Virtual Coaching: Lessons Learned During the Pandemic

By Anita E. Allison on August 31, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic forced rapid changes upon the field of early care and education and dictated a re-examination of how many of its traditional systems and services are offered. Professional development is one such system, particularly traditional one-on-one coaching models. For many years, the norm was face-to-face coaching support, but the pandemic required the field to face a new reality. How do we balance offering this much-needed aspect of professional development while protecting the health and safety of staff and children?  

Topics: Business Operations for CCR&Rs, Systems Building, Professional Development, Best Practices

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Child Care Capacity Building — a Human Centered Design Approach

By Mindy Bennett on July 12, 2021

 

We are all lifelong learners. Granted, for some of us, the pursuit of learning is an inherent strength. For others, it can be a challenge, a heavier lift, but our changing world demands it of us. So for folks like me, where it most certainly is not a strength, we take a deep breath and dive in. And we survive, often even thrive, and want to share that learning with others. But let me back up.

Topics: Business Operations for CCR&Rs, Systems Building

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All about the new Child Care Career Center

By Meghan Cornwell on June 22, 2021

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is excited to announce a new tool to strengthen the child care system workforce — the Child Care Career Center. The Child Care Career Center connects employers to professionals in all parts of the child care system and career stages. We proud that our job board houses job postings in every aspect of the child care system. 

Topics: Business Operations for CCR&Rs, Systems Building, Workforce, Professional Development

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Introducing: The Child Care and Interoperability Series

By Laurie Rackas on May 28, 2021

High-quality child care data are essential to informed decision-making. Accurate data are needed to answer questions such as: how many children are being served in programs nationwide? What areas are experiencing gaps in the supply of child care? Where should we target more resources and supports? Currently, a lot of child care data are collected by multiple sources in the nonprofit and state government arenas. But there is no consistency in how these entities gather and report data. Instead, the data are siloed and often inaccessible.  

Topics: Systems Building

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Re-imagining our Child Care System

By Guest Blogger on May 27, 2021

 

Child care is a two-generation workforce issue — with access to high-quality child care being crucial to supporting a highly skilled workforce and vital to developing our workforce of tomorrow. Child Care Aware® of America explored the child care landscape in their report, The U.S. and the High Price of Child Care: An Examination of a Broken System. They discovered our current system is:

  • Fragmented: Each state has its own set of child care policies and funding operations.
  • Inequitable: Children of color and children from low-income families are less likely to attend high-quality child care programs.
  • Inaccessible: For many families, high-quality child care is not an option. There are not enough child care providers to meet the demand, and providers are leaving the field in record numbers. This particularly affects families of color, families living in rural areas and children with special needs.
  • Underfunded: The U.S. spends less than 0.5% of its gross domestic product on child care far less than most industrialized countries.

Topics: Systems Building

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Interoperability: Why Child Care Data Systems Need to Talk

By Laurie Rackas on May 20, 2021

Do you remember when you created a document on your Apple computer and tried to share it with a colleague using the Microsoft platform? If you wanted feedback, forget it. The file was unreadable. You could jump through hoops to try to convert your document, but it took time and energy. Your productivity sank.

Topics: Systems Building

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