Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

In exploring roles in the early childhood education community on the local and state level, there were many that I found interesting. Those I chose to explore further are:  Orange County Head Start, First 5 California and California Department of Education, specifically the Early Education and Support Division.

Orange County Head Start (OCHS)

Nationally, Head Start began providing services in 1965 and is now available to children throughout counties in the United States. Head Start in Orange County, California began in 1979 and currently serves over 4,000 children. These services are available for preschool children from low-income families at no cost. I chose this local agency because of the many opportunities to make an impact in children’s lives. This agency provides services education for parents, home visits, and center care and education for children to name a few.  The community of practice is extensive in this agency.

 

A current employment opportunity is Childcare Center Director. Some responsibilities include:  supervise, organize, and plan staff, child and parent activities; observe and monitor classrooms for compliance and prepare related paperwork and reports; implement programs that will maintain compliance with federal and state regulations and Agency policies; and train staff on developmentally appropriate practices and agency policies and procedures. These are a few of the responsibilities included in the job description.

First 5 California

Since 1998, this agency has designed comprehensive programs that address the needs of children ages 0-5 and their families. Their goal is to improve early childhood outcomes in the areas of health, nutrition, early literacy and language development, quality childcare, and smoking cessation. This is an interesting agency because of their commitment to research and designing of programs. An important reason why research is necessary to the field of early childhood education because of how it is evolving with our changing communities.

An available employment opportunity with this agency is a research program specialist. In this position, you are responsible for developing and documenting evaluation policies, procedures and protocols. And most importantly, independently contributing to research, evaluation and or technology projects that collect data for evaluation efforts related to professional development of teachers in the early childhood education field.  

California Department of Education (CDE)

In this large state agency, I am specifically interested in the Early Education and Support Division (EESD). This division provides leadership and support to contractors and the child development community, ensuring high quality early education programs are provided to children ages birth to 13 years.

A current employment opportunity is that of Child Development Consultant. This position is a great example of community of practices. Duties include:  Collaboration with local childcare agency representatives, other governmental agencies and other units with the California Department of Education (CDE), including directors, curriculum specialists, teachers, parents, and representatives from the child development community, to develop activities which promote the vision, mission and goals of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the CDE, and the EESD.

References

Orange County Head Start. Retrieved from http://www.ochsinc.org

First 5 California.  Retrieved from http://www.first5california.com

California Department of Education.  Early Education and Support Division. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/or/cdd.asp