Quality Support

The Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of the Big Bend Region supports the quality improvement of all School Readiness providers through a variety of quality initiatives.

Online and Classroom Trainings

One of the key components of a quality child care program is knowlegable, experienced and stable staffing. The ELC provides professional development and support services to child care professionals. The ELC is committed to providing professional development to support early childhood educators and caregivers. Our goal is to promote school readiness and improve learning outcomes of young children, by providing high quality professional development to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators and caregivers who work in early childhood programs. See our Professional Development tab for more details.

Co-Op Kits

The ELC provides an optional Co-Op program which allows the ELC to purchase and distribute early learning kits with program enrichment activities to providers on a monthly basis. The fee for co-op kits is $10.00 per bag, and providers may choose to receive more than one bag each month. Each kit has the materials necessary for one classroom. Co-Op fees are deducted from the monthly provider payment and kits are available for pick up at the monthly Market Days event. Providers must complete the Early Learning Coalition Provider Co-Op Agreement and indicate whether they would like to participate in the Co-Op program at the time that the annual Provider Network Agreement is signed.

Teaching Strategies GOLD

The ELC is proud to implement Teaching Strategies GOLD to our School Readiness contracted providers. This nationwide assessment system has been identified by many as the first online tool designed to guide teachers to meet the needs of each child. Teaching Strategies GOLD helps early learning professionals:

• Observe and document children’s development and learning over time;
• Supports, guides, and informs planning and instruction;
• Identifies children who might benefit from special help, screenings, or further evaluations;
• Reports and communicates with family members and others;
• Collects and gathers child outcome information as one part of a larger accountability system; and
• Provides reports to administrators to guide program planning and professional development opportunities

See our Teaching Strategies GOLD tab for more details.