Donate Training Calendar Finding Childcare

Blog

Written by Kayli Watson, Spring 2019 Communications Intern from UNC Chapel Hill

(From left to right) Chenille Coston, teacher at Little Engine Academy, and Kathy Smith, owner of Little Engine Academy, hold up their outdoor learning environment blueprints from Shape NC.

Health experts have always stressed eating healthy and being active. Instilling these values at an early age can be the first steps for a longer, healthier life for children. Children enrolled in child care may consume between 50 percent and 100 percent of their Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) while in care. Child care programs have a chance to provide the foundation for a healthy life, in terms of food consumption and levels of activity. Child Care Services Association (CCSA) has worked to create programs to help early care centers in multiple ways, including healthy eating and active play.

Shape NC

CCSA implemented Shape NC to increase the number of children starting kindergarten at a healthy weight. The project promotes healthy eating and active play for children from birth-5 years old by working with child care programs to instill healthy behaviors and create a solid foundation for a healthy life. Shape NC integrates multiple research-based models to provide an in-depth approach to childhood obesity prevention. It combines evidence-based programs to create a comprehensive approach in partnership with the following statewide programs: Be Active Kids®, Preventing Obesity by Design and the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self Assessment for Child Care (Go NAP SACC).

Little Engine Academy in Durham, N.C.

Like other centers, Little Engine Academy benefits from several of CCSA’s programs, including Shape NC. Kathy Smith, the center’s owner, shared how she became involved in early childhood education and created Little Engine Academy. “It was something I always wanted to do,” Smith said, “The previous owners contacted me to say that they were closing and to see if I was interested, and I jumped on the bandwagon thinking it would probably take a month to open. It actually took about three months.” While Kathy has been managing Little Engine Academy since November 2008, the center  has only been involved in Shape NC for a year.

Little Engine Academy is also working to add more healthy meals to their menus through various programs. “We like to talk to the kids about what they eat, explain where the food came from and why they should be eating it,” Smith said.

Outdoor Learning Environment

For Smith and the children at Little Engine Academy, one of the most exciting aspects of Shape NC is re-building their outdoor learning environment. “We’re part of the natural learning initiative,” Smith explained, “We’re super excited! That’s one of the things about being part of Shape NC [that is exciting as it] is helping us get to have what is called an outdoor learning environment versus a playground.”

The outdoor area is a space for children to strengthen their cognitive, social and emotional development through playing games with other kids in an environment in which they can explore and learn. Additionally, outdoor play helps kids’ physical fitness as well as sensory skills. Little Engine Academy is excited to create an area for their kids to not only learn and explore but garden and learn exactly how food is grown. In its third year, Shape NC is helping create these spaces for child care centers through funding and fundraising opportunities.

CCSA’s Other Resources for Little Engine Academy

Shape NC is not the only resource Little Engine Academy has used from CCSA. Chenille Coston, a teacher at Little Engine Academy, is also participating in a T.E.A.C.H. NC Early Childhood Scholarship as she works to obtain her master’s degree. There also employees who have received wage supplements from the Child Care WAGE$®️ Program. Both Coston and Smith talk about the value of professional development opportunities  they have attended. “For me, it’s been really awesome. It’s always good to learn more and they provide a lot of new information for us,” Smith said, “We’ve actually incorporated a lot of things they’ve given us.”

“The trainings [have] provided new strategies that we’ve been able to use in the classroom,” Coston said as she explained a recent strategy they have incorporated to teach the kids movement. The center also participates in CCSA child care scholarships that make attending Little Engine Academy more affordable for parents.

The Future at Little Engine Academy with Shape NC

Parents will continue to be more involved with Little Engine Academy as the school gets closer to its third year of participating in Shape NC. Little Engine Academy is looking for volunteers to help remove playground equipment to make room for the new outdoor learning environment, which they will start fundraising for this summer.

If you’re interested in volunteering with Little Engine Academy to remove their playground equipment contact Jennifer Gioia at 919-967-3272.

Learn more about Shape NC here or call us at 919-967-3272 for more information about the program.

