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Early Childhood PD Contractor | Quality New York | ECP in Newark | Wachovia | Early Childhood Consultant

Early Childhood Consultant

The Center for Early Childhood Professionals (ECP) provides a broad array of consultation services and technical assistance to the early care and education community. The Center tailors these services to meet the individual needs of each program. Our team of experienced staff is adept at building relationships, engaging the learner, and inspiring participants to reflect and examine their educational philosophy.

ECP's Consulting Services include:

Needs Assessments
Using Professional Development Needs Assessment surveys, ECP staff developers compile and analyze the needs of the early childhood center's community, including teachers, administrators, and families. Surveys identify the center's needs, interests, and backgrounds. Collected data shapes the Professional Development Plan.
Standardized Program Assessments
ECP staff developers are reliably trained to administer the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS), the Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS) and the Program Administrators Scale (PAS). ECP staff developers use the appropriate tools to establish a baseline of quality. Results of these assessment tools inform and guide the framework for a Professional Development Plan (PDP), including a classroom and a programmatic focus for the early childhood environment.
Professional Development Plan
ECP staff developers conduct a data analysis of the results from the classroom and program assessments (ECERS, ITERS, PAS) as well as the Professional Development Needs Assessment surveys. This data will provide information regarding strengths and challenges within the early childhood classrooms and programmatic operations. The ECP staff developers incorporate these results to make recommendations and support the development of the Professional Development Plan with short-term and long-term goals.
In-Class Mentoring Support for Teachers
In-class mentoring support engages the early childhood classroom teaching teams in one-on-one assistance around children's developmental levels, interests, languages, temperaments, cultural backgrounds, and learning styles. Support includes an in-class mentoring visit and a feedback session from an ECP staff developer. The mentoring visit includes but is not limited to: observing, coaching, supporting teaching teams, and modeling a variety of teaching strategies. During feedback sessions, teachers have the opportunity to reflect on and examine their methods, while integrating information from theory to practice.
Study Groups for Teachers
Study Group sessions allow an ECP staff developer and a small cadre of teachers to exchange ideas, try new strategies, and obtain feedback on teaching practices. Frequent study group sessions promote collegiality and can be instrumental in transforming the culture of the school. Topics are negotiated with participants and are chosen to meet the needs of the group.
Professional Development Seminars for Teachers and Administrators
During seminars, teachers learn to tailor instructional materials and strategies to meet the needs of their students. Seminars provide the focus for other professional development activities, including in-class mentoring support and study groups. These seminars are tailored to identify developmentally appropriate research-based practices, strategies and activities. Topics may include but are not limited to: language and literacy development, science, mathematics, cognitive development, social-emotional development, English Language Learners, encouraging family participation, fostering effective communication with caregivers and community members, and child assessments.
Training of Trainers (TOT)
Seminars offer Administrators and teachers an advanced level of hands-on instruction designed to provide a standards-based lens for conducting classroom observations and feedback, developing program improvement plans, and conducting workshops. ECP staff developers support participants to master effective leadership strategies that build capacity within their learning community.
Family Literacy Workshops
Seminars for caregivers focus on school readiness and language-rich activities that foster a love of stories, words and books. Topics include but are not limited to: supporting the home-school connection, oral language development, reading and making books, and storytelling.

For more information, contact Margot Hammond, 212. 961.3414 / mhammond@bankstreet.edu.