Saturday, March 24, 2012

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

National or Federal Organizations of Interest:



1. Let’s Move is a comprehensive initiative launched by the First Lady. I would love to be a part of this initiative because of its dedication to finding solution to fight childhood obesity.

Let's Move has been in existence for 2 years and has made significant progress. They are a community of practice that consist of parents, businesses, educators, elected officials, members of the military, chefs, physicians, athletes, childcare providers, community and faith leaders and kids.



Job opportunities:

White House Intern: The Office of the First Lady

The staff is divided into six departments: Chief of Staff, Policy, Communications, Scheduling, Correspondence, and the Social Office.

I would want to work in either her Policy or Social Office. The skills I need to competently fulfill this role would be organizational skills, the ability to research policies, event planning, and excellent  communication skills.







2. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services



The Department of Health and Human Service has the North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program. This program provides resources, interventions, and creates treatment plans for families with children with developmental delays.

Position Title: Habilitation Specialist





Skills and experience needed:



Experience in service delivery for children with developmental delays is a required. I have 5 years of experience. Another requirement is the ability to write IFSP's. I currently work with children as the transition from the 0-3 program to school age services. Although I am familiar with IFSP’s, I have only written IEP's. I believe that this would not interfere with my ability to do the job.

Management prefers someone with an Infant Toddler Specialist Certification or working towards certification. I do not have this but will research taking the steps to add this to my license.







3. The North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children (NCaeyc) is the state affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC). The mission of the group is to be the voice of the professionals who work directly with or on the behalf of children birth- age 8.  I would love to join this community of practice along with the other teachers, child care providers, administrators, directors, researchers, college faculty, and others.



There are not any current job opportunities within this organization. I explored the positions and qualifications of the current staff to see what potential jobs may become available in the future.

Position Title: Coordinator of Programs and Services

Based on what I read about the current person that holds this position to be successful in this role I would need a Master’s Degree in the field of early childhood, 10 years’ experience, experience as a rated license assessor, and childcare program administration skills.  I would like to become familiar with the rated license process so that I can gain the skills to possibly work as an assessor. To work for this organization in this role I need to work on my leadership and program management skills to be successful. I have my childcare director’s certification but have never worked as a center or program director. I’m thinking of working part time this summer as a program administrator to gain the experience.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Exploring Roles in the ECE community: Local and State Levels

What is Smart Start?

Smart Start was created in 1993 as an innovative solution to a problem: Children were coming to school unprepared to learn.
Policymakers recognized that progress would require tapping into the same innovative spirit that inspired private sector advances, and therefore, established Smart Start as a public/private partnership. Independent, private organizations work in all 100 North Carolina counties through The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., and 77 Local Partnerships.
The power of Smart Start is that it delivers outcomes by giving communities local control to determine the best approach to achieving them.

Smart Start’s Vision

Every child reaches his or her potential and is prepared for success in a global community.

Smart Start’s Mission

Advance a high quality, comprehensive, accountable system of care and education for every child beginning with a healthy birth.http://www.smartstart-nc.org/


Job opportunities:  I researched the smart start childcare agencies in my county and three surrounding counties and found no job opportunities.

I think that becoming apart of this statewide community of practice will give me the experience I need to move beyond my current role as a preschool teacher and explore the other aspects of the field. There are so many community of practices within this big umbrella of early childhood in our state.



I did find this event in my search of communities of practice in my state. I think it would be a good opportunity for me to volunteer with other advocates for children and families. I need to become a part of a community of  practice that focuses on advocacy for children and families.  If  I attend this event it will be my first "political" early childhood experience.


I co-founded a Birth-Kindergarten majors club at my Alma Mater, Fayetteville State University. I consider it a community of practice that is important. I would like to serve as a mentor within this group of adult learners. I also feel as though I have a lot to learn from them. The mission of this community of practice is to serve as support for current and future students as well as serve the community through acts of service. 

*There is an opening for an assistant Birth-Kindergarten professor open. However, you have to have a doctoral degree to be considered for the position.