Get Ready to Read! News from the Field
December 2006

This month’s News from the Field comes from the GRTR! team. Over the past six months, the GRTR! team has traveled far and wide to several educational conferences promoting the GRTR! screening tool as well as the “Transitioning to Kindergarten” Toolkit and the Recognition & Response Web site. We had a great time visiting Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., connecting with educators and day care providers across the country and hearing about the ways in which they use the GRTR! screening tool and resources in their settings.

We thought this would be a great opportunity for us to introduce you to the organizations we had the opportunity to work with on our travels. For those of you unfamiliar with these organizations, we encourage you to visit their Web sites to connect to new resources and information.

Yale Schools of the 21^st Century
The School of the 21st Century (21C) is a community school model that incorporates childcare and family support services into schools. Its overall goal is to promote the optimal growth and development of children beginning at birth. The School of the 21st Century is an initiative of The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University. Yale 21C's directors, staff, affiliated research associates and peer trainers provide training, technical assistance, and evaluation services for schools and communities implementing the 21C model.

The 21C Web site offers in-depth information on all aspects of the 21C model. They also offer an extensive resources section with information on the latest research findings and a thorough listing of education organizations and Web sites. To visit, click here.

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
NAFCC is dedicated to strengthening the profession of family child care by promoting high quality, professional early care and education and strengthening communities where providers live and work. NAFCC is dedicated to advocating for the family child care profession by collaborating with other local, state, and national organizations who contribute to the family child care field to increase awareness about and improve the quality of family child care.

The NAFCC Web site is a one stop shop for information on family childcare practices, policies and general information. They host a national quality childcare locator for parents, a section for family childcare focused policy papers, information on becoming a family childcare accreditation observer and information on how to become a member of the NAFCC. To learn more, click here.

Child Care Bureau (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
The Child Care Bureau is dedicated to enhancing the quality, affordability, and availability of child care for all families. The Child Care Bureau administers federal funds to states, territories, and tribes to assist low-income families in accessing quality child care for children when the parents work or participate in education or training.

The Child Care Bureau Web site's main function is to support the needs of state, territorial, and tribal administrators who manage CCDF-related programs. However, the site also includes policy documents, data, and other information that will be of interest to researchers, parents, child-care providers, and other parties interested in child-care issues. To visit the Web site, click here.

Council on Exceptional Children – Division of Early Childhood (DEC)
The Division for Early Childhood promotes polices and advances evidence-based practices that support families and enhance the optimal development of young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays and disabilities.

The DEC’s Web site offers a plethora of resources for those working with young children with special needs. Visitors can access the most recent research in the field, connect to resources on specific disabilities and learn about upcoming training opportunities and events. To learn more, click here.

National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI)
The National Black Child Development Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and supports programs, workshops, and resources for African American children, their parents and communities in Early Health and Education, Health, Elementary and Secondary Education, Child Welfare and Parenting.

The NBCDI Web site offers information about the work the organization is doing with affiliates across the country. The site also connects visitors to recent publications, training opportunities and conference information. Please visit their Web site here.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
The NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8. The NAEYC is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 100,000 members, a national network of over 300 local, state, and regional affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.

The NAEYC Web site is a valuable resource for early childhood educators and providers as well as for anyone interested in learning more about the field of early childhood education. Visitors to the site will find resources connecting them to fact sheets on early childhood best practices, recent research from the field as well as general and specific information regarding accreditation. Those interested in learning more should click here.