Professional development

School Readiness Consulting provides customized services including needs assessments, targeted training and coaching, and ongoing evaluation of growth and progress. Our approach to professional development and adult learning works to extend inquiry, encourage discourse, promote critical thinking and affect the practice of administrators, coaches and teachers in meaningful ways. Our consultants have designed professional development materials for national organizations including the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), Teaching Strategies, and ZERO TO THREE, which reach thousands of early childhood professionals and parents nationwide. We also develop and implement customized professional development for schools, districts, government and non-profit organizations, including D.C. Public Charter Schools, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, and Inner City-Inner Child.

We work with administrators, coaches, support staff, educators, and parents. We have experience with preschool, pre-K, kindergarten and early elementary teachers in public- and privately-funded schools and center-based programs. We also have significant experience working with caregivers of infants and toddlers and family child care providers.


The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (EC TA Center) provides a professional learning community for schools in implementing evidence-based practices in early childhood education for pre-school, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. The EC TA Center offers a unique space for schools, administrators and teachers, merging high quality, collaborative, professional learning opportunities with the latest research in early childhood education and development.

 

Past and current professional development projects include:

  • D.C. Public Schools, Office of Early Childhood Education: Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) integrated Head Start and Pre-K classrooms in 84 Title I schools across the district. The Office of Early Childhood Education hired School Readiness Consulting to ensure that all educators, regardless of funding stream, were prepared and supported to be excellent teachers through a targeted model of instructional coaching around curriculum, instruction and assessment. Our approach to developing a coaching model and working with coaches incorporated the emerging science of job-embedded coaching into preparation and ongoing support for coaches in their practice. We began with defining best practices for coaching and setting goals for coaches as learners. We provided ongoing professional development, observation, and tools to help coaches adapt their strategies to the diverse needs of DCPS early childhood teachers. SRC developed guides to early childhood and corresponding professional development modules used by over 100 principals and 500 teachers, and a family guide to kindergarten readiness that is available to the almost 5,000 families of prekindergarten children in the district. Read more about our work with DC Public Schools.
  • National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA): In 2009, NACCRRA needed a team of early childhood professional development experts to design online courses to help early childhood professionals in center and home based settings complete annual training requirements and acquire required hours for the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. School Readiness Consulting developed 40 interactive, online training modules for child care providers and parents on topics including social/emotional development, health, safety, nutrition, and instructional strategies. Read more about our work with NACCRRA.

Other examples of work we have done in this service area:

 

For more information on professional development, please contact info@schoolreadinessconsulting.com.