Training and Technical Assistance

 Career Development:

Even Start supports on-going professional development for all staff. All programs, either independently or through the region, are encouraged to offer specific professional development activities that have been documented for PONSI credit. In addition, workgroups in specific topical areas are developing additional training modules which will be submitted for PONSI credit to support veteran staff members who do not meet the professional requirements stated in Section 1235(5). Programs are encouraged to allow staff the flexibility in scheduling needed to accommodate their attendance at college level courses to meet these requirements.

Content workgroups are formed on an annual basis to address specific issues, which require input from programs representative of the demographics of the state. The Cabinet determines the areas of focus for the upcoming year. Representatives from each region who are experts in the identified content areas are recruited. Once the workgroup is formed, each workgroup is led by a Chairperson (a local coordinator selected by the State Even Start Coordinator in collaboration with the Regional Coordinators). These workgroups meet at the state level to establish a work plan, and a plan for rolling out the products developed to local programs.

New York State has developed a formal system of peer mentoring to support local programs in their first year of implementation. Peer Mentors are local Even Start Project Coordinators, who support and assist programs with resources to start up and/or implement high quality programs. Local coordinators must apply to become a Peer Mentor through a competitive application and must have the support of each partner agency to allocate up to ten percent of their time to this project. All Peer Mentors are required to complete 12 hours of professional development prior to being named a Peer Mentor. They are also required to attend three additional days of staff development (one in the fall in conjunction with the statewide meeting and two days in December) during each program year that they are assigned a new program. Peer Mentors also have a responsibility to assist in the continuous improvement of the training program for new Peer Mentors.

New York State is developing a new system of Peer Mentors for specific program areas. These include each of the core components (early childhood, adult education, parenting education, and interactive literacy) as well as specific content areas (e.g., program management, partnerships/collaborations, English Language Learners, families of migratory workers). This program will be piloted during the 2003 program year.

New York State is developing a system of incentives to support high quality local evaluations that provide input to programs for continuous improvement. When an evaluator is clearly moving beyond the baseline expectations, i.e., providing more value than he or she had done for previous local evaluations of the project, additional resources may be requested. The information provided should be information that a program can use; this depends in part on the point of development of the project (i.e., programs in their tenth year of operation will use more information than programs in their second year.)

• Extended data collection. Additional dollars may be allocated when a program wants an intensive data collection strategy that includes broad representation. Examples: interviewing all families rather than a sample; observing all home visitors during home visits on multiple occasions; assessing different aspects of the program from the perspectives of the various partners and collaborators.

• Extended program activity by the evaluator.

Additional dollars might be allocated if the program wanted the local evaluator present at more than a sample of staff and parent meetings and/or required special presentations of results in a variety of settings.

• Consultant role.

In some cases, the evaluator may be asked to perform services for the program that are within his or her area of expertise but which go beyond what would normally be considered evaluation of program processes and results. Examples: providing training to the project staff in a particular topic; conducting background research for the project in a particular topic area, e.g., researching strategies for addressing a particular issue.

• Unusual costs of data collection.

In special circumstances, evaluator travel reimbursement is provided in addition to the typical evaluation amount. For example, a project may have multiple sites that are located at some distance from the evaluator’s home location and/or from a central location.

• State expectations.

Time and travel expenses for evaluator attendance at state meetings could be reimbursed separately by the state beyond the local evaluation budget. An example is a flat amount for the attendance of evaluators at fall and spring meetings and/or an honorarium for attendance and reimbursement of expenses.

• Longitudinal Evaluation.

The longitudinal evaluation is comprised of local coordinators of Even Start Family Literacy Partnerships and evaluators from seven programs in NYS. These projects, begun in FY 98, have participated in a common longitudinal study using case studies over time. Members have resources regarding case studies, qualitative research, and data analysis over time, research, linking local evaluations to the Performance Indicators and the process of working on a group project through a participatory evaluation approach.

• In-depth Study

The In-Depth Study is comprised of local coordinators and evaluators of 12 Even Start programs in NYS. These Partnerships are collaboratively researching the following question:

"What is the contribution of parents’ participation in Even Star Family Literacy services to their children’s literacy development?"

The In-depth Study began in FY 99 and will continue through FY 02. Members of the committee have completed a synthesis of relevant and will spend an additional 2 years exploring and documenting this question.

• Regional Studies

Several of the regions have focused on a specific question that has been looked at across multiple programs. Additional funds are made available when a group of programs within a region want to focus on a specific question.

A listserv for local evaluators has been set up to provide an opportunity for local evaluators to discuss issues, new research, ideas and to share findings. The listserv also allows information to be disseminated by the SEA to local evaluators easily.

