Welcome the Children: Providing Training for Early Childhood Professionals Serving Latin American Fa

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Welcome the Children Providing Training for
Early Childhood Professionals Serving Latin
American Families

• A look at a successful cross cultural
  collaborative training program in Arkansas

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Welcome the ChildrenProject Staff

• Project Coordinator Brenda Reynolds
• Project Trainer Specialists
• Sabrina Zarco
• Tanya Miller
• Administrative Staff Susan Taylor

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Partners for Inclusive Communities

• University Center for Excellence on Developmental
  Disabilities
• Provides training and technical assistance
• Conducts research
• Collects and provides current information,
  research findings, and educational materials
• Develops community collaborations for systems
  change

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Welcome the Children Team Training
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Why the need for Welcome the Children?

• Arkansas has experienced a rapid growth in the
  number of individuals moving into the state who
  speak Spanish
• Little or no training is available to assist
  early childhood professionals in adapting their
  services to work more effectively with Spanish
  speaking children and their families

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Our Beginning Nuestra Familia Project

• Goal To assist child care providers and early
  childhood educators in learning strategies that
  support the second language learner in an early
  childhood setting

• Three training modules were developed
• Cultural Diversity
• First and Second Language Acquisition
• Assessing Children for Language Delays

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Piloting of Nuestra Familia Training

• Based on participant evaluations and suggestions
  from the Advisory Committee members, first module
  was revised to include emphasis on Latin American
  culture
• Second and third modules were combined
• Each training module provides approximately seven
  hours of training

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Evaluation of Nuestra Familia Training

• The University of Arkansas at Little Rock
  conducted an independent evaluation of training
  and materials to document the effectiveness in
  achieving the project goals
• Evaluation instruments (pre-test, post test, and
  session evaluation) were developed, tested, and
  revised

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Welcome the Children Project

• Picked up where Nuestra Familia left off
• Disseminates training and materials statewide
• Develops capacity within local communities to
  provide training and appropriately handle
  referrals
• Provides resources
• Develops additional information and training on
  specific topics

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Purpose of Welcome the Children

• To facilitate appropriate referrals for children
  who speak Spanish as a first language and have
  developmental delays
• To assist child care providers and early
  childhood educators through training and
  technical assistance to understand cultural
  issues and learn strategies to support children
  who speak Spanish as a first language

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Welcome the Children Project Infrastructure

• Advisory Committee
• Linked with the Arkansas Early Childhood
  Professional Development Registry
• Participants receive Continuing Education Units
  (CEU)

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Training Modules

• Module 1 Cultural Diversity covers recognition
  and acceptance of cultural and linguistic
  diversity. Emphasis on Latin American culture
• Module 2
• Second Language Development and Assessment in
  Early Childhood

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Welcome the Children Project
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Welcome the Children Community Teams

• Develop capacity of individuals across the state
  to present and support these training materials
  through teams
• Consist of child care providers, early childhood
  educators, elementary educators, disability and
  healthcare providers, clergy, family members and
  representatives from Latino community groups

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Development of Welcome the Children Community
Teams

• Key players are identified in each area of the
  state
• Team members attend all sessions including a team
  component to develop a team plan
• Each team will have a host agency/organization,
  team leader, trainers, and support members

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Welcome the Children Host Agency/Organization

• Assists in development of the community team
• Signs a written agreement to serve as the fiscal
  contact between the Community Team and WTC
  Project
• Supports the Team Leader in administrative
  processes, registration, evaluations, invoices,
  and reimbursements

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Welcome the Children Team Leader

• Serves as the primary contact person between
  Community Team and project staff
• Schedules and facilitates team meetings
• Helps to develop team plan
• Collects and processes training registration,
  evaluations, invoices, and reimbursements

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Welcome the Children Team Trainer Guidelines

• Co-Trainers
• One trainer must be bilingual and understand
  Latin American culture
• One trainer must have early childhood experience,
  preferably classroom
• Become a part of the AR Early Childhood
  Professional Development Registry
• Work with Team Leader

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Welcome the ChildrenSupport Team Members

• Attend team meetings
• Help promote the training in the community
• Attend training sessions to support Team Leader
  and Trainers
• Provide information and resources on area of
  specialty

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Welcome the ChildrenUAMS Partners Staff

• Provides training materials
• Financial support
• Resources and lending library
• E-mail distribution list
• Provides onsite technical assistance and ongoing
  support

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Welcome the ChildrenUAMS Partners Staff

• Co-trains with the Team Trainers if needed
• Attends Team sessions for support, evaluation,
  and feedback for trainers
• Provides training tips and early childhood
  classroom environment strategies and consultation
• Additional in-depth training on specific topics

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Welcome the ChildrenProject Evaluation

• The same evaluation team used for Nuestra Familia
  is conducting ongoing evaluation to provide
  continuity to the evaluation data process

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Welcome the Children
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Gracias! Thanks! Time
for yourQuestions Answers

• Sabrina Zarco
• UAMS, Partners for Inclusive Communities
• Welcome the Children Project
• 2001 Pershing Circle, Suite 300
• North Little Rock, AR 72114
• 501-682-9924 800-342-2923 (V/TDD)
• zarcosabrinae_at_uams.edu
• www.uams.edu/welcomethe children/