Committees

COMMITTEES

Committees that address Professional Development of early childhood and after school professionals

The Vermont Northern Lights Career Development Center works with a number of committees and groups to review, advise and implement its work. Most committees meet monthly, unless specified. Contact information is listed at the end of each committee description.

A little history: the first Northern Lights Advisory Board

In 2005, when the Northern Lights Career Development Center began, it created an Advisory Board with specific membership to review, advise and make decisions about the work of the new Center. As the Career Development Center developed, the role of the Advisory body also changed. Beginning in the fall 2006, Northern Lights used the Professional Preparation and Development (PPD) Committee as its Advisory body.

The Committees listed here:

Northern Lights advisory committee and the Councils to which it is connected:

Task Groups that help plan and implement the work of Northern Lights Career Development Center:

Other state-wide committees that include early childhood and afterschool professional development in their purpose:

The Professional Preparation and Development (PPD) Committee

The Professional Preparation and Development Committee has representatives from early childhood and afterschool programs, services and others who guide and support professional development in Vermont. Members include representation from early childhood, afterschool and family based child care programs, Head Start, the Vermont Child Care Apprenticeship Program (VCCICC), the Vermont Department of Education, the Child Care Community Support Agencies, Vermont AEYC (Association for the Education of Young Children), Building Bright Futures regional Council and others. Over 100 individuals receive notices of the meetings, announcements between meetings and meeting notes and handouts. Membership is open and meetings are held quarterly.

Membership is open and meetings are held quarterly. To receive past minutes, and find out the current schedule and location of meetings, contact Janice Stockman at jjstock@sover.net. Or call 802-257-8015

Building Bright Futures (BBF): state council and regional councils

The state–level Building Bright Futures Council is linked to 12 Regional councils and other state-wide committees, including the Professional Preparation and Development Committee, described below. Together they work to create an integrated system of quality services for young children and their families in Vermont.

The state-level Building Bright Futures (BBF) Council is made up of appointed representatives of different public and private groups, concerned about services for young children and their families in Vermont. The State Council meets regularly and meetings are open for the public to view. The Council seeks to assure that all Vermont children are healthy and successful by improving the quality, affordability and accessibility of services for families with children under the age of six in the areas of health, early care and education.
Each area of the state also has a Regional Building Bright Futures Council. Their meetings are usually monthly. The Councils include a diverse voting membership that vote on decisions of the Council; meetings are open for anyone to participate. The Regional Councils are charged with community-based planning and program development, with the same goals as the State Council above.
For more information about the BBF State or Regional Councils, contact Becky Gonyea at (802) 279-5262 or go to http://www.buildingbrightfutures.org which includes a list of BBF State Council members and Regional Council Directors.

Early Childhood and Afterschool Program Director Credential Committee:

The Early Childhood and Afterschool Program Director Committee reviews and approves program director credential applications for each step of the credential. It also reviews and makes decisions about the criteria for earning the credential and oversees the progress of implementing the credential in the state professional development system.

For more information about this committee and if you want to join it, contact: Maureen Young McCarthy at maureen.young-mccarthy@ccv.edu or call: 802-885-8374. For more information about the Program Director Credential go to the Credential section of this website:

Streamline Committee

The Streamline Committee promotes the use of the Professional Development side of the Bright Futures Information System (BFIS). People who use this section of BFIS have a Quality and Credential ID. The committee is developing more streamlined systems of professional development data entry and accessibility, and helps professionals in the field learn about them. Committee members consist of representatives from the Child Development Division, STARS, Northern Lights Career Development Center and others.

To learn more about this committee contact: Maureen Young-McCarthy at maureen.young-mccarthy@ccv.edu or call: 802-885-8374.

Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential Integration Committee

The purpose of this committee is to make decisions about or to recommend strategies that will fully integrate observation of the practitioner, professional development opportunities and reflection/documentation into the first two rungs of the career ladder for early childhood professionals. It also recommends strategies that make information and support more accessible across the state for those working on their CDA credential as well as their mentors and assessors.