To support the Shape NC project, click here and DONATE NOW! Your gift to fund Shape NC workshops and events in Durham, N.C. will be matched 100% through a Social Innovation Fund Grant.

Written by Marsha Basloe, President of CCSA

Dr. Walter Gilliam presenting Implicit Biases in Early Childhood Settings at the Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Institute 2019 Conference on March 11, 2019.

“Better Together” was the theme of this year’s Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Institute held in Greensboro, N.C. in March, and Mary Erwin recently shared details of the Institute. A highlight of this year’s conference was the keynote delivered by Dr. Walter Gilliam from the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale. This blog is to keep the keynote information on our minds and in our work.

Delivered in a “TED talk” manner, Dr. Gilliam shared his research on implicit bias with the audience and the implications research has on both policy and practice impacting the early childhood workforce and children in early learning settings.

What is Implicit Bias?

Webster’s dictionary defines it as “bias that results from the tendency to process information based on unconscious associations and feelings, even when these are contrary to one’s conscious or declared beliefs”.

What is the Relationship Between Implicit Bias and Early Childhood Settings?

Dr. Gilliam shared data from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights that found black boys in particular were disproportionately suspended or expelled from preschool. To learn more about whether this may be related to the behavior of the child or the perceptions of the teaching workforce, Dr. Gilliam and his team at Yale conducted a study.  Specifically, Dr. Gilliam wanted to see whether implicit biases may play a role in identifying children with challenging behaviors.

Video Observation Study

Dr. Gilliam’s team recruited participants at a nationwide conference of early childhood educators. Early childhood teachers were asked to watch several video clips of preschool children engaged in typical table top activities. The children were racially balanced (one white boy and girl and one black boy and girl). Early childhood teachers were told the study was related to better understanding to how teachers detect challenging behaviors in the classroom. They were told sometimes this involves seeing behavior before it becomes a problem and were asked to press the enter key on a computer keyboard every time they saw a behavior that could become a potential challenge. They were told the video clips may or may not contain challenging behaviors and to press the keypad as often as needed. In addition to the keypad entries, an eye tracking device was used to log the time teachers spent watching the behavior of individual children. (For frame of reference with regard to the children, they were child actors and no challenging behaviors were present).

Heat map related to study participants’ child behavior observations. (Photo Credit: Yale Child Study Center)

Results

Dr. Gilliam and his team found teachers spent more time looking at boys and at black children than girls and white children. In particular, teachers spent more time watching the black boy in the videos. When teachers were asked explicitly which of the children required most of their attention, 42% indicated the black boy, 34% indicated the white boy, 13% indicated the white girl, and 10% indicated the black girl. The race of the teacher did not impact the findings.

Background Information Study

A second part of the study was related to finding out if teachers were provided information about the child’s background, whether that impacted their perception of the severity of the behavior and their ability to impact the child’s behavior. For this part of the study, early childhood teachers were given a brief description of a preschool student with his or her behavioral challenges. The description of child behaviors remained the same, but the name of the child associated with the description changed to reflect stereotypical black and white girl and boy names (Latoya, Emily, DeShawn and Jake).

To test if teachers changed their perceptions of the child’s behavior when given a brief family background summary, some teachers were also given more context related to the child’s home environment (e.g., the child lives with a single mother working multiple jobs and who struggles with depression but doesn’t have resources to receive help; the father is barely around, but when he is around, the parents fight loudly in front of the children, and sometimes violent disputes occur). The study randomized whether the early childhood teachers received background information or not.

Results

Dr. Gilliam and his team found that teachers appeared to expect challenging behaviors more from black children and specifically black boys. Without family background, white teachers seemed to hold black children to lower behavioral expectations. In contrast, black teachers held black children to very high standards.

The provision of family background information caused different perceptions based on teacher-child race. For example, when black teachers were provided with family background information on black children, teachers rated child behavior as less severe. When white teachers were provided with family background information on black children, behavior severity ratings increased – potentially indicating knowing family stressors may lead to feelings of hopelessness that behavior problems can improve.

