LEARNING COMMUNITY

TRANSFORMING EARLY EDUCATOR LEAD TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS THROUGH MULTI-PARTNER INNOVATION

About the Grants

In 2021, The Collaborative awarded six grants in support of partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and states/territories/tribal nations to transform their preparation programs for early educators. The grants, totaling $11.3 million, strengthen programs that prepare early care and education (ECE) teachers through a competency-based bachelor’s degree. In 2022, The Collaborative awarded two additional IHE partnership grants. Learn more about the award recipients.

 

Overview of the Learning Community

To support our grantees in their work, The Collaborative engaged School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to develop a learning community to foster peer learning and collective problem-solving. SRC has a long history of partnering with organizations across the country to support the advancement of equitable early childhood systems. In collaboration with grantees, SRC designed a learning community space to support, inform, and generate dialogue to ensure successful implementation of the innovative work being done by each of the grantee teams across the nation. Each grantee partnership formed a small, multi-sector team of 3–6 participants consisting of individuals from across the IHE(s), state/territory/Tribal Nation(s), and other partners to participate in the learning community. Along with our grantees, five additional IHE partnerships were invited to participate in the learning community.

Community Goals:

    • Create space for peer learning, relationships, and a supportive network amongst grantees
    • Identify commonalities across projects, and engage in collective problem solving and coaching
    • Increase grantee knowledge and use of Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA) to support grant goals and policy transformation
    • Provide access to content and experts on policies and practices that support higher education, broader policy and systems change efforts, and technical approaches to ensure success in implementation of projects, sustainability, and knowledge dissemination

Participant Offerings:

    • Virtual peer learning sessions (with pre- and post-work)
    • Asynchronous expert lectures/presentations
    • Technical assistance calls with the group facilitator team
    • Expert office hours with guest lecturers
    • Opportunities for feedback via surveys and listening sessions
    • Optional opportunities for virtual networking

Learn more about learning community sessions, lectures, newsletters, and participants below. Access SRC’s final report here.

 

Session Details

Newsletters

 

Participants