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CLI ANNOUNCES TEXAS SCHOOL READY! PROJECT GRANT AWARDSBy Layne Waxley Through the support of the Texas Legislature, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Workforce
Commission, the Children’s Learning Institute’s State Center for Early Childhood Development at the
University of Texas Medical School at Houston is pleased to announce the recipients of the
2009-2010 Texas School Ready! Project grants. Texas School Ready! Project grants support the integration of public school districts, Head Start and child care programs to ensure that at-risk three-and four-year old children develop a critical foundation for school readiness and success in Kindergarten and later years. Recipients of Texas School Ready! Project grant funding will implement an effective research-based approach to improve children’s school readiness that includes: research-based curriculum from the state adopted list; child progress monitoring to inform instruction; on-going professional development with mentoring for teachers; and participation in the Texas School Readiness Certification System. UNDERSTANDING ENHANCED REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR THE TEXAS SCHOOL READY! PROJECTBy Cory Rountree The Children’s Learning Institute implements the Texas School Ready! Project, an early education approach that serves at-risk preschool-aged children through shared resources between public and private childcare programs. Participants of the Texas School Ready! Project improve children’s school readiness through a combination of research-based curriculum from the state adopted list; child progress monitoring to inform instruction; on-going professional development with mentoring for teachers; and participation in the Texas School Readiness Certification System. Annually the Children’s Learning Institute announces a list of schools certified under the Texas School Ready! Project among licensed childcare centers, school districts, and Head Start. This certification is based on a childcare provider’s demonstrated ability to prepare children for kindergarten. As the Institute prepares to announce the 2009 list of certified schools, we want to provide information on enhanced reimbursement rates that are available to certified childcare providers. Continue reading. TODDLER TEEM TEACHER TRAINING LAUDED AS UNIQUE AND EFFECTIVEBy Davy Kong
The Toddler TEEM Teacher Training is based on the most recent scientific research and provides adult learners with training in how to provide highly effective learning environments as well as support for toddlers’ oral language development and emergent literacy skills. In late May, the Institute’s team of project managers held a Saturday training session for teachers of two-and three-year-olds at the United Way building in Houston. The training session focused on six key components for toddler classrooms: classroom arrangement, language development, emotional growth, maintaining children’s interest, reading aloud, and using themes in a childcare setting. Participants viewed and discussed video segments of teachers and children in actual classrooms, as well as engaging in role playing and other activities. Continue reading. CLI STAFF EMBARK ON COMPREHENSIVE REWRITE OF MANUAL FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORSBy Davy Kong
For nearly a decade, all teachers involved in the TEA Head Start grants and later the Texas School Ready! Project, formerly known as TEEM, grants have received this training and manual. Although the training has been updated on a regular basis, the manual has not been revised from the original. In May 2008, TEA’s revision of the pre-k guidelines initiated a review of the manual’s content. Layne Waxley, CLI’s Project Director for the Texas School Ready! Project explained, “TEA’s revised pre-K guidelines, coupled with teachers’ feedback and classroom observations, prompted our desire to update the manual to reflect the latest research in early literacy.” Continue reading. BUZZ WORTHY: HEARD IN THE CLASSROOMWhat are teachers saying about the Children's Learning Institute's Texas School Ready! Project? As a new teacher, I gained significant knowledge from the Texas School Ready! Project. My mentor provided me with information and ideas to better educate my students. I strongly feel that this program is an advantage for all teachers because it provides professional development and training to help teachers provide high-quality education to students. The Texas School Ready! Project has helped improve my teaching throughout the year. I have enjoyed the professional development and resources that the program provides. Our mentors have been excellent trainers and I really appreciate them. The Texas School Ready! Project has made an impact on my students’ language development skills. The centers were very useful because it contributed to successful student learning. The daily use of the News of the Day, taught my students to make connections to verbal and non-verbal communications. IN THE NEWS
SAVE THE DATE: TEXAS SCHOOL READY! PROJECT INSTITUTEAll Mentors and Coordinators of the Texas School Ready! Project will be invited to attend a five-day training extravaganza called the Texas School Ready! Project Institute from September 14 to September 18. The training sessions will focus on applications such as eCIRCLE, mCLASS, and mentoring of teachers. More details to will follow in the coming weeks. CLI ADDS SEVEN NEW STAFF TO TEXAS SCHOOL READY! PROJECTThe Texas School Ready! Project recently hired seven new Regional Technical Assistance Specialists to provide professional development and technical assistance. They will train mid-level field managers in data based decision making, social emotional development, and academic curriculum areas. To learn more about CLI’s latest staff additions and read their biographies, click on their names.
NEWSLETTER FEEDBACKThe editorial staff of the Texas School Ready Beat newsletter would like to hear from you. Please submit your comments, suggestions, and questions to Davy Kong at Davy.Kong@uth.tmc.edu |
June/July 2009
Dates to Know
Newsletter ContributorsJohn Gasko, Ph.D. Layne Waxley Cathy L. Guttentag, Ph.D. Sonya Coffey Jane Thacker Davy Kong Bang Pham
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With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) developed a program called Toddler Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) Teacher Training to enhance education for teachers at childcare centers. Specifically this training helps teachers to be more intentional in addressing specific areas of development when working with two-and three-year-old children. Education researchers at CLI emphasize the importance of starting as early as possible to help boost child learning. 
In 1999, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) developed and announced pre-K guidelines to help educators make informed decisions about curriculum and instruction in classrooms. With a grant from TEA, The Children’s Learning Institute (CLI), known at the time as the Center for Improving the Readiness of Children for Learning and Education (CIRCLE), developed a research-based interactive training and manual for teachers to support implementation of the pre-K guidelines and to promote early language and literacy. This summer, staff at CLI embarked on an ambitious effort to update the ten year old CIRCLE Preschool Early Language and Literacy training and manual.
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