WINTER 2008
NBC Trainers
PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES::
Contact: Gail Mahr
651-290-9704 ext. 200
Not by Chance:
Contact: Gail Mahr
651-290-9704 ext. 200
Ounce Scale MN Child Care Project
Contact: Mary Scott
651-433-2182
Surge Support Child Care Project
Contact: Julie Wasiluk
651-290-9704 ext. 119
Contact: Cory Woosley
651-746-4024
Not By Chance Updates
The information below is an excerpt from an email sent to all
Not By Chance Trainers in November 2007:
With the recent release of the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS), which the authors are calling a “thorough revision,” there have been significant changes from the FDCRS, which you have been using for Not By Chance trainings. The Professional Development Department at the Network is currently assessing whether standardized curriculum revisions are deemed necessary, as well as whether there are funds to support this work. If a revised curriculum is developed, we will make that available to you. In the meantime, those NBC trainers who teach the Quality in Practice for Family Child Care class should examine the two documents (FDCRS and FCCERS) and make note of the changes. Trainers, please review the training manual for this course, and take time prior to your course to prepare to reference these document changes in your training. You will need to make some decisions about how you will adjust the training curriculum to reflect the new, revised document.
For your reference, here are the major changes you will see in the new book:
The revised edition:
- Accommodates the wider age range often found in family child care programs.
- Contains an expanded focus on sensitivity to cultural and socioeconomic diversity.
- Has incorporated the special needs of exceptional children to the main scale items and indicators.
- Includes additional subscale called "Program Structure."
- Includes an expanded score sheet with space and forms to collect specific information needed for accurate scoring.
- Has a new layout, with each item on a separate page along with the “Notes for Clarification” and “Questions.”
Your ideas will benefit your trainer colleagues as well as
providing valuable input for a revised NBC curriculum.
Thanks to Marcia Schlattman and Katy Chase for sharing
their ideas and work on this—I hope I haven’t left anyone
out (apologies, if so!).
NEXT STEPS: At our Not By Chance Trainer Meeting (which will take place at the 2008 Winter Jam-o-Rama) we are asking trainers to participate in a work session to revise and update the Not By Chance training curriculum to reflect the new FCCERS. Please bring to this meeting any ideas, forms, overheads, Power Points and/or written material you may have developed in order to deliver the NBC trainings for FCCERS. We will work as a group to determine content and the scope of the revision. The Network will format, print and distribute the new materials to all trainers. This meeting represents a chance to contribute to the trainer and provider communities in a way that will touch many. We hope you are excited to join us!
Parent Aware Ratings: A Reminder for Not By Chance Trainings
The Not By Chance training curricula originally mentioned the “QRS”, which was the correct language when NBC was developed. Now that we have a quality rating system pilot—Parent Aware—up and running, remember to use the updated language in NBC trainings. Parent Aware literature—beautiful color brochures—are available. Each CCR&R site received 200 when they first came out, and Not By Chance trainers were also mailed a supply of the flyers in November. Even though many of you aren’t currently in the pilot areas, it’s still good practice to include information about the rating system in your NBC trainings. This practice represents an important way in which we can help providers across the state prepare for a statewide system. The adoption of quality rating systems is a national trend and we’re proud to be a part of the progress here in Minnesota. For those of you who prefer the Internet, you can read about the Parent Aware Rating System on our Web Site, www.mnchildcare.org, or you can go directly to the Parent Aware Web Site, www.ParentAwareRatings.org. For more flyers, contact Tina Newville-Lines at the Network.