Coaching And Mentoring for Preschool (CAMP) Quality
Funding Source: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (a Head Start/University Partnership Grant)
Purpose: To improve the academic, social and emotional outcomes of Head Start children through addressing teacher behaviors and strategies that have been shown by research to be associated with gains in children's language development, academic performance and social & emotional development.
Result: The CAMP Quality professional development model consisted of ongoing workshops, classroom videotaping, teacher reflections, peer coaching, and mentoring. Workshop topics for teachers included emotional support, scaffolding children's language, children's thinking, and engaging thinking and learning in mathematics.
Professional development for mentors included how to use the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to score and then mentor teachers on their interactions with their students in regard to classroom climate, teacher sensitivity, regard for student perspective, behavior management, productivity, instructional learning formats, concept development quality of feedback, language modeling, and student engagement.
Finding: Camp Quality professional development activities led to teachers' increased ability to engage in interactions with children that have been associated with children's academic, social, and emotional development. Participation in CAMP Quality led to increased scores on all domains of the CLASS. Degreed and non-degreed teachers benefited from CAMP Quality to the same extent.
Click here to download the CAMP Quality 2010 Poster Presentation.
Empowering Preschool Quality (EPQ)
Funding Source: Iowa Department of Management, Office of Empowerment
Purpose: To develop video and web-based resources that illustrates the Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standard (IQPPS) and the Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) and how they can be used in professional development efforts across the state.
Result: The EPQ Project was developed to help early childhood professionals and trainers achieve ever higher levels of excellence. The site includes video examples of children and teachers in classroom settings that relate to specific
- Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS)
- Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards (IQPPS)
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards and Accreditation Criteria
- A page for Trainers with resources to support their work.
To view the EPQ website, click here.
Ramps and Pathways: A Constructivist Approach to Physical Science
Funding Source: National Science Foundation, DRK-12 grant
Purpose: To develop an approach to physical science curriculum for young children (pre-K though grade 2) that will result in improved science achievement, particularly among minority children and children from lo-income backgrounds.