When you think of New Orleans in June, you might imagine jazz saxophones being played on the street corners and great seafood soaked in butter. In early June, 2015, another kind of rich experience filled the air of The Big Easy – the voices and experiences of early childhood education professionals from across the country.

The NAEYC* 2015 National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development  gathered together the most cutting-edge, creative thinkers in the field of early childhood education, and TRI was proud to have provided seven of those voices.

(*National Association for the Education of Young Children)

See below for the topics TRI staff presented:

June 7th

TRI's Tom Udell, Patrick Aldrich, and Sybille Guy Present

Beyond Coaching: A tiered model for technical assistance in a QRIS

“Oregon is field-testing a QRIS that uses a three-tiered model of providing technical assistance to early care and education programs. This model of technical assistance is designed to be a cost-effective approach to supporting continuous quality improvement. The model uses a unique design of universal, targeted, and intensive supports.”

June 9th

TRI's Patti Blasco, Serra Acar and  WOU's Cindi Ryan Present

Understanding the needs of underrepresented students in a blended program

“Participants will gain information and implement strategies to assess the knowledge and skills of underrepresented Community College student populations entering a blended Early Childhood Education/Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education program. Participants review and apply a tool for assessing students' current knowledge and skills on inclusion, and apply a curriculum review guide to reconstruct syllabi for inclusion using standards from national (NAEYC, DEC) and state agencies, while providing front-loading mentoring and peer-to peer-support."

June 10th

TRI's Robyn Lopez Melton, Dana M Bleakney-Huebsch, and Tom Udell Present

Articulation of National Standards with Oregon's QRIS: Balancing intent and integrity

“Oregon developed, implemented, and evaluated an accelerated entry process for nationally accredited and Head Start programs into Oregon's QRIS. Learn about how standards were crosswalked, the accelerated participation process, and how guiding principles were used to balance the intent of the standards while keeping the integrity of the QRIS.”

Helping define the future

TRI has become an important voice in the national conversation on early childhood education as a direct result of the expertise and experience of our staff. They combine the head and the heart of this field, and then share what they have learned to help inform the future. 

For more information about the conference, go to http://www.naeyc.org/institute/