Building the Birth to Five Workforce

Three States’ Experiences of Collaborative Activities for Assuring

Highly Qualified Personnel

Introductions• VIRGINA:

Deana Buck, Project Director/Team Leader Partnership for People with Disabilities Virginia Commonwealth University

• NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Linda Graham, Family Centered Early Supports & Services DHHS Bureau of Developmental Services Gale Hall, Department Head, Child & Family Studies NHTI, Concord’s Community College

• VERMONT: Manuela Fonseca, Early Education Coordinator

Vermont Department of Education

Virginia: Strengthening the System

Virginia

• Lead Agency – Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services

• Partnership for People with Disabilities at VCU (VA’s UCEDD) – Integrated Training Collaborative

Virginia

• Needs – Highly Qualified Personnel:

– Additional providers to serve eligible children and families.

– Improve quality and consistency of services and service delivery.

– Meet federal requirements regarding Part C personnel.

Virginia

• Needs – Highly Qualified Personnel:

– Standardized processes across the Commonwealth.

– Collect and report data (OSEP & GA).

– Requirements for ongoing professional development to meet and maintain Part C credentials.

– Expand funding for Part C system, including Early Intervention Medicaid Model.

Recent Activities

• Established Core Competencies in 10 areas, including SC

– http://www.infantva.org/documents/ovw-cc-EI-ITC-CoreCompetenc.pdf

• Clarified Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia Service Pathway

– http://www.infantva.org/documents/ovw-ccED-ServicePathChart.pdf

• Developed Practitioner Qualifications and Responsibilities (by discipline) –

– http://www.infantva.org/documents/ovw-cc-EI-PersonnelQual-QA.pdf

• Defined Training/Competency requirements in Virginia

Development of Professional Development/Credentialing

Resources • www.eitraining.vcu.edu• Through the Integrated Training Collaborative,

developed, field-tested, and posted 5 content modules:– Family-Centered Practices– Child Development– Practitioner Requirements– Service Pathway– Supervision

Impact:

On-Line Modules:Complexity of content varies by topic Include video linksInteractive discussion questionsLinked to competenciesQuestions to ponder….Test at the end of each moduleReferences

Impact:

Credentialing Medicaid Early Intervention Providers:Must have passing score on all modulesMaintain professional licensureApply as a provider and agree to meet

all Part C requirements1,220 individuals enrolled (as of

11/16/09)

Impact

Stronger collaboration with the Department of Medical Assistance Services.

Greater clarity in early intervention system (including development of Practice Manual).

Stronger articulation of Part C personnel requirements in IHE programs.

Better data about providers and means for reaching them.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire: Building the system

• Meetings among stakeholders to plan strategies started 2001

• Process ended without resolution after 2-3 years

• FCESS resuscitated group to advise on changing the rules and creating a process for alternative credential for evaluators

• Agreed to develop a system for bringing evaluators into EI drawing on competencies and portfolio assessment

• Agreed to end the work and implement a project

Early Interventionist Credential

• System designed as a pilot• Candidates had to be working in FCESS, have attended the

“Welcome to ESS” orientation, have a BA in a related field, and apply.

• There are 67 competencies. Candidates show they meet these through a combination of work samples, interviews, family surveys and peer and supervisor reports.

• Validators- have worked in EI for 5 years, are evaluators according to the rules,have completed the “Welcome to ESS” training.

• Advisory board-convened from interested parties, mostly people who had worked on previous stages of the process.

New Hampshire Career ladder

• Advisory board focused on access to the system and building the pipeline

• Visuals- a career ladder- to stimulate discussion of what is missing

Independent IHE’s figure it out

• Articulation agreements between Technical schools and IHEs

• Developed an AS in working with young children with disabilities, BS in Early Intervention is in development

• Developed in tandem• Rule change for EI

Credential-recommended by the Advisory Board

• Investigating on line classes, creating NH specific modules

• IHE planning EI specific classes for BS

• certificate program for personnel currently in the field who want more birth-3 coursework

• Mentoring for validators and candidates

• Stipends for validators-pilot to determine how much to put aside

Using ARRA money

Impact

• Three individuals have successfully completed this new Early Interventionist credential

• Three additional individuals are in the process of completing the requirements for the Early Interventionist credential

Vermont

Vermont: Building the Higher Education Collaborative-EC/ECSE Program

Needs:• Lack of licensed EI/ECSE

personnel • Requirement for licensed ECE

or EI/ECSE personnel to staff state prekindergarten program

• People in the workforce with years of valuable experience in Head Start, in schools as para-educators, in child care, etc. but who lacked a license

• Only one IHE approved to offer EI/ECSE preparation

• Access limited by geography, cost, scheduling

HEC-EC/ECSE Goals:

• Increase the number of licensed EI/ECSE (birth through age 5) and ECE (birth-grade 3) personnel

• Increase access to preparation by bringing classes closer to students, offering reduced tuition costs and scholarships, and alternate scheduling

• Increase number of EI/ECSE/ECE personnel with advanced degrees

HEC-EC/ECSE Program Development

• Collaboration between the University of Vermont and the Vermont Department of Education

• An advisory committee was formed and began planning in 2004

• A 3-tier program (i.e., additional endorsement, initial licensure, and BA with a recommendation for licensure) was outlined

• Part of Vermont’s OSEP State Improvement Grant funded need-based scholarships

• The first cohort enrolled in Summer 2005

A Word About VT Licensure

Structure:• Separate licenses for

EI/ECSE and ECE• If licensed in another

area, can add endorsement (21 credits for EI/ECSE & 18 credits for ECE)

• Initial licensure requires 12 weeks internship or student teaching (or equivalent experiences), and a web-based licensure portfolio

Requirement for license:• EI/ECSE:

– Provide special education services under Part B 619

– OPTIONAL for delivering Part C services

• EI/ECSE or ECE:– Lead teacher in state’s

publicly funded pre-K• ECE:

– Teach preK - grade 3

Features of HEC-EC/ECSE Program

• Graduate level course work based on EI/ECSE or ECE competencies

• Shared foundational coursework between the EI/ECSE and ECE programs (i.e., child development, early language and literacy development, curriculum development)

• Offsite two-year preparation program; one course per semester

• Tier 1 is for those seeking an additional endorsement

• Tier 2 is for those seeking initial licensure; includes a supervised EI/ECSE internship or ECE student teaching experience

• All of HEC-EC/ECSE credits may be applied towards a masters degree

Snapshot of Today’s HEC-EC/ECSE

• Cohort 3 began Summer 2009; – 21 EI/ECSE & 18 ECE

• Hybrid courses: Courses typically delivered onsite (2 or 3 sites) on 5-6 Saturdays/semester plus some online work

• Instructors are from UVM, or are consultants or practitioners

• Approximately 25% of each cohort members decide to pursue the masters degree

• Development of Tier 3 continues to be stymied

Impacts

• Program completers:– Cohort 1: EI/ECSE = 25, ECE = 21– Cohort 2: EI/ECSE = 30, ECE = 28

• Masters degrees from UVM:– M.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education

• 8 completed or in progress

– M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction• 12 completed or in progress

• Decrease in “provisional licenses” in EI/ECSE

For More Information

• VIRGINA: Deana Buck: dmbuck@vcu.edu

• NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Linda Graham: linda.graham@dhhs.state.nh.us

Gale Hall: ghall@ccsnh.edu

• VERMONT:Manuela Fonseca: manuela.fonseca@state.vt.us