US Department of Health & Services
1) Head Start | ECLKC (Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center)
This website provides important websites of federal websites under the Department of Education and Administration for Children and Families (ACF). In addition, it includes national organizations. They provide a lot of websites that I would like to further look into.
2) American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Website: https://www.aft.org/our-community
“Our MISSION….The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do” (AFT, n.d.)
I believed this was a very important organization to have because they are partnered with resources that provide low cost to free books for children, healthy and nutritional foods, provide a safe and nurturing school environment, and educational justice
Career:
One position that interests me is the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). This seems similar to what I know as those that come to our school such as ECERS-R (Early Childhood Environment rating scale-revised) and CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System). “The five components of QRIS are: (1) standards, (2) accountability measures, (3) program and practitioner outreach and support, (4) financing incentives, and (5) parent and consumer education efforts. A number of states have implemented QRIS, and many that have not yet are in the process of creating them”. It does not go much into detail about requirements and such. However, I did find this interesting because I believe ECERS-R, QRIS, and CLASS all are under the same umbrella of wanting to help improve the classroom to make sure each child is striving to their fullest.
3. U.S. Department of Education
Website: https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/earlylearning/index.html
This first thing that caught my interest with this website is that the CDC released a milestone app for parents. This can help families track their child’s development. I would like to further look into that app, but I believe it would give families information about what their child should be able to achieve at different age ranges. They also have the app available in Spanish.
In addition, there are grants that are available for preschoolers with children with disabilities and development grants. It also provides age appreciate educational television shows.
Teaching Adventures 