President's MessageWhether you're a teacher, assistant teacher, program director, higher ed faculty, student, family member, researcher, policymaker, administrator, or somewhere in between, belonging to a professional organization assists you on your journey to improve educational opportunities for all young children. Belonging to a professional organization equips you with a network of individuals, resources, and research to inform your thoughts on early learning center, teacher/leader supports and guiding policies.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) provides a national perspective to best practices, research, and policy. Under this national umbrella is the local affiliate, Louisiana Association for the Education of Young Children (LAAEYC). The state is divided up by regions, so that every region has a representative to assist meeting the needs of early learning professionals at a local level.
Belonging to a professional organization provides an avenue for networking, learning, and professional growth on new best-practices from others that work in similar environments. It’s not only an opportunity to share your success, but an opportunity to learn different strategies to improve the education of young children. Other benefits include a reduced rate at conferences, monthly publications and research, training, communication of professionals through emails, and blogs.
Belonging to a professional organization is a great way to maintain your SRTC Director level- and LAEYC is the perfect organization to join! Just mail pathways a copy of your membership information and let them know you’ve joined!
Best,
Michelle DeMeulenaere, PhD
President
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Nominations have opened for open positions. Please click here to submit yours! Nominations end THIS FRIDAY (11/118). Once nominations have been collected, we will reach out to the nominees to begin our elections. Fill out your nomination here!
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| Regional News and Research
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Local Taxation in Louisiana: Alternatives for Local Public Support of Child Care Press Conference
The Blanco Center in partnership with the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children released a report that provides an overview of local taxation options in Louisiana, focusing on the legal framework for generating new sources of revenue and the capacity for parishes and municipalities to levy additional taxes at the local level. Register here.
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Pointe Coupee early childhood education sees improvements in Pre-K level classrooms
“We have our nonpublic school’s early childhood development fund, as well as our LA-4 programs, and those, provide really high-quality pre-k. We are very lucky this year that the legislature approved an increase in the rates for those, and it was increasing the amount of funding per child by a thousand dollars,” explains Pheriche Perkins who is the executive director of the Pointe Coupee Early Childhood Coalition. Read more at WFAB9 News.
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Leadership Styles in Childcare Directors
Michelle Grantham-Caston and Cynthia Fontcuberta DiCarlo
"Leadership is of paramount importance to any organization, as leaders can set the tone for the organization’s employees. Thepath to leadership in childcare can be markedly different from other professions, as there is no qualifying criteria; however,previous research has identified that for leaders to be effective they must possess skills, characteristics, and traits of effective leadership. Results suggest that childcare directors who remain in the role of managers (displaying either transactional or passive/avoidant leadership styles) do not provide the leadership needed to provide a high quality of education for young children, which is consistent with previous research. This research echoes concern from the field for credentialing of childcare directors." Read the rest of the article here.
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By way of introduction, I am Cindy Bishop, Executive Director and Lobbyist of the Child Care Association of Louisiana. CCAL is a statewide, nonprofit membership association that exists for the sole purpose of advocating for early care and education and providing educational conferences and technical support to our members. Additionally, each week, we host a one-hour membership ZOOM call with guests speakers.
CCAL has launched a brief survey on the Child Care Assistance Program. Click here to complete the survey. Your responses will help the Child Care Association of Louisiana, in our upcoming meeting with the LA Department of Education, to identify solutions to the issues that childcare providers and parents are currently experiencing.
The CCAL Last Education Conference has been scheduled for Friday, December 16, 2022. Both Virtual and Onsite Registration Options Available! The Last Chance Conference will be held at the West Baton Rouge Conference Center will be held at 2750 N. Westport Drive, Port Allen, Louisiana. The keynote speaker is nationally acclaimed speaker, Vernon Mason, Participants will earn six (6) clock hours, accepted by Louisiana Pathways. To register, visit our website at www.childcarelouisiana.org/events
The Child Care Association of Louisiana has been working with ERC Specialists to promote COVID Relief Funding for our early care and education providers and family day home providers.
To date, we have been able to help our members get back $3 million from the US Treasury in a program known as Employer Retention Tax Credit refund from the Federal Government. It is relatively easy for licensed centers and family day homes to qualify to receive up to $26,000 per w2 employee. This program is for small businesses with less than 500 employees who were operational in 2020 during the Coronavirus Pandemic. For more information, call Cindy Bishop at 225 933 5435 or text that number for a link. Please include your name and email address.
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Professional Development & Networking
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Help us stay connected!
As the end of the year is upon us, we would like to start a calendar of events for 2023. Please use this form to organize different events, conferences, workshops, networking opportunities, ect. for your region.
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LAAEYC meets NAEYC in Washington D.C.
Members from all over will be joining together in Washington D.C. for the national conference next week. Stay tuned on our social media platforms for updates and tag us if you are attending! It is not too late to register if you would like to attend. Click here to learn more about the event.
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Interested in Accreditation through NAEYC?
Empower your program's success! Equip your program with the tools to provide the best learning experiences for young children and provide the highest quality professional preparation of educators by meeting national standards of quality.
Watch this video to learn more about the benefits of accreditation for both your center and the children you serve!
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