Ready Professionals Programs
Kindergarten Transition Services – School Districts and SELF partners develop Kindergarten Transition Plans and implement services that will address social, emotional and cognitive needs of preschool children. Services include home visits, early literacy programs and social events. Discovery kits, loaned to parents and providers, contain books, manipulatives, puppets, music, cassettes and compact discs, videos and DVDs.
System Integration – A set of Ready Schools Standard Operating Procedures (RSSOP) will be developed through community-wide forums and discussions. Elements of the RSSOP will include a standardized definition for school readiness that will inform curriculum and instruction, engage parents and providers early in the transition process and coordinate professional development opportunities for early care and learning providers, kindergarten teachers and other public school staff.
Unified Assessment Design – A unified assessment plan will be developed by Washington State University Vancouver to suggest the benchmarks and tools needed for alignment of early learning assessment with screenings, kindergarten baselines and progress monitoring. In addition, the plan will identify current barriers to implementation and propose steps for overcoming these barriers.
Family Childcare Enhancement – Lead Agency Educational Service District 112 (ESD 112) will increase the quality of early learning care so that children thrive in positive environments. The effort will expand current family home child care and strengthen professional development through better access to higher education opportunities. The goal is to double the number of involved home-based child care providers to 61, serving approximately 600 children.
School Readiness System Development Project – Lead Agency ESD 112 will involve 25 stakeholders to develop a set of early learning public school transition procedures and a unified assessment design involving public school districts. The result will be an integrated system that helps parents to understand school readiness expectations, and aids caregivers and educators to work effectively together.
Community of Security – Training clinicians, social workers and other professionals in the Circle of Security and Center on Infant Mental Health and Development approaches infant mental health and attachment and increased community understanding about infant mental health. The Lead Agency is Columbia River Mental Health Services.