC 20 programs are in the process of self-study for accreditation 3 Family homes are accredited by the FCCA 10 homes are in the process of self-study for accreditation.

 

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