Goal 1 - Continued

• Coursework:To meet the variety of needs of educators in the nine county region, CAL-NET is collaborating with local community colleges and the University of Pacific to provide ECE classes which assist educators in moving up on the Child Development Permit Matrix and provide instruction on research-based ECE methodologies. In addition to the classes which have been developed in collaboration with CAL-NET, participants have the opportunity to take classes at community colleges and universities. Ninety-three participants have received reimbursement for books and tuition for completing college classes that fit into the their approved professional development plans.
• Workshops and Conferences: During the second project year, early childhood educators had the opportunity to attend a variety of workshops and conferences. On September 30 and October 1, 2005, CAL-NET sponsored the Northeastern California Early Childhood Conference in Redding, CA. A total of 223 educators from nine counties attended the conference. Professional growth hours and college units were available. The following table provides an overview of the conference speakers and workshops.
• Online Classes: During the first year of the project, 49 teachers (unduplicated count) enrolled in at least one on-line class. (Fourteen teachers have enrolled in two classes.) During the second year of the project, 152 teachers have enrolled in at least one on-line class. The classes have been held in computer labs, with the Project Director or Professional Development Specialists assisting participants in the use of the computers. Participants also have the option of working on-line at their homes. Staff reports that participants have made "enormous" progress in their use of technology. Teachers are demonstrating an increase in their use of technology through self-reports on the technology survey, an increase in the number taking on-line classes, and their use of Clipboard. Teachers have demonstrated significant growth in the ability to use technology more effectively. Teachers have learned to use digital cameras and photo editing software, as well as developed basic skills of word processing and file management. One teacher has submitted a video within a professional showcase which further expands the potential for multimedia demonstration of teaching proficiencies. This objective is being attained.

Goal 2

CAL-NET will provide parents with Libros y Más training and materials in order to encourage increased parent and child interaction in the home.

• Objective 2.1: Parents who participate in the Libros y Más program will demonstrate an increased support for children's learning in the home environment as measured by parent interviews and selected items from the California Even Start Performance Information Reporting System (CA-ESPIRS) Survey (English and Spanish).
• Summary of Evaluation Findings: The Project Director has purchased the needed materials and books to implement the Libros y Más program in the four treatment classrooms (located in Glenn, Modoc, Shasta, and Siskiyou Counties) and the four Classrooms of Excellence (located in Butte, Lassen, Plumas, and Trinity Counties). Beginning in September 2005, the Libros y Más program was extended to the previous comparison classrooms as well as the treatment classrooms. Different books are being used in the program for the 2005-2006 school year, as some of the children in the treatment classrooms are in their second year of the program and project staff wanted them to receive a variety of books which incorporate the theme.
  
  Books, along with corresponding activities (e.g. flannel board stories, alphabet letter matching games, and numeracy games) are provided during the monthly Libros y Más literacy evenings. All of the books are available in English and Spanish. Those books not available through the publishers in Spanish are translated by the project. The following table provides the Doors to Discovery themes for each of the months, along with the corresponding books provided to the parents at the monthly Libros y Más literacy evenings.

Goal 3

CAL-NET will offer early childhood educators instruction in the effective administration of age-appropriate assessments of young children and the use of assessment results.

• Objective 3.1: By June 2004, project teachers will demonstrate the effective administration and use of CAL-NET assessments including: a) the new California preschool standards-based assessment (Desired Results - an observational instrument), b) the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (English and Spanish); 3), and c) the Letter Recognition Assessment (used by Head Start) as measured by observations, reliability measures, interviews with educators, and lesson plans developed by educators which make explicit use of individual child assessment results for classroom planning purpose.
  
  Progress is being made toward the achievement of this objective. Children in both the treatment and comparison classrooms are being assessed on the instruments indicated above. Results of the assessments are provided to the Professional Development Specialists who then share the information with the classroom teachers and administrators of the preschool programs. The Professional Development Specialists are working with the classroom teachers to help them better understand how the results of the assessments can be used for instructional planning.