Photo courtesy of Associated Early Care and Education
Today we congratulate the center- and school-based early education programs in Massachusetts that earned accreditation or reaccreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children since December 19.
To those who earned accreditation or reaccreditation, NAEYC offers a marketing and communications tip: Spread the word to your local newspaper or other media outlet. Accredited programs can find a news release template in their program record. It’s a great way to publicize your accomplishment and draw attention to the importance of high-quality early learning settings.
NAEYC accreditation is a widely accepted proxy for quality, and Massachusetts boasts more NAEYC-accredited programs than any other state in the country.The Department of Early Education and Care includes accreditation in the standards for the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), designed to assess program quality, provide incentives for programs to improve and offer valuable information for parents.
The rigorous NAEYC accreditation process measures 10 standards that range from curriculum to family engagement. Accredited programs use a research-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum that promotes children’s social, emotional, physical, language and cognitive growth. They support teachers’ professional development, promote children’s health and nutrition, use age-appropriate methods to assess children’s development and maintain collaborative relationships with parents and guardians.
Congratulations to the following 14 programs that earned accreditation or reaccreditation since December 19:
Ashland. Ashland Preschool Program
Boston. Little Folks Community Day Care Center (East Boston), Franklin Square Day Care Center (Roxbury)
Dartmouth. Little People’s College
Franklin. Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Lancaster. Mary Rowlandson Elementary School Early Childhood Programs
Monson. Quarry Hill Community School Early Childhood Program
New Bedford. GNB Voc-Tech Early Childhood Education Program
Otis. Farmington River Regional School Preschool and Kindergarten Program
Swampscott. Swampscott Public Schools (Hadley)
Waltham. Bright Horizons
Wellesley. Wellesley Nursery School in the Hills
Westwood. Martha Jones School
Worcester. Jewish Community Center Preschool/Toddler Center
Eye on Early Education focuses on the twin goals of ensuring that Massachusetts children have access to high-quality early education and become proficient readers by the end of third grade.
While the programs above deserve applause for the quality of their programming perhaps they should also be awarded spa gift certificates so they can restore themselves. The NAEYC accreditation process has become ridiculously costly and time consuming. The time consuming portfolio has replaced the self assessment and an in depth visit with the NAEYC rep as the focus of the process. Teachers spend hours creating documentation for things that a skilled observer could see for themselves in a quality visit. After months of preparation to have an NAEYC rep spend an hour or less with a teacher and the rest of the day looking at a binder showing what’s happening in real time just down the hall seems utterly ridiculous.
I DISAGREE WITH THE ABOVE COMMENT. AS A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER AT A PRIVATE DAYCARE CENTER FOR ABOUT 8 YEARS I BELIEVE THAT TEACHERS AND DIRECTOR SHOULD BE DOING THESE BINDERS FOR SEVERAL REASONS:
1. ENSURING THAT THE JOB IS GETTING DONE RIGHT. ONE VISIT CAN BE A FRAUD TO THE SYSTEM, CHILDREN, PARENTS AND TEACHERS.
2. AS WE REVISIT THESE BINDERS WE CAN LEARN FROM THE PAST AND BETTER THE SAME ACTIVITIES THAT WERE DONE BEFORE.
3. GREAT MARKETING TOOL FOR THE CENTER. RENEWED BINDERS CAN IMPROVE OVERTIME .
4. WORK HARD PLAY HARD IS THE NAME OF THE GAME!
FOR THOSE THAT FIND IT VERY TIME CONSUMING AND COST EFFECTIVE, WELL WE MUST INVEST TO GET BACK, READ THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE ON WHY DEVAL WANTS TO INVEST IN OUR CHILDREN…OUR FUTURE AND WE MUST WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM TO ENSURE WE PROVIDE A PATH WAY FOR OUR CHILDREN. http://eyeonearlyeducation.org/2013/01/23/ma-governor-details-early-education-proposal-in-fy14-budget/