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Strengthening Systems Toolkits:
Strategies for Transforming Early Care and Education

In response to the Coronavirus global pandemic and to support your effort in transforming early care and education in your community, NICCA created toolkits to help you generate ideas for strengthening your programs and resources to put those ideas into action. The toolkits cover over 20 system-building areas to consider and include templates, sample budgets, job descriptions, and research.

Explore the toolkits available now and what toolkits are coming soon!

AVAILBLE NOW

Toolkits Available Now

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Improving Early Care and Education Professional Wages

This report explores compensation for early care and education professionals with similar job duties and expectations in other fields and aims to assist early care and education employers in addressing internal wage variances when employees with similar job duties and expectations have a wide range of compensation.

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Establishing 
Family Support Services

This toolkit will help programs establish family support services to support parents and caregivers in meeting the needs of their children and family while also  promoting their child’s growth and development. This kit includes: Budget, Staffing calculator, Job descriptions, Family partnership agreement, Family plan and goal worksheet, Family outcomes assessments, Referral and personal information release form, Monthly report template.

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Building a
Parent Advocate Coalition

Early care and education programs have an opportunity to support the education of parents and empowering them to be advocates for their children in the child care setting and beyond. Creating parent advocacy groups can help organize parent voices and amplify their power in the community, state, tribal, and national landscape. This kit includes information about how a Parent Advocate Coalition works, what it costs, and information about how to get started!

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Creating At-Home Learning Opportunities

Designed with families in mind, these kits were specifically grouped to hit a variety of skills/standards per age level.  All kits are developmentally appropriate and should help families continue learning for weeks while at home. There are two kits per age level. For kindergarten through fifth grade, we recommend starting with kit A first and then follow up with kit B. This toolkit contains three sample Activity Guides. Activity Guides come with each kit purchase. 

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Lowering
Classroom Ratios

This kit will provide resources to help programs lower classroom ratios.

Coming Soon
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Utilizing Substitute Teachers to Improve Programming

This kit will provide resources and information on adding full-time substitutes into a program's service strategy as a way to ensure continuity and improve training efforts.

Coming Soon
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Creating Engaging Outdoor Learning Spaces

This kit will provide resources and information on developing outdoor learning spaces, including resources for incorporating natural play elements and utilizing resources to incorporate language.

Coming Soon
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Creating a
Home Visiting Program

Home visiting promotes secure parent-child relationships by emphasizing the parent is the child’s first and most important teacher. This kit will help you establish a home visiting program and includes: Budget, Job descriptions, Family partnership agreement, Family plan and goal sheet, Family outcomes assessments, Referral and personal information release form, Monthly report template.

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Promoting More Meaningful Teacher Education through In-House Training

This toolkit will help programs establish an internally-operated staff training program that promotes deeper, more meaningful teacher development and occurs during the workday, eliminating the need for after hours and/or weekend trainings. This kit includes: Budget, Daily staff schedule, Annual training plan brainstorming worksheet, Annual training schedule, Certificate of Achievement.

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Building a
Provider Education Network

Empowering the voices of providers while in their care is a critical component of the success of children. Establishing a Provider Education Network can serve to organize provider voices and amplify their power in the community, state, and national landscape. This kit includes information about how a Provider Education Network works, what it costs, and information about how to get started!

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Focusing on Employee
Wellness & Development

This kit will provide an overview of how to improve and implement an employee-centric professional development program that promotes individual wellness.

Coming Soon
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Focusing on Employee
Wellness & Development

This kit will provide an overview of how to improve and implement an employee-centric professional development program that promotes individual wellness.

Coming Soon
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Promoting healthy food and good nutrition efforts

This kit will provide resources and information on incorporating family style dining into daily routines and sample menus from current child care programs.

Coming Soon
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Establishing
Sick Child Care Services

This kit will provide resources and information on what is needed to establish sick care options within a program.

Coming Soon
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Establishing a
CDA Training Program

This toolkit provides resources for creating a Child Development Associate (CDA) Prep Program  train and develop a cadre of qualified early childhood education professionals. This kit includes: Budget, Contract, Agreement, Training schedule, Lab schedule, Acceptance letter, Rejection letter, Dismissal letter, Attendance sheet, Sign-in sheet, Recruitment post.

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Planning for Strategic
Program Growth

Strategic planning is the ongoing organizational process of using what you know about your community and services to set an intended direction for your program and services. This process used to prioritize efforts, effectively allocate resources, align key stakeholders and employees on the organization’s goals, and ensure those goals are backed by data and sound reasoning. This toolkit includes resources for engaging in strategic planning.

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Creating Nurturing Learning Environments

Safe, responsive, and nurturing environments are an important part of supporting the learning and development of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and even older children. Well-designed environments also help to prevent challenging behaviors and serve as a core component of interventions for infants and young children with identified disabilities.

This kit includes: Modules on designing effective classrooms and Lakeshore Learning's Complete Classroom.

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Improving Onboarding and Retention 

This kit will provide a comprehensive orientation plan that can help in fully informing program employees in an effort to retain them.

Coming Soon
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Building an Early Care and Education Facility

This kit will provide resources and information to support a program's efforts in constructing an early care and education facility.

Coming Soon
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Using Classroom Observations to Improve Care

This kit will provide resources and information on classroom observation techniques and how utilizing these practices can improve the quality of care..

Coming Soon
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Making Grants to Stabilize
the Child Care Field

This kit will be an update to NICCA's grantmaking toolkit already available. It will meet the requirements outlined in the American Rescue Plan.

Coming Soon
COMING SOON
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