Texas School Ready! Project RFA
The Children’s Learning Institute(CLI) is pleased to announce the new Texas School Ready! Project : Preparing Young Texans to Learn – Request for Application (RFA). This is a competitive grant and replaces the former grant opportunity known as the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) project.
For this project, CLI is seeking Texas communities to establish integrated school readiness partnerships which include public school Pre-kindergarten programs, Head Start providers and child care providers to:
- develop and implement a sustainability plan to ensure continuation of the project’s goals and objectives once funding is no longer available,
- implement the Texas School Ready! approach including the implementation of school ready components and participation in the Texas School Readiness Certification System, and
- ensure that all partners are delivering services that effectively prepare students for the transition from Prekindergarten to Kindergarten.
IMPORTANT: The Texas School Ready! Project RFA will be implemented during the 2009-2010 school year(s). Applicants should plan for a starting date of no earlier than September 1, 2009, and an ending date of no later than August 31, 2010. The Texas School Ready! grant program will be contingent upon funding being approved by the 81st Texas Legislative Session. The number of projects funded will depend on the number of applications for funding received and the amount awarded to applicants selected for funding.
Critical Dates:
| March 16, 2009 |
Publication of Request of Application (RFA) |
| April 2, 2009 |
TETN – Check local Education Service Center for session #35096- 3:15-5:15 pm |
| April 10, 2009 |
Due date for the Notice of Intent to apply in the CLI office |
| May 7, 2009 |
Due date for the application in the CLI office, 5:00pm CST |
| May 27, 2009 |
Notification of Grant Award Begins |
| September 1, 2009 |
Beginning Date of project |
| August 31, 2010 |
Ending Date of project |
Please email questions to:
Layne Waxley
State Center for Early Childhood Development
Texas School Ready! Project Director
Thomas.L.Waxley@uth.tmc.edu
TEEM Coordinators Have Access to SRCS Reports!
On March 24, 2009, TEEM Coordinators will have the capability of accessing multiple SRCS reports specific to the schools within their TEEM Community through the PreK Coordinator Application in eSchoolPlus at www.txsrcs.com. The Coordinator’s username and password into eSchool Plus gives Access to these reports will aid TEEM field staff in assisting users at every level of the School Readiness Certification System. At the bottom of the “Verify Schools and Add School Administrator” screen where Coordinators are able to review the list of schools within their community, developers at OZ Systems have created a way to generate reports. As you can see illustrated here, there are a number of reports.
Coordinators and Mentors, with these reports in hand, will be able to:
- help users know the status of student attendance across the year and what needs to be updated by using the Attendance Report;
- keep track of the administrators assigned to their schools in the system with the Principal Assignment Report;
- be able to assist users with the specific information missing about their facility with the Facility Survey Report;
- guide users and support their completion of the application with the Integrated Report for Preschools;
- assess the status of Manage My School and Manage Student Records;
- determine which schools in the system need classrooms assigned to them by accessing the PK Schools Without Classrooms Report; and
- determine the status of a teacher’s work on the Teach Self Report with the Incomplete Teacher Self Report report.
Each report generates quickly with just a few clicks. And, they can be saved and named appropriately to document activity across time. OZ Systems will be offering training for all Coordinators through a WebEx session very soon. Anticipate an email invitation from Lisa Payne soon and make plans to participate so these new reports can help with the completion of the School Readiness Certification System application process.
School Readiness for Children with Special Needs
Cathy Guttentag, Ph.D., & Sarah Cole, Ed.D.
One of the challenges teachers face is providing a stimulating curriculum geared toward Kindergarten readiness, while meeting the needs of individual children who may be coping with developmental challenges. “Developmental Challenges” may include disabilities, delays, or differences in areas such as: language, cognition, gross or fine motor skills, behavioral self-regulation, social interaction, or sensory impairments such as vision or hearing. continue reading article
Kudos to the Field
Many thanks to TEEM Temple for reminding us why we do what we do every day! This is a letter to Erin Brown, Temple ISD teacher, from a parent of one of the children in her class.
Ms. Brown,
I just wanted to give you kudos on whatever type of graphing you are doing at school. Sunday Isaiah drew a line down the middle of a sheet of paper to make two columns. He then wrote "Yes" on the left hand side and "No" on the right hand side. He then went around asking his family members if they were coming to his vegetable party or not. He then told them to write their name under the word yes or no. Me being the Math person, I was very amazed by this concept. Whatever you have done with the kids definitely stuck with him.
Thanks a million,
Adrian
 Activities for the Plants and Insects Theme Unit
Building classroom activities and materials around a thematic topic is a wonderful way to get children excited about learning and to connect the different areas of your curriculum in a meaningful, integrated way.
This month we are featuring activities that may give you additional ideas for the theme Plants and Insects.
Newsletter Questions?
If you have any questions regarding the newsletter, please contact Sonya Coffey at Sonya.Coffey@uth.tmc.edu |
March 2009
Calendar of Events
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February 27 SRCS Facility’s Report available online
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March 16 Texas School Ready! Project RFA available
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March 24 TEEM Coordinators will have access to data reports from OZ systems
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End of March SRCS Teacher Self Report will be available for all teachers.
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April 15- May 15 End of Year Assessment Window Open
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May 7 5:00pm CST TSR! Project RFA due to Children’s Learning Institute
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