The Role of Implicit Bias in Early Childhood Settings

Dr. Gilliam explained that understanding the role implicit bias may play in child care and early learning settings is the first step toward addressing racial disparities in discipline approaches. He explained that interventions are underway throughout the country designed to address biases directly or increase teachers’ empathy for children (which paves the way for more effective strategies related to children’s learning styles and behaviors).

Progress in North Carolina

North Carolina is beginning to review and implement strategies to address implicit bias, give early childhood teachers strategies to promote more effective ways to address challenging behavior and to support high-quality child care programs through better teacher-child interactions.

For example, the Infant Toddler Quality Enhancement Project (ITQEP) provides technical assistance through the statewide CCR&R system to better support infant and toddler staff and to improve teacher and child interactions. Staff participating in the Healthy Social Behaviors project use the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) Pyramid Model to provide tiered support based on individual classroom needs.

We are exploring infant and toddler mental health consultant evidence-based approaches as well as the use of tools to improve teacher-child interactions through the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), which measures teacher interactions and is paired with specific improvement strategies identified through observational assessments. Overall, practice-based coaching models can impact teacher strategies to better meet the needs of children.

For more information on Dr. Gilliam’s research, check out this research brief and the work of the Yale Edward Zigler Center and Child Development and Social Policy.  

Written by Jennifer Gioia, CCSA Communications Manager

Former Gov. James Hunt (right) presents the James and Carolyn Hunt Early Childhood Leadership Award to winner Robin Britt (left), Executive Director of Guilford Child Development, at Child Care Services Association’s 45th Anniversary Celebration. (Photographer: Phil Thalheimer)

Last Friday, April 5, 2019, Child Care Services Association (CCSA) celebrated 45 years of service at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in RTP with a dinner, a silent auction and an award ceremony. While the rain poured, more than 200 people celebrated with CCSA. Many special guests joined, including:

  • The Honorable Governor James Hunt and Carolyn Hunt;
  • Susan Perry-Manning, principal deputy secretary of NCDHHS;
  • Durham County Commissioners: Wendy Jacobs, Heidi Carter, James Hill and Brenda Howerton;
  • Representatives Verla Insko from Orange County and MaryAnn Black from Durham County;
  • Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president for U.S. Social Impact at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street;
  • Janet Singerman, president, Child Care Resources Inc.;
  • Michele Rivest, policy director, North Carolina Early Education Coalition;
  • Cindy Watkins, president, North Carolina Partnership for Children;
  • Representatives from Orange County Partnership for Children;
  • Beth Messersmith from North Carolina MomsRising;
  • Becki Planchard from NCDHHS;
  • Gerry Cobb, Director of the Pritzker Children’s Initiative;
  • Robin Britt, executive director of Guilford Child Development (GCD) and this year’s winner of the James and Carolyn Hunt Early Childhood Leadership award;
  • And the Honorary Committee members who helped us launch this event.
Julie Wilson, ABC11 WTVD (Photographer: Phil Thalheimer)

We were thrilled to have Julie Wilson, ABC11 WTVD Eyewitness News’ Breaking News Anchor, host the celebration.

During the reception, many people mingled and placed bids on a variety of exciting items in our silent auction from local politicians to early childhood education teachers and directors to early childhood education industry leaders and experts.

Peggy Ball, chair of CCSA’s Board of Directors, spoke briefly before Reverend Dr. Michael Page, who also sits on CCSA’s board, delivered an inspiring invocation before dinner.

After dinner, Susan Perry-Manning, principal deputy secretary of NCDHHS, spoke on behalf of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Perry-Manning congratulated Britt as the winner of the James and Carolyn Hunt Early Childhood Leadership Award and thanked many in the room for inspiring her, including former Gov. Hunt for his leadership, dedication and commitment to improving the quality of child care and education in North Carolina and across the country.

Terry David, president of the North Carolina Head Start Association and Chapel Hill Training Outreach Project (CHTOP), Silver sponsor of the night, presented Britt with a certificate on behalf of the North Carolina Head Start Association for his years of dedicated service to improving the lives of so many children.

Sue Russell, CCSA’s first president and current executive director of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center, spoke about Gov. Hunt’s decades of leadership and service, including his four historic terms as governor of North Carolina, his efforts to improve North Carolina public schools’ test scores, the establishment of the Smart Start program during his tenure, and many awards recognizing his focus on early childhood education.

