Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

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Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Tennessee DHS: Director of the Child Care Certificate Program

The position of Child Care Certificate Program Director within the Family Assistance Division provides day-to-day administrative and technical leadership in the operation of the statewide Child Care Certificate Program for the Tennessee Department of Human Services and reports directly to the Families First Director.  Travel throughout the State may be required on occasion.  The office is located in downtown Nashville.

Skills I possess to meet requirements:

• Bachelors Degree
• Familiarity with the Tennessee Child Care Management System
• Familiarity with Tennessee Child Care Certificate Program policies
• Three years of formal supervisory experience
• Experience communicating and presenting information to large groups

As a former CCR Specialist in the state of Texas, I am very familiar with the certificate program which is designed to assist qualifying families with the cost of child care. Also as former child care director of a center that participated in the certificate program, I will be able to bring insight to the program about the financial gaps that exist with the certificate program such outdated cost of living factors.  I also enjoy disseminating information to groups of people, which is why I specialized in training adults.

Child Care Program Evaluator 2: After visiting the Tennessee.gov website I discovered that Applicant Services will not be available until Oct. 3, 2012. Fortunately I held on to this job description from when I applied for it three years ago. Primarily the role of the Child Care Evaluator 2 is to conduct quality of care assessments for child care facilities in the Davidson and Wilson County areas and assist other counties with assessments. Daily travel is required and on occasion overnight travel may be required.

         

Skills I possess to meet requirements:

• Strong writing, organization and documentation skills
• Proficient in basic computer skills
• Knowledge about child developmentally appropriate practice and classroom environments
• Possess strong interpersonal skills
• Possess organizational and time management skills
• Able to work in a flexible schedule
• Familiarity with the Environment Rating Scales (four internationally recognized instruments that measure child care quality). 

Objective/ Mission: The goals and objectives of the Child Care Evaluation / Report Card program are outlined by law. They are as follows, 1) to encourage and recognize quality child care programs, 2) improve the quality of child care in Tennessee, and 3) to provide support and information to parents seeking to secure quality child care for their children.

An interesting fact I learned was that initially the Assessment program only measured structural elements i.e., staff education and experience, the physical facility, ratios, and group sizes. But, the new Child Care Evaluation program measures both structural and process aspects of a child care program which includes measuring teacher –to-child and child to child conversations and other interactions; and the type of space, activities, and materials available to children.

The reason why I am interested in this position is because I will be able to impart valuable knowledge (developmentally appropriate practices) to early childhood professionals. In turn, the impact of helping early childhood professionals improves the work they do with children, families and each other. 

Literacy Coach
Martha O'Bryan Center

Position Description - Responsibilities and Requirements:

The Martha O'Bryan Center is a creative activist ministry serving over 4000 clients each year through early learning education, youth development, Work Ready job placement, family resource center community services and East End Prep K-5 charter school.

Our Early Learning Center contains 6 classrooms, with students from 6 weeks old to 4 and 5 year olds in our 3 Pre-K classrooms.  As the Literacy Coach, you will support teaching staff with literacy instruction coaching and implement literacy programs managed by partner agency United Way.

Skills I possess to meet requirements:

Bachelors degree and five (5) years related experience in Special Education, Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education or other related field; Master’s degree preferred 

Experience delivering training and formal presentations

Knowledge of best practices in emerging and pre-literacy instruction

Exceptional interpersonal and communications skills

Strong organization and planning skills

Proficiency with computers, including Microsoft Office and internet research

Meet DHS and DMR requirements prior to starting work.  This includes but is not limited to a criminal background check and CPR and first aid training

Mission Statement: The Martha O'Bryen mission statement is as follows,

“On a foundation of Christian faith, Martha O’Bryen center empowers children, youth, and adults in poverty to transform their lives through work, education, employment and fellowship.

My interest in this position is that I will be a part of a community of practice whose goal is to improve early child literacy skills. Also this role is that of a trainer which is what I love to do. Presenting researched information to the teachers will equip them to provide developmentally appropriate language and literacy activities to children in less affluent neighborhoods which is essential to bridging the educational gap between the affluent and those in poverty. 

According to Lepushcitz (2011), these jobs are examples of Bronfinbrenner's ecological exosystem because they have the potential to influence the lives of children, families, and early childhood professionals' in positive ways. The same holds true for negative influences as well which is all the more reason why early childhood professionals must pool their resources together to

 bring about social change. 

References

http://agency.governmentjobs.com/tennessee/default.cfm?&promotionaljobs=0&transfer=0

http://www.marthaobryan.org/jobs

Lepuschitz, J. K. (2011). Brofenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Laureate Education Inc., Baltimore, MD