News You Can Use Week of July 18 2011
Listen to Administration Officials Discuss the RTTT-ELC Grant Competition
Joan Lombardi from the Department of Health and Human Services, Jacqueline Jones, from the Department of Education, and Roberto Rodriguez from the White House discuss the ins and outs of the Race to the Top Early - Learning Challenge on BAM Radio.
NHSA Submits Comment on the proposed RTTT-ELC application and grant award criteria
Last week, the Department of Education released a draft of proposed requirements for the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge application and grant award process, and requested public input. Guided by input from the Head Start community, NHSA submitted comments on the proposed requirements. Thanks to those of you who provided your own input on the Department of Education's blog!
Click here to read NHSA's comments.
U.S. Department of Education Releases 2011 Promise Neighborhoods Grant Application
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education released the application for the second phase of the Promise Neighborhoods program, including new implementation grants and a second round of planning grants, totaling $30 million. Nonprofits, institutions of higher education and Indian tribes are eligible to apply for funds to develop or execute plans that will improve educational and developmental outcomes for students in distressed neighborhoods.
Calling All Directors!
NHSA has created a new way for you to hear and discuss the latest news, share ideas and resources, and follow state, regional and national events of specific interest to Head Start and Early Head Start Directors. Join the eCommons Head Start/Early Head Start Directors Network!
How? Go to www.NHSA.org and look for the eCommons link at the bottom of the home page. Follow that link and you will see the main page of eCommons - click "Request Access to eCommons."
Be sure to tell us what State you program is located in and your email address in your request. We will sign you up immediately and also place you in your state's network!
New Dialog Brief on Immigration and Diversity
In this Dialog Brief, Olivia Golden of the Urban Institute contributed a paper titled, "Head Start and the Changing Demographics of Today's Young Children," and Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Professor of Education and Academic Dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, wrote "Immigrants Raising Citizens: Undocumented Parents and Their Young Children's Development."
Click here to read the latest Dialogue Brief.
YOU THOUGHT IT HERE FIRST! New Ideas to Meet New Challenges
Don't miss these extraordinary training events, scheduled the day before and the day OHS's First National Birth to Five Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C.
October 2, 2011 - October 6, 2011
Washington, D.C.
October 2 Skills Institutes
Go Green Head Start!
Head Start agencies can Go Green to improve the environment and children's health, while saving critical funds! Work with national experts in early education facilities, learn to use proven tools to advance maintenance strategies, and learn from peers who are seeing results every day from green strategies.
What Do They Hear You Saying? Communications in The Real-Time World
Work with nationally renowned media and communications professionals who also have Head Start experience. Take away cutting-edge skills and knowledge in media relations, crisis communications, innovative marketing strategies, and social media. This Institute includes extensive hands-on social media work.
Connections for Success: Ready, Set, Go!
Join a group of practitioners from the Head Start community who have been building a tool that aligns the Framework and Common Core Standards for K. You will take away specific strategies, tools, and knowledge to support your work with LEAs to improve children's transitions to public schools.
October 5: Celebrating Head Start's Window of Opportunity for Young Children and Families
This evening reception, hosted in one of Washington's primier destinations, will be unforgettable. Come and celebrate Head Start Month. We will celebrate the vitality of our community and the Window of Opportunity Head Start is for millions of vulnerable children and families.
October 5, 6: Policy and Advocacy Institute
For a change of pace, we're offering a special Advocacy-Half-Day-on-the-Hill followed by two concurrent full-day tracks. The Early Childhood Policy Track will focus on broad policy developments and their long-term implications for Head Start. The Head Start Advocacy track will grapple with why it is the responsibility of everyone involved with Head Start to engage in keeping this window of opportunity open for every child. It will also provide hands-on training to use tactics from proven models of successful and innovative advocacy.
The policy track will explore:
- The 2012 Federal Budget;
- Emerging opportunities, such as the new home-visiting programs, and the Race-to-the-Top Early Learning Challenge grants;
- Workforce Development, and
- Innovative strategies, such as the Birth-to-Eight movement, and data/assessment systems development.
The advocacy track will engage participants in:
- The Latest Legislative News;
- Advocacy Do's and Don'ts for Head Start Parents, Staff and Directors; and
- Effective Tactics Made Easy.
To visit the conference website, click here.
To register, click here.
28th Annual NHSA Parent Training Conference - Save the Date
NHSA's Annual Head Start Parent Conference is the only national parent conference that delivers high-quality training and educational opportunities to Head Start parents and those who work with or on behalf of parents. This year's conference will be Held in New Orleans, LA, December 9-13. Mark your calendars now!Go to the Parent Conference Web Site...
Head Start's 11th National Research Conference - Call for Presentations
June 18-20, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., this event features plenary sessions, symposia, poster symposia, conversation hours, posters, and informal events. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, in conjunction with the Office of Head Start, is sponsoring this national research conference.
The goals of the conference are to identify and disseminate research relevant to young children (birth to 8 years) and their families and to foster partnerships among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. The conference focuses especially on research relevant to the low-income families who are Head Start's service population.
The theme of the 11th Conference is fostering young children's success in learning and coping. Children and families in Head Start reflect the increasing diversity of our nation and the need to understand the nuances of diverse development, including what is universal and what is context-specific. The conference program strives to present culturally sensitive perspectives regarding at-risk populations. Studies involving diverse settings, communities and contexts within multicultural and multi-national frameworks particularly enrich the research base. The 2012 Conference will present the latest work that examines the deeper layers of contexts and processes that foster young children's success.
Click here to visit the conference website.
Legal Advisory Service: Summer Sale
Right now, you can get $100 off the Head Start Legal Advisory Service's on-demand training webinars. Each webinar is 2 hours long and can be watched an unlimited number of times for 30 days. The on-demand webinars are regularly $250 for NHSA members and $275 for non-members. During this sale, they are only $150 for NHSA members and $175 for non-members!
Led by Ted Waters and Zoë Beckerman, these webinars are a collaboration between Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP and the National Head Start Association, these webinars are designed with programs like you in mind
View and register for our on-demand programs here: HeadStart.PeachNewMedia.com
And don't forget about our Back-to-School Special. This Special allows you to purchase 5 LIVE webinars for the price of 4.
See HeadStart.PeachNewMedia.com for details.