Former Gov. James Hunt speaking at CCSA’s 45th Anniversary Celebration. (Photographer: Phil Thalheimer)

Gov. Hunt emphasized how important the work of early childhood educators is for young children and their families and educators. Throughout his years, he’s seen with compassion and conviction, we can bring change to improve the lives of many and continue to expand our services so every child has access to high quality, affordable child care—that it is a child’s right to a high quality education. “Helping the little children is the best thing we can do for them and for our future,” Gov. Hunt said.

Gov. Hunt presented the James and Carolyn Hunt Early Childhood Leadership Award to Britt. CCSA established the award in 1995 to honor North Carolinians who make a difference in the lives of young children in the state. It was named in honor of Gov. and Mrs. Hunt for their years of dedication and service. He also recognized five of the 13 previous award recipients in attendance: Peggy Ball, Dick Clifford, Carolyn Cobb, Michele Rivest and Karen Ponder.

(From left to right) Carolyn Hunt, Robin Britt and Gov. James Hunt. (Photographer: Phil Thalheimer)

Gov. Hunt spoke about how he met Britt during his second term as governor while Britt served in the House of Representatives. He lauded Britt for his leadership, integrity, and care for North Carolina’s children.

Finally, CCSA President Marsha Basloe, spoke.

“I have only been at the helm of CCSA for a little more than a year,” she said, “and although in Durham for many years and an SS partner with CCSA, I now truly have learned of its programs, its passion and its people. All three go hand in hand…CCSA conceives, studies, experiments, implements and tests until we arrive at models worthy of system change. Now we know…there is no excuse for not providing high quality experiences for children.”

Basloe closed the evening by looking toward the future.

“We need to focus on improving the experiences being provided to our infants and toddlers,” she said. “We need to strive for our teachers to be adequately compensated for the work that they do—teachers need to receive a fair rate for the quality they provide regardless where they teach—and we need to make sure the support systems we have built for so many years remains in place to support all of these endeavors.”

CCSA wouldn’t be what it is today without the leadership and dedication of our staff, our first president, Sue Russell, our second president, Anna Carter, and our dedicated leadership team of vice presidents and Board of Directors.

We would not have been able to celebrate 45 years without our generous sponsors. Our sincere thanks to:

  • Chapel Hill Training Outreach Project,
  • Lakeshore,
  • Merchants Foodservice,
  • Triangle Community Foundation,
  • Blackman & Sloop,
  • The Cemala Foundation,
  • Budget Courier,
  • Illuminated Direction,
  • Kaplan Early Learning Company,
  • Alice Thorp,
  • White Rock Child Development,
  • Liz Winer and
  • an anonymous donor.

Thank you as well to our wonderful table sponsors for their support:

  • Richard Burton,
  • Daniel Hudgins,
  • Capital Bank,
  • Gerry Cobb,
  • Community School for People Under Six,
  • Durham County Government,
  • East Durham Children’s Initiative,
  • Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute,
  • Guilford Child Development,
  • North Carolina Early Education Coalition,
  • Orange County Partnership for Young Children and
  • Wake County Smart Start.

Thank you also to everyone who donated a silent auction item, to everyone who came out on a rainy Friday night to celebrate 45 years of service at CCSA and to everyone who helped, in some way, to improve the lives of North Carolina’s youngest children, their families and early childhood educators.

Here’s to another 45 years of Child Care Services Association!

Written by Mary Erwin, CCR&R Council Coordinator at CCSA

“When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.” 
― Ijeoma Oluo

  • Attendees enjoying the cocktail party.
  • Attendees enjoying the luncheon.

“Better Together!” That was the theme of this year’s 2019 CCR&R Institute held at the Greensboro Downtown Marriott on March 12th and 13th, and it was an opportunity to congregate, enjoy each other’s company, learn how to excel at our jobs, get rejuvenated and also to explore how implicit bias affects early childhood education.

