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News

• Recognition and Response, Pathways to School Success for Young Children, is a comprehensive online resource that provides educators with information about this cutting edge approach to early education. This site offers information and resources to help early educators address the needs of young children (3 to 5 year-olds) who show signs that they may not be learning in an expected manner, even before they begin kindergarten.

  The National Center for Learning Disabilities, in collaboration with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Communication Consortium Media Center, and several key state partners, is launching this web site, full of free resources based on a new and innovative Recognition and Response system.

  Recognition and Response is a systematic approach to addressing early learning difficulties before kindergarten. This approach includes assessing the overall quality of early learning experiences for all children as well as making program modifications, tailoring instruction, and providing appropriate supports for individual children who struggle to learn. Recognition refers to the methods used to recognize young children who exhibit early learning difficulties and who may be at risk for learning disabilities when they are older. Response refers both to the ways in which teachers and parents respond to young children with learning difficulties as well as to the ways in which young children react to specific interventions.

• Relationships Key to Professional Learning: Perhaps the greatest influencer of school quality and student accomplishment is the nature of relationships among adults working in the school, says Roland S. Barth, founding director of the Principals' Center at Harvard University. According to Barth, there are four categories of relationships: parallel play, adversarial, congenial and collegial. The best schools, he argues, are able to move beyond the parallel play and adversarial stages toward the congenial and collegial stages, which are necessary prerequisites for productive professional learning and positive growth.
  
• A recent Washington Post article, "The Rise of the Testing Culture: As Exam-Takers Get Younger, Some Say Value Is Overblown," raises some interesting issues about testing.

• The new NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Performance Criteria took effect September 2006, replacing the previously used version. New self-study materials based on the new standards and criteria are available through NAEYC's catalogue as well as their on-line store. The new standards and criteria are a major step forward for NAEYC Accreditation, the Association, the early childhood profession, and most of all, for the young children and families we serve. The new program standards and performance criteria build on the history of the Association, and on the vision proposed by the Reinvention Commission in 2002: NAEYC Accreditation and NAEYC-accredited programs can lead the way to higher quality...excerpts from NAEYC website, May 2005.
  
• Advocacy Corner

   

Events

Trainings and Workshops:

In addition to the trainings and workshops listed above, the following organizations offer professional development:
• The Day Care Council of New York offers an Early Childhood Training Institute in response to the professional needs of early childhood educators, including health and safety, becoming a family child care providerand identifying children with special needs. For more information, contact dccnyinc@verizon.net or 212.206.7818
  
• The Early Childhood Direction Center, in collaboration with the New York University Steinhardt School of Education - Department of Teaching and Learning, sponsors a series of workshops for early chilhood teachers and administrators. Registration is required. For more information, contact Marilyn Rubinstein at mrubinst@nyp.org.



• New Perspectives offers short-format and graduate level courses through Bank Street College's Division of Continuing Education, which are designed to meet the needs of educators in two to four days. Some of the most popular courses include: Behavior Management, How Young Children Learn through Play, Supporting Emergent Literacy, and Setting up Learning Centers. For more information about these courses or for a catalog with additional course listings, visit the New Perspectives website or call 212.875.4649. Resources for Children With Special Needs, Inc. is conducting "Early Intervention Information Sessions for NYC Parents," sponsored by the New York City Training Collaborative for Early Intervention. For the full schedule of trainings, call 212.677.4650 or to register, visit www.NYEITrain.org

• New York City Association for the Education of Young Children, in addition to an annual conference, hosts workshops and trainings throughout the year for students, teachers, and directors. For more information, call 212.807.0144 or visit www.nycaeyc.org.
  
• The Center for Early Childhood Professionals offers trainings and workshops through the following programs:
  • Early Childhood Teacher Mentor Program
  • Quality New York
  • Teacher-Leader Institute