An institute for local evaluators has been conducted in conjunction with the annual spring and fall conferences provided for Even Start programs. Chris Dwyer, RMC Research, has worked extensively with the SEA to coordinate offerings and assist with the structure of professional development for local evaluators. The process of continuous improvement is a focus of all these sessions.

A program specialist is an Even Start local program coordinator who can devote some time to statewide projects and to assist Even Start Partnerships and Regional Projects. The person works collaboratively with the Even Start State Coordinator and SED staff, regional coordinators and local programs to support programs and to ensure continuous improvement, especially with assistance in ES-STARS, NYS Performance Indicators, Peer Mentoring, professional development/training and work groups. The Program Specialists serve in an advisory capacity to the State Coordinator and ensure that needs of local programs are responded to.

The Parenting Education Workgroup is a group of local Even Start program coordinators and Even Start practitioners whose focus is parenting education, as defined within the statutory language of family literacy. This workgroup developed the Parenting Education Profile, a tool to trace the progress of development of parents and to capture the highest level of typical behaviors within each area of development, that is, the level of behaviors that represents patterns that are consistently observable. The workgroup is also responsible for developing staff development strategies, which support the use of the instrument, and for providing technical assistance to programs in using the tool. The workgroup is also developing curriculum to support the constructs in the Guide to Improving Parenting Education in Even Start Family Literacy Programs, and working with Empire State College to obtain PONSI credit. Doug Powell and Diane D’Angelo provide support to the work of this group.

The Performance Indicator work group has developed and implemented training on a local, state, and regional basis to implement the Performance Indicator System. To support the training, a variety of technical assistance materials have been developed including a User’s Guide, Technical Assistance Manual and Question and Answer documents to provide on-going technical assistance.

The Performance Indicator Workgroup is comprised of local Even Start Program Coordinators representing the various regions of the state and the various components of the Even Start program. This group has been the voice of local programs in developing NYS Performance Indicator System and has taken major responsibility for the implementation of the Performance Indicator System. This workgroup meets annually for a three-day retreat in the summer and in mid-winter to continue to analyze the data submitted and to refine and revise the Performance Indicator system.

A waiver to allow four sites in New York State to act as Demonstration Sites and to remove the four-year funding limitation has been granted by the US Department of Education. These sites are veteran programs, which have shown success in meeting both Participant Indicators and Performance Indicators, have the support of the administration of both partner agencies and represent the diversity of the state both geographically and demographically. They act as model programs to provide assistance to other Even Start programs statewide and to provide technical assistance and information for agencies interested in becoming Even Start sites. Projects are models both in practice and in documenting their success. A Program Specialist, a staff person whose focus is applying the current research to practice, and a staff developer, staffs each site. These demonstration sites also act as training and resource centers for Even Start Family Literacy Partnerships in New York State.

A listserv for Even Start program coordinators and directors in all partner agencies is maintained by the State Even Start office. This is linked with the US Department of Education and other pertinent websites. The listserv is used by the State Coordinator to provide information, clarification, and to offer a forum for discussion across Even Start programs.

The Even Start program office has its own website which provides national, state and regional information to Even Start Family Literacy programs. The Even Start website is linked to the US Department of Education website, the NYS Alliance for Family Literacy (statewide initiative grant) as well as other program office sites within the Department. The Even Start website is home to the statewide calendar of Even Start events, the State map of Even Start programs, performance indicator information and other information essential to Even Start programs.

Each spring the Even Start office co-sponsors its annual conference with the National Even Start Association. This is an opportunity for professional development for Even Start Coordinators, Project Directors, Local Evaluators and Even Start staff. Each region of the state actively participates in identifying professional development needs and possible speakers to ensure that the conference provides needed information. This conference, in conjunction with the Fall Administrators’ Meeting, meets the requirement of the State to provide family literacy training to Even Start Coordinators.

The Even Start program office has divided the state into ten regions to increase the capacity of local programs to provide professional development. Each region has a coordinator, selected collaboratively by the programs represented and the State Coordinator and a budget to support regional technical assistance and professional development. The regions develop a workplan to frame their annual agenda and have monthly meetings to discuss current issues, resolve problems, develop unified professional development and disseminate current information and research.

Each fall, the State conducts a meeting for administrators. The agenda focuses on current legislation, regulation and guidance at both the federal and state levels. Program orientation is conducted in conjunction with this meeting for newly funded programs and for new program coordinators. These meetings are a forum to define the priorities for the upcoming year and to discuss new and/or continued program requirements.

Guide to Quality