Early Childhood Education Initiative: History

Fall of 2000 marked the official beginning of the Early Childhood Education Initiative, although prior to this much had been done by SERC for early childhood professionals via the Birth to Six Initiative. The major achievements of this early work include collaborating with the State Department of Education’s Bureau of Early Childhood and Social Services and DMR’s Birth to Three System to provide the annual state-wide conference Together We Will.

The establishment of the Early Childhood (ECE) Initiative in 2000 demonstrated SERC’s commitment to Early Childhood Education, and an awareness of the importance of providing successful early experiences for young children that enhance their development and later academic success. In the Fall of 2000, SERC hired a full-time consultant dedicated to Early Childhood issues with the mandate to: 1) infuse early childhood issues and the participation of ECE professionals across all the other SERC initiatives; and 2) offer activities utilizing a range of in-depth professional development models specifically for ECE professionals, in addition to awareness level workshops or annual conferences. Multiple projects and approaches were instituted and/or continued by the ECE initiative to fulfill this mandate. Central to realizing these priorities, was continuing efforts to build collaborative relationships with and among agencies that support early childhood professionals working in varied educational settings, including the CT Birth to Three System, Public Preschool Special Education Programs, School Readiness Programs, Family Resource Centers, and licensed child care programs. The initiative’s priorities also included responding with appropriate professional development opportunities to two of the State Department of Education’s major goals: closing Connecticut’s achievement gaps, and improving inclusive practices in the Least Restrictive Environment. To fulfill addressing these priorities SERC’s library has acquired an extensive collection of resources on these and other relevant topics pertaining to early childhood education. Additionally, SERC assisted in the dissemination of the State Department’s of Education documents relating to preschool and ensuring that all our professional development opportunities were philosophically aligned with these documents; for example the CT Preschool Curriculum Frameworks (1999) and the Preschool Assessment Framework (2003 draft).