Co-Chairs- Deb Cassidy and Erin Speer Smith

NC Institute for Child Development Professionals Higher Education Workgroup-Quality & Accessibility

8/10/15 1:00-2:45

Webinar

Work Group Member Participants Deb Cassidy- UNC Greensboro Erin Speer Smith- Johnston Community College Vickie Brinkely- Institute Board Member Anu Hegde- East Carolina University Wassup (Janna) Son Yarborough- Central Piedmont Community College Kathy Allen- Blue Ridge Community College Lisa Eads- NC Community College System Office Lisa Pullis- Childcare Solutions-Iredell Partnership for Children Nancy Brown- NC Partnership for Children Board

Agenda  Institute Overview  Purpose of Higher Ed. Workgroup/IOM Report (Focus on Ch. 8 & 9)  Discussion of the features of high quality professional learning that contribute to quality practice (The goal of higher ed.)  SWOT Analysis & Discussion of NC’s Current Status/Landscape o Fragmentation and non-systematic professional learning for educators o Early Childhood Educators vs. Elementary School Educators (differences) o Higher Ed Institutional Variation (Fragmentation among & within) o Content of Coursework (inconsistencies in agreed upon standards) o Content Included but Inconsistently (Are we covering the right topics/content in higher ed) that make the difference for quality practices?

Notes  Institute Overview  Purpose of Higher Ed. Workgroup/IOM Report (Focus on Ch. 8 & 9)  Discussion of the features of high quality professional learning that contribute to quality practice (The goal of higher ed.)  SWOT Analysis & Discussion of NC’s Current Status o Fragmentation and non-systematic professional learning for educators . Strength- Growing Greatness project in NC . Strength- NC Foundations of Early Learning & Development (embedding within higher ed and p.d. systems—a common tool) . Opportunity- B-K Consortium & NC ACCESS participating together in shared professional learning opportunities . Opportunity- Shared professional learning opportunities for higher ed and technical assistance providers (ex. Regional Foundations trainings) . Opportunity- Consider joint webinars as opportunity to connect associate degree and bachelor degree faculty . Possible topics to consider for joint p.d.- EDTPA, New CAEP standards for Teacher Ed programs, Breadth & Depth of ECE content in higher ed . Question to consider- Does NC need workforce competencies (maybe divided into levels) to help better define two year and four year goals for ECE professionals? o Early Childhood Educators vs. Elementary School Educators (differences) . Strength- NC PreK teacher system in NC same pay/benefits, same license, same standards, despite setting differences. . Strength- Half of NC child care workforce with an AAS or 4 year degree. Tipping point? . Weakness- “Floor” for the lead teacher in our system is so low (one class- EDU 119). . Opportunity- We need to consider raising the “floor”. Continue pushing on rated license revision and other avenues to help increase educational requirements for teachers in the field of ECE in NC. . Threat- Compensation is still so low. Challenging to encourage bachelors degree attainment with benefits and pay so low in child care settings. . Threat- Seeing some counties scaling back compensation efforts (such as WAGE$). . Need more information—Next Steps: Request DCDEE representative to provide an overview to our committee on the current rated license validation study and where things are with the revision to the rated license in 2020. o Higher Ed Institutional Variation (Fragmentation among & within) . Strength- Community Colleges often are enrolling and helping to meet the needs of lower income populations and students of color. We need more diversity in the ECE teaching field (a potential pipeline). . Community College focus is on skills and preparation for later deeper learning at the four year level. . Weakness/Threat- The “great divide” even within our own ECE state system of requirements between a lead teacher in licensed child care (one class-EDU 119) and NC PreK (four year degree with B-K licensure). Challenging for workforce and for higher ed. . Weakness- Differences in coursework options even among four year schools (ex. B-K add on=6 courses and Pre-K add on=2 courses) . Opportunity-Utilizing a Co-teacher model (ECE & Special Ed) like UNCG does for college courses. o Content of Coursework (inconsistencies in agreed upon standards) . Strength- Fortunate that the community college system has a Combined/common Course Library (CCL) with shared numbering, titles, descriptions, SLOs, etc.) . Weakness- Although B-K standards are shared, wide variability between four year colleges in how those standards are met, assignments, courses, numbering, general education requirements, etc. . Threat- Highly unlikely that four year schools want or would ever agree upon a Common Course Library type of system for the universities/colleges. . Even if we could more clearly define alignment and expectations for the general education classes this would help the two year associate degree programs better plan for articulation (ex. two math courses, etc.) o Content Included (but inconsistently)- Are we including all the right and best topics in higher ed consistently and content that will ensure quality practices? . Strength- It looks like NC is doing well in terms of NAEYC accredited programs in the community colleges and the B-K standards in the four year colleges in covering important content. . Weakness- Although most topics are likely included in most programs (good breadth), there is great inconsistency in depth across programs at the two and four year level. . Opportunity-Could workforce competencies help us better define that depth for the different levels? . Opportunity-We need a continuum from High School through EDU 119 through the certificate level through the AAS and on through to the bachelors degree (which would define the content’s breadth and depth)

Action Steps Create a numbered list 1. Send out the Institute Overview to all workgroup members 2. Share the taped IOM report webinar with all workgroup members once available 3. Type up the minutes from today’s meeting and share with the workgroup members, Debra & Sue 4. Create a Doodle Poll to determine next meeting date to finish initial discussions & SWOT on the following remaining components: Field Experiences, Admission Requirements, Faculty Characteristics, Access to Higher Education, Transfer of Credits, and Standards 5. From today’s meeting and the next meeting, formulate a 10 year vision and 3-5 goals with an action plan. 6. Contact a DCDEE Rep to present at a future meeting re: 2020 Revision to Rated License and current validation study status.

Next Meeting Date and Time: TBD

Resources Needed – Create a bullet list of resources the work group needs to address its work and where they will come from  Request DCDEE representative to provide an overview to our committee on the current rated license validation study and where things are with the revision to the rated license in 2020.