The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is pleased to announce a professional development opportunity designed specifically for Public Preschool Programs. This initiative will support a third cohort of public preschool educators and administrators in providing inclusive practices within high quality preschool environments for 4-year-olds.

This offering is available to any district in Maine with a Public Preschool Program. The 2020-21 cohort will consist of 3 classrooms of 6 participants each. Teams must include the preschool teacher, ed tech, principal, special ed director, elementary special ed teacher and a regional CDS consultant or teacher. The purpose of team participation is to ensure consistent understanding and application of the course content so that high quality inclusive practices will be supported and sustained.

The DOE Inclusive Initiative is a collaboration with Child Development Services (CDS) and Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN), a University of Maine System partnership between University of Southern Maine (USM) and University of Maine (UMaine).  The partnership includes the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) which has expertise in providing training and technical assistance around inclusion, equity and access.

The project faculty will deliver a continuum of learning and support activities through a blended learning model that equips teams to learn about, reflect on, practice and apply the information and strategies to build and strengthen instructional practices that promote high quality preschool environments. Each team will participate in and have access to:

• Online training covering a range of topics with the objective of helping early educators develop a deeper understanding of how to promote inclusion in the classroom.
• Consultation to expand on the training content and use the materials to personalize learning within your own setting.
• A facilitated professional learning community (PLC) with other peers as “thinking partners” to share and explore topics and application strategies.
• A suite of resources and tools to support this work.

Benefits of Participation for Maine Schools

Opportunities for administrators, teachers, educational technicians and CDS staff to:

• Devote dedicated time as a team to focus on preschool pedagogy.
• Develop a shared understanding of the components of high quality inclusive preschool classrooms.
• Identify, plan and work toward a common goal to continue to support equity and excellence.
• Receive certificates of contact hours which support certification renewal and/or local professional development requirements.
• Gain access to other early care and education professional development opportunities.
• Enhance teacher recruitment, retention and quality.

Please visit here to hear from past participants about their experiences in this initiative.

Districts are asked to apply by November 30, 2020 to take advantage of this exciting professional development opportunity.  The tentative timeline is outlined in the table below.

The application is available at this link. For more information, view the FAQ  or contact Nicole Madore at Nicole.madore@maine.gov  .

Specialists from the Maine Department of Education’s Early Learning Team are excited to offer a web-based professional development opportunity for early childhood educators in the Pre-K and Kg grade span. Participants in this opportunity will get the chance to explore strategies for managing student trauma and mental health behaviors through a text study of both Responding to Student Trauma by Stephanie Filio, M.Ed. and A Practical Guide to Mental Health & Learning Disorders for Every Educator by Myles Cooley, Ph.D.

The text studies will take place virtually in hour-long sessions on a weekly basis between November 30, 2020 and April 2, 2021:

• Responding to Student Trauma by Stephanie Filio, M.Ed is tentatively set to run Nov. 30-January 8, 2021 (with a scheduled holiday break).
• A Practical Guide to Mental Health & Learning Disorders for Every Educator by Myles Cooley, Ph.D. is tentatively set to run January 11, 2021 through April 2, 2021.

The learning groups will be limited to 48 participants each. Goals of this professional learning opportunity are to improve participant awareness and understanding of what causes student trauma and to acquire strategies for how to better educate our students exhibiting behaviors related to trauma, mental health, and learning disorders.

Those interested are welcomed to register for one or both studies. Participants will receive a copy of the book(s). Contact hours will be provided at the end of each text study.

Registration is free and can be completed here. Registration closes November 13^th at 5pm. Participants will be notified on a first come, first served basis.

For further information, please contact Nicole Madore, Early Childhood Specialist at Nicole.madore@maine.gov.