Early Care and Education Projects Awarded $2.1 Million to Enhance Services for Arkansas' Youngest Learners

A new $2.1 million grant from the Arkansas Department of Education Office of Early Childhood will allow College of Education and Health Professions' Early Care and Education Projects (ECEP) to provide early childhood professionals in all 75 Arkansas counties with practical support to enhance program quality, promote children's early learning and increase kindergarten readiness for the state's youngest learners.

The funding is part of the Arkansas Department of Education's new professional services initiative to provide coaching, group training and technical assistance in three priority areas: adult-child interactions, high-quality instructional materials and child assessment, and support for new educators and directors.

ECEP will offer coaching, training and technical assistance to support those three goals in early childhood classrooms and family child care homes across the state.

The funding also expands the capacity of ECEP's Family Child Care Network to provide on-site and virtual support for licensing, quality improvement and accreditation.

"Our application was fully funded and reflects a true team effort and the strength of our team's shared commitment to advancing early childhood education across Arkansas," said ECEP Director Kathy Pillow-Price.

Through ECEP's statewide network of trainers and coaches and in partnership with "local leads" as determined by the Arkansas Department of Education in every county across Arkansas, the grant will strengthen early learning in every community. Progress will be measured using indicators such as CLASS® (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) scores, quality improvement levels, National Association for Family Child Care accreditation milestones, developmental screening and referral data, and documented improvements in classroom and business practices.

Local leads are responsible for developing localized, comprehensive plans to ensure that children and families have access to high-quality early childhood education in their communities. Elizabeth Coakley is the local lead captain at Arkansas State University Child Care Aware, which serves Chicot and Desha counties. She said ECEP is crucial in helping her team implement the state's early childhood plan.

"Ms. Faith Hurd has been committed to providing professional development that builds confidence and aligns the training based on creating tools where every teacher can thrive," Coakley said. "Ms. Faith has been a true partner with me as local lead captain for Chicot and Desha County in promoting CLASS PreK and Infant and Toddler Observation training. I love the partnership I have with ECEP and look forward to continually working with them."

ECEP's new grant is expected to be renewed annually for five years to support its work throughout Arkansas. The outreach unit has provided early childhood professionals with high-quality professional development and comprehensive, up-to-date training since 1992. 

For more information, visit the ECEP website.