Committees

Coordinated School Health & Wellness

Sharon Ritchie, chair

GOAL

The committee will explore the several major areas of health including Safety, Infectious disease, Nutrition, Oral Health, Physical Activity, Staff Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health.

OBJECTIVES

1. Determine best practices in these major areas of health.
2. Provide a research base.
3. Integrate practices into the work setting and the curriculum.
4. Produce a position statement.

Instructional Practices and Curriculum

Sharon Palsha & Sharon Ritchie, chairs

GOAL

The committee will address curriculum and instructional design issues to provide seamless and cumulative learning experiences for children 3 to 8 years old.

OBJECTIVES

1. Specify a sequence of FirstSchool learning objectives.
2. Design a method of tracking individual progress through these objectives.
3. Draft a fidelity instrument.
4. Identify a set of published curricula resources that are compatible with the FirstSchool learning objectives.
5. Develop instructional strategies.
6. Review and make recommendations on the organizational features of FirstSchool.
7. Create a plan to partner with others to support children before they come to school, in their first 36 months of life.

Diversity

Virginia Buysse, chair

GOAL

The Diversity Committee will conduct activities that will contribute to the planning, development, and implementation of the FirstSchool Initiative in two major areas:

• Responsiveness to cultural and linguistic diversity in early childhood education and
• Inclusion of young learners with developmental disabilities, those at-risk for learning and behavioral challenges, and those with exceptional potential.

OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES

1. Review and synthesize current empirical and practice literature to gain a better understanding of the critical issues that must be addressed in providing a high-quality early education experience for young learners from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and those with diverse learning needs.
2. Develop a vision and guiding principles to promote early school success for diverse learners that are informed by the empirical evidence and the field's collective wisdom and values.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

1. Develop models that eliminate achievement disparities and result in positive developmental and educational outcomes for young children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
2. Develop models that promote universal design for learning with the goal of improving child and family outcomes through timely prevention, recognition, and pre-referral responses to diverse learning needs.
3. Establish a research agenda for identifying the most pressing questions and promising practices as they relate to serving diverse learners in FirstSchool.

Evaluation and Research

Ellen Peisner-Feinberg, chair

GOAL

The Research/Evaluation Committee will oversee evaluation and research activities related to the FirstSchool initiative.

OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES

1. Develop an overarching research and evaluation plan for the FirstSchool initiative, including both formative and summative evaluation activities.
2. Serve as the coordinating body for all research/evaluation proposals that are submitted on behalf of FirstSchool, in order to insure that they are consistent with the goals of the initiative and in alignment with one another.
3. Work with other committees to develop research/evaluation proposals and/or components of proposals relevant to the various content areas.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

1. Develop evaluation principles and guidelines.
2. Determine a core set of measures for a basic evaluation plan.
3. Develop a set of guidelines for logistical operations for research (e.g., plans for coordinating research proposals, processes for decision-making for future research requests).
4. Identify cross-cutting issues that affect evaluation (e.g., research population, facilities design).

Facilities

Sharon Ritchie, chair

GOAL

Plan, design and oversee the building of a state-of-the-art facility for the education and care of children 3 to 8 years old.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

1. Discuss underlying values for the development of the FirstSchool facility.
2. Make initial decisions about our vision and our process.
3. Determine helpful resources.

Families, Communities, and Outreach

Pam Winton, chair

GOALS

1. Build strong partnerships with families and other community members as a key component of the FirstSchool model, locally and nationally.
2. Communicate effectively the FirstSchool model, locally and nationally.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

1. Develop guidelines for how FirstSchool committees can meaningfully work with community members and families.
2. Review and give feedback on FirstSchool public documents.
3. Make recommendations for community and family members of other FirstSchool committees.
4. Review and give feedback on the FirstSchool communications plan.

Finance

Richard Clifford, chair

GOALS

1. Develop a business plan for operating the FirstSchool model site.
2. Determine a variety of means to obtain funding.
3. Develop a model business plan to help local and state agencies in other communities implement FirstSchool.

OBJECTIVES

1. Gather information on operations similar to FirstSchool that rely on multiple funding sources.
2. Develop an outline for the business plan for the local model site.
3. Obtain personnel support for this project.

Professional Development

Harriet Boone & Sharon Ritchie, chairs

GOAL

The Professional Development Committee will conduct activities that contribute to the support and growth of all staff.

OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES

1. Review and synthesize current thinking and practice on professional development for early childhood and elementary school teachers and related service professionals.
2. Develop pre-service and in-service models that are in concert with the vision and guiding principles of FirstSchool.
3. Pilot a professional development model to prepare novice and veteran teachers to work in FirstSchool with ongoing support for continued professional development.

IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES

1. Emphasize the development of practices addressing cohesive training and education for a continuum of learning and development for children ages 3-8.
2. Develop pre-service and in-service programs where a social justice agenda is an important component of teacher development.
3. Develop a professional development model that recognizes the interdisciplinary and interagency nature of early childhood services.

School Transitions

William Malloy, chair

GOAL

The Transition Committee will examine pract ices and relationships that enhance the early childhood transition process and lead to positive school outcomes for children 3 to 8 years old.

OBJECTIVES

1. Review and synthesize current research, models, and practices.
2. Identify complex socio-cultural factors that impact transitions.
3. Identify federal, state, and local policies that influence the transition process.
4. Explore governance issues at the strategic, coordinative, and operational levels of the transition process.
5. Create a transition plan that is sensitive to contextual influences.
6. Establish a research agenda for identifying, comparing, and validating the most promising practices.