National Head Start Association

Sign a Petition to Stop Sequestration!

In just a few days, on March 1, the Federal Government is scheduled to slash funding to domestic programs including Head Start and Early Head Start. A 5.1% annual cut will have to be absorbed during the remain seven months of the fiscal year. Following will be nine years of additional cuts totaling more than $1.1 trillion. This will be devastating to millions of at-risk children and families.

Go here and sign a petition sponsored by Community Action Works which will be sent to Congress and the President asking them to find a way to avoid sequestration.

Three National Organizations Issue Paper on Response to Intervention in Early Childhood

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the National Head Start Association (NHSA) announce the release of a jointly-developed paper, Frameworks for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood: Description and Implications, that promotes a broader understanding of and provides guidance on the relationship of response to intervention (RTI) frameworks to the unique contexts of early childhood.

All three organizations are nationally recognized for their work in promoting high-quality, developmentally appropriate teaching and related services that support every child’s optimal development and learning.

As the use of RTI increases in schools and early childhood education programs across the country, administrators and educators are asking for guidance about its use with young children. This joint paper provides clarification and guidance on the relationship of RTI frameworks to the unique context of early childhood programs serving children from birth until school entry, helps to dispel misunderstandings and misconceptions, and promotes a broader understanding and discussion of the topic.

DEC, NAEYC, and NHSA hope the paper will be a valuable resource to early childhood and special education professionals, family members, teachers, administrators, and other leaders in support of professional development, public policy, and advocacy efforts on behalf of the development and learning of young children. The paper may be downloaded here.

NHSA Academy Basic Family and Health Services Credential

Designed especially for Head Start family and health service providers, the Academy Basic Family and Health Services Credential program is a distance education, self-study course that offers an opportunity for family and health services staff to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in 12 competency areas based on the Head Start Program Performance Standards. Family and Health service workers and coordinators will reflect on their professional practice and gain insight into ways that Head Start services can be enhanced.

In addition, Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are offered to candidates who successfully complete the credential. Candidates can work at their own pace and are given a full six months to complete the course. There are no registration timelines, which means, registration is available year round!

For more information visit the NHSA Academy web page  or contact Carleen Kinlock at cwallingtonkinlock@nhsa.org or 703-299-7513

Family Service Advocates from NINOS, Inc. Head Start/Early Head Start, San Benito,Texas, proudly display their NHSA Academy Basic Family Services Credentials

Teachstone’s Free 2013 Webinar Series: The CLASS™ System – Practical Strategies for Improving Learning

Teachstone’s free 2013 webinar series offers you one-hour, in-depth presentations that demonstrate how the CLASS system can address educational challenges and goals. Join us as we kick off our series on Monday, February 25th at 2pm EST with an introduction to our newest professional development resource, the CLASS Discussion Toolkit. The Toolkit pairs the new CLASS Video Library Companion with the Video Library and CLASS Dimensions Guide to provide a roadmap for facilitating productive, meaningful discussions with teachers about pre-K and K-3 CLASS dimensions. During this webinar, we’ll provide a demonstration of how the CLASS Discussion Toolkit helps participants identify, understand and connect the effective interactions within our Video Library content to their own teaching practice. Register here.

Sign up for other upcoming webinars here, and be sure to check out the free recordings from our 2012 webinar series, “What Works and What Matters: Teacher-Student Interactions.”

Introducing the CLASS Discussion Toolkit

Build rich conversations around the teacher-child interactions that increase learning with Teachstone’s new CLASS Discussion Toolkit. The CLASS Discussion Toolkit provides access to authentic classroom videos and print materials—all focused on the interactions that help children learn and develop. Using the CLASS Discussion Toolkit, educators can facilitate productive, meaningful discussions about effective teaching and the pre-K and K-3 CLASS dimensions. The Toolkit includes:

• CLASS Video Library Companion - 1 facilitator discussion guide
  
• CLASS Video Library - 6-month subscriptions for facilitator and participants (1 facilitator subscription, 10 participant subscriptions)
  
• CLASS Dimensions Guide - booklets for facilitator and participants (1 facilitator guide, 10 participant guides)
  

Coming Up on February 20th: Human Resources Lifecycle in Head Start, a Head Start Legal Advisory Service Webinar

Check your employment operations. Attend the Head Start Legal Advisory Service’s upcoming human resources webinar, led by Zoë Beckerman of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, to learn about the Head Start employment relationship and how to maintain it on Wednesday, February 20th from 3-5 pm EST. This relationship can affect employee morale, so be sure to sign up for this webinar! At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

• Delineate pre-employment requirements, such as recruitment and selection procedures and health exams;
  
• Follow the hiring process, including steps and tips;
  
• Recognize best practices during employment, such as performance reviews and training/development; and
  
• Determine how to fire in Head Start, including learning the steps on “how to”.
  

Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, Head Start Directors, Human Resources Director and HR Personnel, but all are welcome to attend.

Coming Up on Wednesday, March 6th: Time & Effort Reporting and Cost Allocation from 3-5 pm EST. A Head Start Legal Advisory Service Webinar

Avoid significant cost disallowances. Attend the Head Start Legal Advisory Service’s upcoming webinar, led by Ted Waters of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, to learn about core elements of grants and common problem areas for Head Start programs on Wednesday, March 6th from 3-5 pm EST. We will share a sample timesheet, so be sure to sign up for this webinar! At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

• Identify requirements for Time and Effort reporting, including the 4 necessary elements for timesheets;
• Analyze common timesheet problems;
• Improve how your organization does cost allocation; and
  
• Justify why all of this should matter to you.
  

Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, Head Start Directors, CFOs, and others involved in planning or accounting activities, but all are welcome to attend.

The Head Start Legal Advisory Service is a collaboration between the law firm of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP and the National Head Start Association. Click here for the full schedule of Head Start Legal Advisory Service webinars, to learn about our new reduced pricing, and to register for either or both webinars.

2013 Professional Development Survey

Please take a moment to share your training needs with NHSA. Survey results will help us plan our major professional development events. The results will also be shared with our training partners to help them better customize their training and support.

Click here to complete the survey.