Selected Content Updates in Q3 2022
The VLS integrates the latest research and best practices into its professional development system on an ongoing basis. Our content team reviews new research and updates to national guidelines. Selected content updates over the last three months include:
Newly Released Targeted Professional Development for Program Managers
Quality Observations: Leadership’s Role and Navigating Difficult Conversations with Staff or Families are two new Targeted Professional Development modules that are aimed at strengthening program leader’s practices. The new content provides Program Managers with key strategies that they can use for conducting objective observations of staff and the program environment and how to manage conflict and navigate difficult conversations with staff and families in the program
For specific details regarding the new content, see the September 2022 Targeted Professional Development update announcement.
Upcoming and Past Live Leadership Webinars
The VLS team offers one-hour virtual, specialized professional development for Training & Curriculum Specialists and Program Managers on a quarterly basis. These live webinars highlight evidence-based information on a centralized topic, strategies to enhance program leader’s practices, and tools and resources from the VLS to support implementation. The final 2022 Live Leadership Webinars include Supporting Early Mental Health and Suicide Prevention: Research & VLS Supports on September 8, 2022, and Updates to Developmentally Appropriate Practice: A Guide for Program Leaders on November 29, 2022. Registered and authenticated users can view previously recorded webinars via the Live Leadership Webinar page.
New Leadership Focused Topics Course Released
Program Managers play a critical role in supporting and leading staff and ensuring the successful operation of child and youth programs. Leadership Essentials: Getting Started as a Program Manager highlights the critical knowledge and practices Program Managers need to be successful in managing and leading programs, including the important skills to develop in their first 30, 60 and 90 days in this role. This five-lesson course guides program leaders in reflection about their leadership and management style and encourages them to think intentionally about their program's vision and how it is communicated to staff, families, and the community.
For specific details regarding the new content, see the July 2022 Focused Topics course update announcement.
IT and PS Track: All Foundational Courses Updated
In an effort to continually provide up-to-date and relevant information, all 15 Foundational Courses have been reviewed and revised across the Infant & Toddler (IT) and Preschool (PS) tracks. Revisions include new content and activities, updates to the CDC Developmental Milestones, and useful information regarding early childhood theories not previously included in the courses.
For specific details regarding the new content, see the August 2022 updated Foundational courses announcement.
Highlights from the Field and Recent Research
Recognizing and Supporting Early Childhood Educators and Program Administrators as Agents of Change: An Exploration of Distributed Leadership in Early Care and Education
A recent study from the Office of Planning, Research, & Evaluation: An Office of the Administration for Children and Families OPRE reports on how the role of distributed leadership influences quality improvements in ECE center quality and child outcomes. In distributed leadership, program administrators and direct care staff share power and decision making in one or more domains of work. The report includes examples of distributed leadership in ECE as well as ways to incorporate distributed leadership into already existing professional development and quality improvement systems in ECE settings.
Integrated Early Childhood Data Is an Essential Tool for Advancing Racial and Ethnic Equity
A recent report from Child Trends highlights the use of integrated early childhood data as an essential tool for advancing racial and ethnic equity. The report offers three recommendations for obtaining high quality data that includes a breadth of information on the communities' strengths and needs in order to measure, understand and advance racial equity. Recommendations include:
Gather and report data that can be disaggregated by race and ethnicity
To create more transparency on where disparities exist and the extent to which they are experienced
Include historical context when interpreting and identifying underlying causes of racial disparities
When sharing data to provide information about the surrounding community so information can be understood.
Partner with communities at every stage of data collection and use-from prioritizing what questions to answer, to designing secure integrated data systems, to acting on data to respond to children and families’ needs
So that families and professionals can understand and act on data
Examining Teacher Turnover in Early Care and Education
A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota highlights that educator turnover decreases as wages increase. The report found that centers with staff that earn less than 10 dollars an hour were three times as likely to experience turnover as opposed to centers with average wages at or above 25 dollars an hour. The report highlights the impact of staff turnover on the quality of care for children and suggests options for increasing center wages through various means, including the offering of bonuses to teachers over an eight-month period.