Apply Today For Certified Center Rules Advisory Committee
The Early Learning Division’s Office of Child Care (OCC) will be updating the Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) for Certified Child Care Centers. A Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) will provide valuable feedback on the proposed rules and identify financial and equity effects that might result from the proposed updates.
ELD invites you to apply for the Certified Child Care Center Rules Advisory Committee. Committee members may include::
- Directors/representatives from certified child care centers from across the state
- Parents/family members of children in these types of programs
- Community partners working with young children in child care settings
- Early Learning Hub representatives
- Tribal Nation representatives
- Child Care Resource and Referral representatives
Participants will be compensated for their time and insights. The application deadline is April 14. RAC meetings—approximately five are planned—will run late April through May.
If you have questions, please contact Abby Strom at abby.strom@ode.oregon.gov.
Watch For an Email Regarding Preschool Development Grant Survey
The Oregon Early Learning Division (ELD) would like to hear from early childhood education and care providers and learn about their experiences during the past year. The ELD is asking for your feedback, as it does every year, on how to best support providers. Center- and family-based owners, directors, teachers, assistants, and aides (whether currently employed or not), please share your experiences in this 30-minute survey.
If you are eligible to participate in the survey, you will receive an email with a link. Look for an email from “The Preschool Development Grant” in March and April. Check your spam folders.
The survey deadline is Monday, April 17. All eligible providers who complete the survey will receive a $25 gift card.
If you have questions or think you should have received an email but didn’t, contact Denise Ford with ODI at denisef@oslc.org or 916-205-6851.
Share Your Feedback On Raise Up Oregon, Second Edition
Help make sure the state’s plan for early childhood meets your needs! The second edition of Raise Up Oregon is open for public feedback. Your input can help shape the actions of government agencies and improve early learning and care in Oregon.
Visit the RUO page to share feedback on the draft plan. The deadline is 5 p.m. Sunday, April 30
Raise Up Oregon is the state’s plan for the early childhood system and is in partnership with six agencies: Oregon Department of Education, Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care, Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Housing and Community Services, and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
For support or if you have any questions, please contact Remember.Watts@ode.oregon.gov.
March Provider Information Sessions: Slides And Recordings Online
Thank you to everyone who attended our March sessions! The slides and recordings for the English and Spanish sessions held March 21 and 22 are now available. In these sessions, ELD shares the latest updates on the transition to the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC), the Suspension and Expulsion Prevention Program, and the DELC branding process.
NAEYC’S 2023 Week Of The Young Child®: April 1 To 7
The first week of April is recognized as the Week of the Young Child®. This is a time to celebrate early learning, young children, early educators, families, and communities!
Use these helpful resources to plan program activities and share on social media:
- Music Monday: Support math readiness through music!
- Tasty Tuesday: 14-day salad: Using project-based learning to grow micro greens
- Working Together Wednesday: Cardboard challenge: Introducing new skills in authentic ways (blog)
- Artsy Thursday: The making of an art museum: A preschool project
- Family Friday: Five Rs for promoting positive family engagement
To view more resources for the Week of the Young Child visit the NAEYC website.
Early Learning Higher Education Consortia
The Early Learning Division is pleased to announce the funding of Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) for the Early Learning Higher Education Consortia. This funding will be provided to the following community colleges: Blue Mountain Community College, Chemeketa Community College, Clackamas Community College, Columbia Gorge Community College, Lane Community College, Linn-Benton Community College, Mount Hood Community College, and Portland Community College.
The Early Learning Higher Education Consortia focuses on removing barriers and opening access to early childhood education degree completion. By establishing partnerships with universities, colleges, Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, and other groups, the consortia may:
- Expand access to ECE career pathways
- Reduce financial and non-financial barriers
- Empower more students to attain ECE degrees and certificates
A Consortia Request for Applications (RFA) process for the fiscal year 2023-2025 will open early April 2023 with applications due May 8, 2023. For more information on the IGA and RFA, visit https://oregonearlylearning.com/administration/grant_oportunities/
Help Us Improve Our Website
We are building a new website to make information and services easier for all visitors to find.
We need your help to make sure this new site is as easy to use as possible. So, we invite you to do a card sort activity. This is a fun and easy way to help us organize our new website in a way that makes sense to you.
How does a card sort work?
We will provide you with a set of cards that represent different pages and sections of our website. We will then ask you to sort them into different sections. Put them wherever makes the most sense to you. Your input will help us to understand how to group our content.
There are no wrong answers. We don’t ask who you are, and the information is only to make the new website better.
We would greatly appreciate your participation in this 10-minuite activity. To participate, click on the link for your preferred language: Card sort in English | Card Sort in Spanish
The deadline to participate in the card sort is April 15, 2023.