To learn more about this committee contact: Nancy Sugarman at nancy.sugarman@ccv.edu or call 802-241-4661

Afterschool Framework Committee

This committee has created Vermont core competencies for Afterschool professionals and is in the process of creating a Vermont Afterschool credential. It works with higher education institutions and other partners in the state and nationally to create systematic support for the field of Afterschool services. It seeks to inform, support, educate and recognize the staff who work in these programs and their parents and professional partners.

To learn more about this committee and how to connect to it contact Ruth Matthews, Afterschool Systems Director, ph: 802-241-3107, email: ruth.matthews@ahs.state.vt.us or Kerrie Workman, Consultant for Afterschool Professional Development, ph: 802-426-2067, email: kwork23@yahoo.com
The Afterschool competencies can be found on this website under: Core Competencies. For more information about after school organizations and professional development go to the Afterschool section of this website.

Instructor Approval Panel

This panel emerged from the Instructor Qualifications System Review Board, the committee that designed the Instructor Qualifications System for early childhood and later, after school instructors, in 2005. The current Approval Panel began meeting in January 2006 and meets every 6 weeks. The panel reviews and approves applications for qualified instructors and renewing instructors and it makes recommendations to Northern Lights Career Development Center in order to update and enhance the Instructor Registry system.

For more information about this Panel contact Maureen Young- McCarthy at Maureen.young-mccarthy@ccv.edu or 802-885-8374. For more information about the Instructor registry click on Instructor.

Early Childhood Family Mental Health Competencies Workgroup

This workgroup was formed in the fall 2007 once the Early Childhood Family Mental Health Competencies were ready to be printed, in order to disseminate them, educate professionals about them, and to integrate them into professional development activities for the many disciplines that work with young children (birth to 6). As part of that work, the workgroup is considering the creation of opportunities for additional expertise or credentials by various professionals to better address the social and emotional needs of young children with whom they work.

For more information about this workgroup contact Nancy Sugarman at nancy.sugarman@ccv.edu or 802-241-4661. For more information about the Early Childhood Family Mental Health Competencies look on the home page of this website and click on Competencies.

Kids Are Priority One Coalition Quality Work Group:

The Quality Work Group identifies, explores and develops in depth solutions that improve the quality of early care and education in Vermont. The workgroup has identified that in order to improve the quality of early care and education, we need to: (1) encourage our child development workforce to remain in the field and continue their education and training. (2) reward teachers who pursue degrees and credentials, as well as programs that achieve national accreditation. (3) work incrementally toward linking all public funding for early care and education services to accepted measures of program quality.

For more information about this committee and if you want to join it, contact: Melissa Riegel-Garrett at child33@verizon.net or call: 802-244-6683. For more information about the quality work group go to the Kids Are Priority One Coalition website: http://www.vtkap1.org

Think Tank

This Child Development Division (CDD) initiated committee was created as a forum for CDD and partners to discuss, think about and conduct research in order to make recommendations on how the Division might best use resources to promote quality of services for children. The focus is on effective strategies that lead to program quality through professional development and retention of qualified teachers and caregivers. Meetings are open.

To learn more about this committee and its schedule contact Jan Walker at 241-2198.

Early Childhood listserve (Early Childhood Steering Committee)

The Vermont early childhood listserve circulates by email to those who join. It is open to all. It is primarily used for announcements and for updates on new articles or research of importance to early childhood professionals across the state. Guidelines for “listserve etiquette” should be followed so as not to clutter other people’s email boxes.

If you'd like to have your name added to the Early Childhood Steering Committee List Serve, please send an email to: michaella.collins@uvm.edu. In the subject line please write “Subscribe ECSC Listserve" . (If you want to unsubscribe write “Unsubscribe ECSC Listserve" in the subject line.)