QUALITY ASSESSMENT SERVICES

Announcements andResources

Why So Serious?

Staff Feature: Laura

Dear Director: Advicefor an UpcomingColorado ShinesRating

Upcoming Changes

N E W S L E T T E R

CONTENT

July 2021 Vol. 3

Announcements & Resources

View From the Road: Mountains near Edwards. Photo by Sobia Khan,Quality Assessment Associate

CLAYTON EARLY LEARNING

We evaluate and offer feedback for early childhood programs across Colorado to provide high-qualityopportunities for children and families.

We are excited to welcome the first month of the new fiscal year! We are beginning to return to fieldwork againincluding Certified Playground Safety Inspections (CPSI) and plan to start CLASS training again this Fall. We alsolook forward to continuing many services virtually and providing a mixture of in-person and virtual offerings. Weare looking for volunteers that are willing to have two assessors visit their classroom(s) for Environment RatingScale, Third Edition observations for training and reliability purposes. This is a great way to practice the newscales and for teaching staff to earn points for Demonstrated Competencies in the Professional Development andInformation System (PDIS). If you are interested in volunteering complete this form.

Preschool Development Grant (PDG) funding through the federal government and our state partners has allowedus to continue offering free Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition training (ECERS-3, ITERS-3, FCCERS-3).When we return to the field for Colorado Shines Ratings, we will be using these newest editions of the scales, sodo encourage as many people as possible to take advantage of these free trainings. More information andregistration can be found here.

Staff FeatureLaura Lerner, Quality Advancement Specialist

I was a large center director who went through theColorado Shines Rating process twice, and now ama Quality Data Associate who reviews and scoressubmitted Colorado Shines documentation. Thebest piece of advice I can give to you is to planahead. Give yourself at least three to four monthsbefore your rating window starts to prepare yourdocuments, your classrooms, and your staff. Dividethe indicators into sections and start gathering thedocuments slowly. Breaking up the indicators andyour documentation into smaller, manageablechunks over time really helps.

The documentation piece of the Colorado ShinesRating has a lot of components. Reading the mostup-to-date evidence guide will provide you with allthe details you need. Be sure to remember there isa big difference between “and / or” when you arereading the evidence guide. Paying attention to thespecific language for each indicator and whatevidence is accepted really pays off. Communicateto your families and staff about your surveyquestions in terms of what they should expect andwhat practices your program already has in place.Make sure your handbook has the most updatedpolicies with dates on it. Please keep in mind youhave community-based resources available to you.Reach out to your council or coach for anyclarifications you may need.

Be kind to yourself, it takes time to get organizedbut give yourself grace because you can do it!

Dear Director:Advice for anUpcomingColorado ShinesRatingBy Sobia Khan

How long have you been on the team: 6 years total, but 2 years with the Advancement TeamFavorite food: Green chili with lots of cheese and tortillasFavorite college class you ever took: Cognitive Neuroscience. The brain is so fascinatingFavorite place in Colorado to travel to: This one is hard, because Colorado is so special and itreally has it all, but if I had to pick, I’d say Maroon BellsFavorite observation tool: ECERS-3. I think all of the new updates in it are so greatYour motto: Everything is "figureoutable"Why do you work in ECE? Our field is so important, but also a lot of fun Favorite children’s book: "Harold and the Purple Crayon" and its reminder thatimagination goes a long way

July 2021 Vol. 3

Visit our website

MSwayne@claytonearlylearning.org

Why So Serious?Ever wondered why assessors look so

serious when they visit your classroom?

The Environment Rating Scales state that assessorsmust "affect the environment as little as possible" and"try to keep a neutral facial expression so that childrenand / or staff are neither drawn to you nor concernedabout your response to them (Harms, Clifford, Cryer,2015, p. 8)." This is to ensure we disrupt you and thechildren as little as possible. Something as simple as asmile or laugh from the assessor could draw attention tothem and the child may want to come to say hi, want ahug, ask to play, etc. Neutral facial expressions lookdifferent for everyone, some look very serious and somecould even look unhappy. But, rest assured we are notunpleasant or unhappy... assessors love being in theclassroom and seeing all of the amazing efforts fromteachers and enjoy being around the children!

July 2021 Vol. 3

Connect with QAS

As we begin to return to the field, there are severalexciting changes coming this year!

Refreshed QRIS Framework for Colorado ShinesSince Fall 2019, the Office of Early Childhood has beenpartnering with the community and external QualityRating and Improvement System (QRIS) experts torefresh the existing framework. The main focus was toreduce provider burden related to documentationuploads (L3-5 indicators) and find new ways to collectthe evidence needed. While the main components ofthe framework remain the same, changes to theindicators, the way evidence is provided, and scoringapproaches are coming. Learn more in this fact sheet.

Launch of Environment Rating Scale, Third Editions We are very excited to launch the new editions of thescales! The third editions focus more on language andinteractions and less on materials present in theclassroom. They rely solely on the three-hourobservation, which means there is no teacher interviewafter the observation and there is no need to check thefull-day schedule. Did you know we will no longer belooking in drawers, in cabinets, or other closed spacesnot accessed and used by the children? Learn moreabout the third editions on our webpage.

New Services from Quality Assessment ServicesWe have three new training offerings: "Non-TraditionalGender Roles in Early Childhood," "The Benefits ofFree Play," and "Math is Here to Help." We have alsorevamped many of our existing trainings and servicesand are continuing to explore new services we canoffer. More information can be found here.

Upcoming ChangesBy Melissa Swayne