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The Governor's Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives
Governor Kaine established the Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives to coordinate executive branch efforts on early childhood programs and strengthen public and private programs. The working group, chaired by the Secretary of Education, brings together high-level staff from cabinet offices and state agencies in the areas of Education, Health and Human Resources, Economic Development, Finance and Policy.
- Executive Directive establishing the Working Group (pdf, 124kb)
- Members of the Working Group (pdf, 17kb)
For information on activities of the Governor’s Working Group, please contact:
Kathy Glazer
Director, Office of Early Childhood Development
804-726-7124
kathy.glazer@dss.virginia.gov
The Office of Early Childhood Development
Virginia’s Office of Early Childhood Development. Virginia’s Office of Early Childhood Development, which spans the Departments of Education and Social Services and links to the Department of Health, was launched for operation July 1, 2008 to maximize opportunities for Virginia’s children to reach kindergarten healthy and prepared for school success. The Office’s objectives include interagency coordination and program alignment, development of a coordinated professional development system for the early childhood workforce, and establishing an integrated data system to better inform policy, programming, and budget decisions.
For information on activities of the Office of Early Childhood Development, please contact:
Kathy Glazer
Director, Office of Early Childhood Development
804-726-7124
kathy.glazer@dss.virginia.gov
The Alignment Project
In order to understand and provide optimal early learning experiences, we must align our expectations of children’s growth and development with our expectations of adults working with them and with standards for early childhood programs.The Alignment Project, a multi-disciplinary team of public and private partners, has developed several guides to assist with this process.
- Milestones of Child Development (pdf, 9.57MB)
The Milestones show a continuum of optimal skill development for children from birth to kindergarten entry, along with strategies for adults (parents, teachers, home visitors) to utilize in faciliting children’s development.
- Competencies of Early Childhood Professionals (pdf, 2.59MB)
This document includes standards for competent practice, identifying what early childhood professionals must know and be able to do to provide quality early care and education.
Virginia’s Star Quality (Quality Rating and Improvement System)
Virginia’s Star Quality initiative provides quality standards for early learning programs on a five star scale. It offers a market-based solution to facilitate quality consistency among early childhood programs, support continuous quality improvement in partnership with public and private early education providers, and encourage a continuum of care and education throughout various provider settings, so that all children arrive in kindergarten ready to succeed.
- Virginia’s Star Quality Standard for Center-Based Classrooms * (Word, 190k)
- Brief Overview of Virginia’s QRIS (Word, 88k)
The Star Quality Advisory Team will oversee the QRIS Pilot Demonstration and provide guidance and strategic recommendations for Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative.
- Members of the Star Quality Advisory Team (Word, 34k)
* A Home-Based Standard for family providers is currently under development.
Home Visiting Consortium
For the first time, all state-funded early childhood home visiting programs have come together at the state level to discuss home visiting services in the Commonwealth. The Home Visiting Consortium has pledged:
- To examine the role of home visiting in improving the health and well-being of Virginia’s young children.
- To review the current publicly funded Virginia home visiting services for pregnant women and families with children ages 0-5 years.
- To increase local and state collaborative efforts in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Virginia’s home visiting services.
- To recommend changes in home visiting system which will improve birth outcomes and enhance early childhood development.
- HVDG’s August Report to the Governor’s Working Group (Word, 241k)
- Appendices A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K (pdf, 2.01MB) | Appendix C (pdf, 649k)
To provide feedback or seek additional information regarding the HVC, please contact Catherine.bodkin@vdh.virginia.gov.
School Readiness Task Force
This task force has convened to focus on developing an effective system for assessing and evaluating the school readiness of Virginia's children. A series of action steps will solidify a structure regarding the school readiness of children that will be invaluable in informing instruction, program, policy, and funding decisions in the Commonwealth.
Task Force members represent a diverse group of stakeholders: the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other representatives from the Department of Education; the Board of Education; the Department of Social Services; local city councils, school divisions, early childhood providers; the PALS office and Virginia’s universities and community colleges; the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation; and representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Council on Virginia’s Future.
- Members of the School Readiness Task Force (pdf, 21kb)
The task force proposed 4 recommendations to promote statewide data collection efforts to better inform educational policies and classroom practices.
The first recommendation was to develop a standard definition of school readiness to be used for consistent evaluation of pre-k programs, as well as for the overall preparation of Virginia’s children to succeed in school. Since its development, the Governor’s Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives approved the definition, and the Board of Education adopted the definition in April, 2008.
- NEW! Virginia's Definition of School Readiness (Word, 94k)
- NEW! Definition of School Readiness, Spanish version (Word, 86k)
The School Readiness Task Force has completed the Virginia School Readiness Report, outlining recent statewide infrastructure changes, new resources, and recent research supporting and informing us about the school readiness of young children in the Commonwealth.
- NEW! Virginia School Readiness Report (pdf, 69k)
A helpful resource guide for communities has been developed to assist with local school readiness efforts.
Virginia’s Plan for Smart Beginnings
The purpose of this public-private strategic plan for early childhood initiatives in Virginia is to build and sustain a system to support parents and families as they prepare their children to arrive at kindergarten healthy and ready to succeed. Co-led by the Governor’s Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, the plan focuses on five over-arching goals in these areas: Governance and Finance, Family Support and Education, Early Care and Education, Health, and Public Engagement.
- Virginia's Plan for Smart Beginnings (Word, 328k)
- Powerpoint outlining the plan and process (PowerPoint, 8MB)
- Organizations and agencies that have endorsed the plan (Word, 52k)
Please visit www.smartbeginnings.org for more detailed information on the work of the Plan Goal Groups.
Professional Development Task Force
A strong early childhood workforce is essential in providing high quality learning environments for Virginia’s young children. This task force will make recommendations for development of a coordinated system to ensure a continuum of high quality professional development opportunities for early childhood professionals in the Commonwealth. The task force intends to create a foundation that can be utilized by not only early childhood educators, but by all early childhood professionals, including home visitors, early intervention specialists, and family support workers.