Third Annual Community Dialogue on Early Education and Care:
New Initiatives, New Realities
Thursday, May 22, 2008
- Register Today!
- Date:
Thursday, May 22, 2008 - Time:
8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. - Location:
Wheelock College (Brookline Campus)
43 Hawes St.
Brookline, MA 02446 - Click here for directions.
- Parking at Wheelock is limited. Please see our information about parking and public transportation to campus.
- Questions? Please contact Ronette Lyle, Faculty Assistant, at rlyle@wheelock.edu or call at (617) 879.2210.
A day-long conference for community leaders, policy makers,
advocates and educators.
Event partners are Wheelock College, Schott Foundation for Public Education, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Bessie Tartt Wilson Foundation and the Massachusetts Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators (MAECTE).
As an expert and advocate in the early childhood
field, we invite you to join your colleagues for an exciting and productive
conversation about building statewide unity and alliances for systemic changes
in Massachusetts. 
Many of our collective wishes are beginning to come
true. Much of what we have all worked for over the years is shaping exciting
new initiatives at the state and local level. At the same time, shifting
realities of leadership change, resource limitations, and policy implementation
are posing new challenges. We have a lot to share with each other, a
lot to learn, and a lot to discuss. Your voice and perspective are vital
as we strategize about how to unify the field and make the most of new opportunities.
This Community Dialogue is the third in a series. On May 24, 2007 over 150 policy makers, community leaders, practitioners and other advocates gathered at Wheelock College for our Second Annual Community Dialogue and discussed next steps for strengthening and sustaining the diverse early education and care workforce in Massachusetts. Some of the questions we wrestled with are still unresolved, but there has been progress on many fronts.
This year we are thinking big. We will be looking at evolving strategic
plans for a 10-year state education initiative with significant investments
in early childhood, beginning prenatally.
We
will learn about Boston’s
new Thrive by Five Initiative and Springfield’s implementation
of universal pre-kindergarten for three and four year olds. We will
discuss the Department of Early Education and Care’s plans for new opportunities
to improve quality and compensation, and receive preliminary results
from the Workforce Development Task Force, co-sponsored by the EEC,
the Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education and the United Way of Massachusetts
Bay and Merrimack Valley. We will learn about statewide organizing successes
among family child care providers. We will receive an update from
Governor Patrick's Readiness Project Sub-Committee on Early Education and
Care. In addition, we will engage in dialogue with panelists from four regions
of the state about unified strategies to ensure that there are sufficient
funds in the state’s budget to support
vital early education and care efforts now and in the future.
We hope you will be able to join us. Please come prepared to share your concerns, questions, and ideas and to help prioritize next steps.
