A team of researchers and practitioners from the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) at the University of Virginia will present a day-long professional development workshop on Friday, January 13, for the Shenandoah Valley School-Based Preschool Network. This training is sponsored by the Shenandoah Valley Head Start.
More than 150 teachers, teaching assistants, and family support workers are signed up to participate in the workshop, which will be held at the Blue Ridge Community College campus in Weyers Cave. They will come from the Bath, Waynesboro, Staunton, Augusta, Highland, Rockingham, and Harrisonburg areas.
The CASTL team includes Beverly Sweeney, Mary Voorhees, Bettina Viteri, Jib Chattrabhuti, and Leslie Booren. They will provide training on the topic, “Engaging Classroom Interactions that Support Children’s Development: Understanding Children’s Risk, Resilience and Readiness.”
Participants will learn about the consequences of poverty on academic and developmental outcomes, early influences on success, classroom practices that support school readiness, and effective supports for transition from preschool to kindergarten. Participants will also have the opportunity to watch videos of other classrooms and plan out interactions within their own classroom.
As part of the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning (NCQTL), CASTL researchers and specialists have developed a number of practical instructional resources for early childhood educators, which will form the core of training materials for the workshop. NCQTL is funded by a grant from the U.S. Office of Head Start. Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness in preschool-aged children from low economically disadvantaged families. Many of the teachers at the workshop will represent classrooms with children who are eligible for Head Start funding.
Voorhees has provided training and consultation to a subset of Shenandoah Valley Head Start teachers for more than four years, but this is the first year the partnership with CASTL has expanded to serve the entire regional program and include other community day care providers and family advocates as well.
“This is a great opportunity for participants to take time to plan as well as network with people from other school divisions in our area,” said Ashley Rhodenizer, Early Childhood Development Coordinator for Shenandoah Valley Head Start. “We have worked with CASTL previously and are pleased to see our partnership grow into a professional development day for the entire region.”
by Lynn Bell
