DENVER - Ranking 35th may not sound like much to cheer about, but for Colorado it's a marked improvement in the state of child care over past years.

The Child Care Aware "We Can Do Better" 2013 rankings are out today, and Colorado has moved from being one of the worst states in the nation as recently as 2011 to 35th overall.

Gladys Wilson, president and chief executive of Qualistar Colorado, said Colorado is one of only 13 states nationwide to do comprehensive background checks on child-care workers. The state fully meets national standards for child-care center health and safety as well as access to inspection reports and information on staff credentials.

"I know this is not an easy fix," she said. "The important thing to remember is these are basic standards, and we certainly want to continue to making licensing standards even better."

The report finds Colorado failing in the size and number of staff in classrooms, caseloads for state inspection workers and in the frequency of those inspections.

The recommended caseload is 50 centers for each inspector, Wilson said, which would allow for quarterly visits. In Colorado, the ratio is 140 to one - and that means inspections take place once every two years.

"As the revenue forecasts get better and better," she said, "this would be a great place for us to talk about investing some of those dollars so that that staff has a reasonable caseload."

The 2014 presidential budget plan released Wednesday offers some ways for Colorado to solve those problems. It includes block grants to states to improve monitoring of and access to preschool programs.

The full report is online at naccrra.org.


get more stories like this via email

The Beaverton School District is blazing a trail in early education through bilingual learning labs, which emphasize playful inquiry and habits of mind.

School officials said the Early School Success initiative is designed to showcase the power of early learning and help make the case for expanded public investment in preschool.

Monique Singleton, principal at Vose Elementary in Beaverton, said the program helps children, many from immigrant families, successfully adjust to their new surroundings.

"I think the important part about the inquiry work that we're doing with Children's Institute, and I've talked about this with other principals and teachers, is that I think it's really important just to be exploring and listening to your community and be able to explore it," Singleton explained.

Vose Elementary hosted a learning lab earlier this week, showing participants in the district the transformative work the school is doing to improve outcomes for students and the community. The goals for the event were to hold space to nurture cross-district relationships and collaboration.

Singleton noted the emphasis is on teaching children life skills to help them cope with complex emotions and situations they either face at school, at home or both.

"The goal is to help them feel honored with a sense of belonging and a sense of safety around our emotions and a sense of identity," Singleton pointed out. "So they don't feel like they have to shut down a part of themselves in order to be successful at school."

Vose's faculty and staff are hands-on leaders who model empathy, learn alongside their staff, and consistently message the need for playful inquiry as an equity stance, Singleton added. They aim to provide children at Vose the same kind of learning experiences one might expect at an elite private school.


get more stories like this via email

Parents may wonder when is the right time to give a child a cell phone or tablet, or how can they help their kids stay safe online. The National Parent Teacher Association is partnering with AT&T and schools to answer those questions and more at 200 events in schools across the U.S. The latest workshop happens tonight at Palmer Way Elementary in National City.

Zayetzy Carrillo is vice-president of the Palmer Way Elementary PTA.

"In our school district, every child, they all get a tablet or a Chromebook to do homework. And even though the school district has firewalls on it, you get a different Wi-Fi - they might encounter items that are not safe, and it's just to have the parents aware, " Carrillo said.

The program is called Ready, Tech, Go! A Screen Readiness Workshop for Families. The workshop brings parents and caregivers together for meaningful peer-to-peer discussions about ways to promote healthy and responsible device use.

Carrillo said children often make incorrect assumptions about who they're talking to.

"You have to tell them that even though you think these are kids your age that you're speaking to or they tell you that, you haven't seen them personally so you don't know who they really are. We tell them not to give them personal information," Carrillo explained.

The workshop also explores various aspects of screen readiness, and how to have that discussion as a family. According to the American Community Survey, 97% of children ages 3 to 18 have internet access at home via computer or smartphone.


get more stories like this via email

An increase in child-care subsidy reimbursement rates up to 58% of market rate is being hailed as a big win for providers in Missouri.

Sarah Gould is the early-childhood director for Community Support Services of Missouri, which primarily cares for children with special needs in Jasper County.

She said the rate increase, which was signed in June by Gov. Mike Parson, helps families be able to afford child care.

"There's more stability for them," said Gould, "and they're able to use those resources that they would have put in child care to pay for additional utility costs or food costs, because we know those have all gone up in the last several years."

American Rescue Plan stabilization funds and some emergency aid through Congress for early-childhood education expired at the start of October, and Missouri child-care providers are looking for long-term solutions.

Missouri often is referred to as a state with many child-care deserts, and any loss of subsidies can be straining.

Casey Hanson, director of outreach and engagement for Kids Win Missouri, said it's important to come up with permanent solutions.

"So there's a little bit more relief money that will get pumped into the system," said Hanson, "but a lot of those opportunities that providers have used to keep their doors open over the last couple of years are going away. And that's why we're so focused on making sure that as a state, we're making investments that are more sustainable."

Hanson said it's important for families and parents to talk to elected officials and leaders about the needs for reliable, safe child care and also for child-care providers to be vocal about the impact of rate increases and how it helps their organizations.