Support & Vision of State Leaders A major goal of our model is to support and extend existing state personnel development efforts, in keeping with the assumption that creating long-lasting change requires maximizing the fit among new information, existing priorities and available resources. We ask each state to identify a group of stakeholders with power, resources and expertise related to early childhood and early intervention personnel preparation. This group includes state agency representatives, family members, faculty members from diverse disciplines and settings (community colleges, universities and technical schools) and community partners (e.g., practitioners, child care, Head Start). The group (known as a State Resource Planning Team/SRPT) is required to reflect the cultural diversity of the state. Together stakeholders identify their vision for preservice personnel preparation and the priorities for change that will be addressed in conjunction with the project. Our model requires collaboration and commitment from stakeholders to ensure that project efforts are woven into existing state initiatives and priorities. Also, project funds support the participation of state teams in a four-day training institute. Project funds do not, however, support the travel of team members to that institute. Through our priority for states to co-support the participation of their team we have been able to instill a shared commitment to teams that return to their states to try out new methods, models and materials. Needs Assessment (State & Individual)Project efforts are designed to respond to state and individual needs. At the state level, we use a one-day facilitated meeting to determine the priorities of stakeholders for changes in preservice personnel preparation. In addition, we gather information from stakeholders using a "Landscape" measure. The needs of the individual team members who will represent each state at the four-day training institute are assessed using a Participant Needs Assessment measure. We monitor the success of our efforts on an ongoing basis (see Evaluation and Monitoring). Infusion of Information and Activities to Meet NeedsA very successful feature of the model has been the intensive four-day institute. Each institute includes unusual learning opportunities such as:
Please click here for more information. Action Plan for ImplementationEach state team designs a plan for making progress on the priorities identified by the stakeholder group. In addition, each institute participant completes an individualized back home plan through which they identify personal goals for change. Follow-up Support During ImplementationFollow-up visits with each state, at points 6- and 12-18 months after the institute, create opportunities to discuss progress on state plans and to consider barriers and facilitators to continued change. Ongoing technical assistance from project staff, mini-grants, listservs and our web sites are other strategies that have helped to "keep the ball rolling". Evaluation & MonitoringOngoing evaluation has been a useful feature of the systems change model. We have developed strategies for documenting changes at systems, stakeholder and individual participant levels, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures. New
Research on Changing Preservice Systems Briefing
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FPG
Child
Development
Institute
The University of
North Carolina at
Chapel Hill