Let's talk about Professional Development!

As early childhood and school-age professionals, we work to provide the best possible opportunities for the children and families we serve. We create nurturing environments that promote holistic development and prepare educators with skills and strategies to set them up for success. Coaching has emerged as an invaluable tool in achieving these goals, offering tailored support through partnership between coach and educator.…

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I often support program leaders with their individual and organizational professional development tracking during my workday. In one particular instance, I assisted the Education Director of a relatively large Head Start program. With roughly 35 classrooms, they frequently offered many in-service trainings for their staff. Imagine how overwhelmed this director felt as she contemplated the various ways of documenting such trainings within The Aspire Registry; the sheer amount of time and energy needed to accomplish the task seemed daunting. Now imagine how liberated this director must’ve felt when I told her there was actually a more beneficial and easier way to use The Aspire Registry through Training Approval.…

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Does this sound familiar? You are the director of a QUALITYstarsNY program and are reviewing your Aspire Staff Training Summary Report, only to notice that many of your staff members have not received training credit in key QUALITYstarsNY standards. As you consider what to do next, the program phone rings. You pick up the phone, making a mental note to follow up with your Quality Improvement Specialist later. All too often we see this scene play out…

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It’s 12:30 pm. The children have eaten lunch and are settling in for nap time. A quiet hush cascades over the center as staff quietly move about over the steady hum of little ones sleeping. As you are on a break you think this would be a perfect time to sign up for training, but where should you look? You don’t have a lot of time to scour a bunch of different websites for training that counts. Oh, if only there was a place you could go to find what you need… If you have ever found yourself in this situation, then you know just how frustrating it can be. The good news is such a place does exist. Allow me to introduce you to the New York State Training Calendar…

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