Over 170 staff and 24 presenters from child care resource and referral, Smart Start, Frank Porter Graham Center, UNCG, SchoolHouse Connection, Self Help, the Salvation Army, the Abecedarian Education Foundation, MomsRising and many more gathered from every region across the state for the annual CCR&R professional development conference. Sponsors of the event included Kaplan Early Learning®, Lakeshore Learning®, Discount School Supply®, Teachstone®, The Greensboro Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and Self Help Credit Union. The NC CCR&R Council could not convene the conference without these corporate champions!

Dr. Kristi Snuggs

Conference highlights included:

  • ThinkBabies® Train the Trainer through the NC Early Education Coalition, Dr. Kristi Snuggs’ opening plenary speech about upcoming opportunities and positive changes at the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education and the terrific keynote and session from Dr. Walter Gilliam on implicit bias in early education!
  • Session attendees also learned about increasing access to subsidized child care for children experiencing homelessness and how to be a better advocate for babies and toddlers.
  • Technical assistance and professional development staff received training on helping child care providers understand and address children’s challenging behaviors and the benefits of coaching and mentoring when working with teachers in the classroom.
  • The impacts of family separation on immigrant families and processes to strengthen resilience among children was a popular subject.
  • Save the Children shared the unique needs of children in emergency situations and offered a continuing education credit on helping children cope with crisis and helping caregivers recover!
  • Paid family leave was a topic as well as using multicultural books in the classroom.
  • Community Self Help taught CCR&Rs how to help providers construct budgets that work in their favor as well as recognizing trends and formulating the true cost of child care.
Woolworth’s Lunch Counter

Tuesday night’s reception at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum welcomed approximately 100 conference attendees for a beautiful cocktail party and tour of the original Woolworth’s Lunch Counter where four NC A&T University students started the sit-in movement in 1960. The lovely event was catered by Guilford Child Development’s Regional CCR&R, sponsor of the event along with the Greensboro Convention and Visitor’s Bureau!

Dr. Gilliam

Dr. Gilliam leads The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University where research and policy analyses focus on early childhood development and intervention programs. During the keynote on Wednesday, attendees gained insight on how implicit biases affect nearly everything we do, even as early childhood professionals. The keynote address dug down to the core of so many of our current issues. Click here to see and hear Dr. Gilliam’s similar keynote address at Dayton’s Readiness Conference.

Quotes from the conference:

“You and the NC CCR&R Council team did a phenomenal job!”

“Great event. Good energy all around. You guys have it going on!”

“It was great working with you.”

“I thought I was in a TED Talk and I was going to vote for [Dr. Gilliam] for president!”

Jennifer Lacewell is the director of White Rock Child Development Center in Durham, NC. She is a recent master’s graduate thanks to CCSA’s T.E.A.C.H. NC Early Childhood Scholarship program, and as of March 2019, one of the newly chosen sites for the Durham PreK pipeline project. See her celebrate 45 years with CCSA this April 5th!

Learn more about CCSA’s 45th Anniversary Celebration here.

In celebration of 45 years, this March, Child Care Services Association (CCSA) will be sharing videos from early childhood care and education industry experts. Florianna Thompson is an instructor and Wake Tech and Adjunct Instructor at Durham Tech. Hear her story about how CCSA’s 45 years of service has helped her come full circle thanks to CCSA’s T.E.A.C.H. NC program.

Learn more about CCSA’s 45th Anniversary Celebration here.

In celebration of 45 years, this March, Child Care Services Association (CCSA) will be sharing videos from early childhood care and education industry experts. Our third video focuses on CCSA’s impact over these past 45 years on NC’s workforce, children and families as told by Anna Carter, the second president of CCSA.

Learn more about CCSA’s 45th Anniversary Celebration here.

2019 is an exciting year for CCSA as we’re celebrating 45 years of service! Before the big celebration April 5th, read the newest edition of CCSA Communicates, our quarterly newsletter that details what we have been up to on behalf of our youngest children.

 

 

Highlights from this edition:

  • Letter from the President
  • Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$
  • What to look forward to at CCSA’s 45th Anniversary Celebration
  • Durham PreK
  • Shape NC
  • Early Childhood Homelessness
  • And much more!

Read the newest edition of CCSA Communicates here!