Quality Enhancement

The Collaborative's Early Childhood Quality Enhancement Program works with early educators throughout Western Massachusetts. We offer a variety of quality enhancement services to public and private preschools, as well as to kindergarten programs. We specialize in providing support for programs working toward National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation and/or re-accreditation, and for providers working on their Child Development Associate (CDA) certification or National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC) and Quality Rating and Improvement (QRIS) accreditation. Additional services can be designed to fit each program's specific needs.

NAEYC Consultation

This is usually an ongoing process, with monthly or bimonthly visits from the consultant, including:

• An introductory meeting with all staff to introduce the consultant and to outline the process for achieving the accreditation.
• Regularly scheduled classroom observations (2-3 hours in length).
• Regularly scheduled feedback meetings with the teaching team being observed.
• Meetings usually happen on the day of classroom observation (1-2 hours in length).
• Using a strengths-based approach, the consultant will specifically discuss observed strengths and recommended changes, and give general comments.
• Meetings between the Director/principal and the consultant. These meetings can be scheduled according to individual needs. Some Directors prefer to meet on a regular basis and the consultant acts as a mentor in helping the Director with the accreditation process; others prefer fewer meetings, usually because they participate in the feedback sessions with the teaching teams. However, the role of the consultant is always to assist the Director with identification as well as implementation of needed changes in the program.
• The NAEYC self-study materials are used as observation tools.

General Consultation

Consists of but is not limited to:

• Meetings with program directors to support them in their efforts to improve the quality of their program.
• Observation and feedback sessions with teaching teams to assure high quality and/or compliance with NAEYC and other standards.
• Workshops in developmentally appropriate practices
• Facilitation of ongoing discussion/support groups for teachers
• Special topic presentations for individual programs
• Short-term consultations designed to identify and solve a specific classroom problem

Fees

We charge a flat hourly rate for consultations and travel time. We do not charge for mileage. For workshops, we charge a flat rate, plus preparation time. We are flexible and willing to set up a process that works for you. Programs may contract with CES directly. Funding for these services may be available through a Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care Educator and Provider Support Program or the Kindergarten grant.  UUPK and QRIS funding may also be used. 

For more information, please contact:

Barbara Finlayson
Director of Early Childhood Programs
413-586-4998 ext. 101
800-519-1882 ext. 101
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