OCDEL In Action
USDA CACFP Wellness Grants awarded to Pennsylvania child care centers
Through the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Wellness Grant, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Food and Nutrition is providing mini-grants to 200 child care facilities in Pennsylvania to implement the Pennsylvania Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (PA NAP SACC) intervention as a way to improve their nutrition and physical activity environments.
During the grant period, grantees will focus on activities that promote nutrition and physical activity in child care that reflect the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the most recent scientific knowledge; provide technical assistance and training to sponsors and providers of child care centers and family and group day care homes; perform outreach campaigns that increase access to the program in underserved areas and populations; and/or make innovative use of technology to provide training to sponsoring organizations and child care providers.
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) plays a vital role in improving the quality of child care and in making care more affordable for low-income families. Through CACFP, more than 3.3 million infants and children and 112,000 adults nationwide receive nutritious meals and snacks each day.
For additional information, please see the list of the 200 child care centers receiving CACFP Wellness mini-grants.
Free On-line Course relating to Emergency Preparedness for Child Care Providers
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers free on-line independent study courses relating to disaster management. The course, Multihazard Planning for Child Care, is designed to help child care providers better prepare for emergency situations that may occur in their community.
This course covers the steps to help childcare providers prepare for incidents to ensure the safety of the children at their site. This course is free and is available to child care providers.
Although child care providers are not required to take this course, it may be used to meet the staff training required by the child care regulations and is acceptable for Keystone STARS facilities and 0.2 CEUs are awarded for successful completion of the training.
The course can be accessed by visiting the FEMA website.
Notice of Changes to DPW Website regarding the Child Abuse History Clearance Form
A recently revised Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (CY113) is available on the Department of Public Welfare’s website.
The revised form has a new form number (CY113 (UF) 6/11). This number is located in the bottom right hand corner of the form. In addition, the revised form is now data enterable; meaning that information can be entered directly into the form. However, if the person completing the form does not have a licensed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader on their computer they will not be able to save the form on their computer with all of the information they’ve entered onto the form. Instead, the person completing the form must print the form immediately after entering their information. If an individual attempts to save the form after entering all of their information onto the form, their information will be lost.
Some other changes to note:
- Form is now available in English and Spanish with both forms being data enterable.
- Purpose of clearance section includes more refined options from which to choose such as:
- Child care services employee
- Foster care
- Adoption
- School Employee
- Employment with a significant likelihood of regular contact with children
- Volunteers
- DPW Employment & Training Program participants
- Instructions for completing the form are now attached to the form so when the form is printed the instructions will print with it.
The old form will be accepted until April 1, 2013. If you have any questions about the new form, please contact Terry Clark at teclark@pa.gov or 717-214-9545.
Photo ID required for November 2012 Election
Those voting in the November 2012 election will be required to show a photo ID before voting at a polling place. All photo IDs must be current and contain an expiration date, unless noted otherwise. Acceptable IDs include:
- Photo IDs issued by the U.S. Federal Government or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
- Pennsylvania driver’s license or non-driver’s license photo ID (IDs are valid for voting purposes 12 months past expiration date)
- Valid U.S. passport (not expired)
- U.S. military ID - active duty and retired military (a military or veteran’s ID must designate an expiration date or designate that the expiration date is indefinite). Military dependents’ ID must contain an expiration date
- Employee photo ID issued by Federal, PA, County or Municipal government (not expired)
- Photo ID cards from an accredited public or private Pennsylvania college or university (not expired)
- Photo ID cards issued by a Pennsylvania care facility, including long-term care facilities, assisted living residences or personal care homes (not expired)
If you do not have one of these IDs and require one for voting purposes, you may be entitled to get one free of charge at a PennDOT Driver License Center (DLC). If you plan on voting by absentee ballot for the November 2012 election, you will need to provide proof of identification. To find the DLC nearest you, what identification and residency documentation you will need to get a photo ID, how to vote if you have a religious exemption to having your photograph taken, what identification you need to vote by absentee ballot, or for general information, visit www.VotesPA.com or call 1-877-VotesPA (1-877-868-3772).
No one legally entitled to vote will be denied the right to do so. If you do not have a photo ID or are indigent and unable to obtain one without payment of a fee, you may cast a provisional ballot, and will have six days to provide your photo ID and/or an affirmation to your county elections office to have your ballot count.
Trends and Reports
Joint Position Statement on Technology and Interactive Media Released
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media released a new position statement, Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8.
The statement is meant to provide research-based guidance to all those who care for young children as they consider if, when and how to use technology and interactive media in early childhood programs (schools, centers, family child care) serving children from birth through age 8.
Key points made in the release are
- All screens are not created equal. The challenge for early childhood educators is to make informed choices that maximize learning opportunities for children while managing screen time and mediating the potential for misuse and overuse of screen media, even as these devices offer new interfaces that increase their appeal and use to young children.
- The appeal of technology can lead to inappropriate uses in early childhood settings. Technology should not be used for activities that are not educationally sound, not developmentally appropriate, or not effective.
- There is conflicting evidence on the value of technology in children’s development. Research findings remain divided and therefore can be confusing to educators and parents. There are some educationally valuable television shows, websites, and other digital media, and there are some that are less valuable or even educationally worthless.
- Issues of equity and access remain unresolved. The potential of technology and interactive media to positively influence healthy growth and development makes it important for early childhood educators to carefully consider issues of equity and access when they select, use, integrate, and evaluate technology and media.
To read the full statement, please visit the NAEYC website.
Connection between early elementary performance and attendance in Pre-K setting
A recent study, Early Elementary Performance and Attendance in Baltimore City Schools’ Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, conducted by the Baltimore Education Research Consortium found that prekindergartners and kindergartners who are chronically absent are more likely than regularly attending students to continue to miss school in later grades and to be held back by grade 3.
Researchers followed nearly 3,400 students enrolled in pre-K in 2006-2007; nearly 6,400 kindergartners enrolled in 2007-2008; and almost 4,100 kindergartners enrolled in 2008-2009. The students were followed through 3rd grade, when students take state standardized assessments. The study found that one-half of early learners who were chronically absent in pre-K and kindergarten continued to miss as much school the following year. More than a quarter of those chronically absent children were retained by grade 3.
The study noted that Head Start students maintained better attendance records when compared with children who shared similar demographic characteristics. Also noted was that a child's family plays an important role in determining whether students get to school. Next steps for researchers are to use these findings to identify barriers and challenges that families face in getting kids to schools regularly and what can be done to help.
For more information, please visit the Baltimore Education Research Consortium website.
More Trends and Reports
In The News
2012 Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s TYLENOL National Child Care Teacher Awards Recipients Announced
The Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation (TLLCCF) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2012 Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s TYLENOL® National Child Care Teacher Awards. These exemplary early care and education teachers were selected from a pool of applicants nationwide and will receive an award of $1,000 on Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 8:00pm at a special ceremony at Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, PA.
There were a total of 52 National Child Care Teacher Award recipients for 2012. Applicants designed an enhancement project that is educationally, socially and emotionally beneficial to the children in their care. This year for the first time a military child care provider is a top ten finalist.
Pennsylvania Award Recipients included: Tasha Amole (Royersford), Lorna Barbour (Philadelphia), Amy Barshinger (York), Megan Jarrett (New Kensington), Janice Killen (Pittsburgh), Kristy Kitching (York), Natasha Kitt (Wallingford), Kathryn Knight (Exton), Kira Marcy (Norristown), Janiya McCray (Philadelphia), Jessica Saggese (Philadelphia), Kelly Seidel (Pottstown), Serena Spearman (Philadelphia), and Cathy Stemple (Norristown).
For more informaiton on this award, visit the Terri Lynne Lokoff website.
Three Pennsylvania Communities participating in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Network
Three Pennsylvania Communities—Greater Lehigh Valley, Pittsburgh and Reading—will participate in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Network, submitting ambitious and sustainable plans to get students on track for grade-level reading by the end of third grade. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaborative effort by dozens of funders and nonprofit partners across the nation to ensure that more low-income children succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career, and active citizenship. The Campaign focuses on the most important predictor of school success and high school graduation—grade-level reading by the end of third grade.
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has targeted three challenges to students’ reading success that are widespread, consequential, and amenable to community solutions:
- The Readiness Gap: Addressing that children from low-income families are less likely to be read or spoken to regularly or to have access to books, literacy-rich environments, high-quality early care, and prekindergarten programs.
- The Attendance Gap (Chronic Absence): Addressing that too many children from low-income families miss too many days of school, missing out on learning opportunities.
- The Summer Slide (Summer Learning Loss): Addressing that too many children lose ground over the summer months and do not have access to the enriching activities available to more-affluent peers. These children may lose as much as three months of reading comprehension skills over the summer.
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading network will provide access to experts, policymakers, and foundations investing in early literacy. Plans for these communities may also serve as applications for the All-America City awards, which will be announced by the National Civic League in July. For more information about the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, please visit their website.
In the Community
April events hosted to highlight Week of the Young Child
Throughout the month of April, families, child care providers, schools and supporting organizations will be hosting events to highlight Week of the Young Child as a time to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.
Since 1971, one week in April has been celebrated nationally as Week of the Young Child. Events throughout Pennsylvnia are planned throughout April. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is holding its annual Week of the Young Child celebration from April 22 through April 28. This year’s theme is “Early Years Are Learning Years.” To find activities in your community to participate in this celebration, please visit the PA's Promise for Children website.
There's still time to order your PA One Book!
Child care programs, schools, organizations and community groups still have time to order the PA One Book, Stop Snoring, Bernard! by Zachariah OHora. This book covers the themes of zoo life, many different animals, and friendship as the 2012 selection of an award-winning program to promote early literacy.
Although each Pennsylvania Commonwealth library has a copy of the PA One Book, books are available for a limited time to purchase through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries. To purchase the book, please see the order form, or visit the PA One Book website.
In the words of PA One Book author, Zachariah OHora
Have you read the PA One Book, Stop Snoring, Bernard!? Now you can read the behind-the-scene experiences of author, Zachariah OHora by visiting his blog, Fuzzytown. Share the experiences with OHora as he travels Pennsylvania visiting libraries, child care providers and schools. Discover scheduled events where you can meet the author and get signed your copy of the PA One Book. Can't get enough of OHora's snappy writing? Find out what other books he has available.
For more information, visit the Fuzzytown website. For information about the PA One Book program, visit the PA One Book website.
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