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NevAEYC History

NevAEYC Celebrates Fifteen Years of Commitment to Young Children

When NevAEYC was organizing and becoming affiliated with the National Association for the Education of Young Children in 1995, services for children and their educators were minimally available across the state. In the fifteen years since the first conference in Reno in 1995, Nevada has put in place a strong network of organizations whose collective mission is to improve the quality of care and education for children birth through age eight, by raising quality, improving standards of care, and providing an educated workforce. Documenting this history illuminates the accomplishments of the forces that have joined together and highlights the sphere of influence of NevAEYC throughout these years. The attached graphic is a visual of this history.

Through the past fifteen years NevAEYC has joined forces with many organizations, workgroups, Nevada Department of Early Childhood Education, licensing entities, school districts, colleges and universities, agencies, and individuals, in an effort to positively impact the quality of life, care, and education for all young children in Nevada. Many of the professionals who have served on the NevAEYC Board of Directors over the years have been members of these entities.

Below are some of the organizations we have partnered with:

  • NV Dept. of Early Childhood Education
  • The Children's Cabinet
  • State and local licensing entities
  • Head Start Collaboration Office
  • Office of Early Care and Education
  • School Districts
  • Colleges and Universities
  • UNR Cooperative Extension
  • Nevada State Legislature
  • Local affiliates of NAEYC
  • Other agencies and entities

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Timeline of the History of NevAEYC

1995

First Statewide Conference - At this conference, representatives from the National Association for the Education of Young Children discussed in a presentation the development of affiliate groups from across the state. At this time there were three affiliate groups: Reno, Southern Nevada, and Elko. As a result of this conference, work began to develop a state affiliate.

1997

Membership Action Grant In August of 1997, Sheri Waugh, Jane Hogue and Jan Morrison applied to NAEYC for a Membership Action Grant and received $3,000 to support travel from the three local affiliates so that local leaders could meet face-to-face to complete the work for board formation. The group of leaders needed to request provisional affiliation with NAEYC describing how they would meet the obligations and responsibilities of an NAEYC affiliate.

2000

Apprenticeship Program The Apprenticeship Program supports the education of the child care work force. Its purpose is to increase quality of care and the level of professionalism in the early care and education field. Established in May, 2000, this program was initially funded through the Department of Labor. After the first 18 months, the State of Nevada has used quality dollars to support the program. The Apprenticeship Program is statewide with offices in Elko, Reno, and Las Vegas. In 2007, 500 participants including mentors, centers and students were served.

2001

Office of Early Care and Education - Established in July 2001, the Nevada Office of Early Care and Education oversees Child Care and Development Funds, Quality Earmarks. "The vision of this office is to promote and provide support, education, and resources to Nevada's child care community thereby increasing the development of high-quality child care environments for providers, families, and children (http://dwss.nv.gov). The documentation of a professional development system guides the work of the office including: a) funding, b) core professional core knowledge area, c) qualifications and credentials, d) quality assurances, and e) access and outreach.

2002

Tiered Reimbursement and the Child Care Subsidy Structure - The State Child Care Advisory Committee adopted and immediately implemented a tiered reimbursement child care subsidy structure in 2002. Centers and family home providers that were accredited began receiving a 15% increase in their payments. Work is currently in place to bring a quality rating and improvement system to Nevada which will allow for tiers 2 and 3 to be implemented. These tiers required facilities to be rated using a nationally recognized rating system, which will support the workforce and child care facilities.

Core Body of Knowledge and Core Competencies - Adopted by the State Child Care Advisory Board in 2002 and later modified by the Nevada Registry Office the Core Knowledge Areas (CKAs) are used in approving and tracking training of child care professionals. CKAs define what child care providers should know and understand in order to provide optimal care for young children. Nevada's CKAs are based on nationally accepted standards and help to standardize the expectations of ECE professionals.

Career Ladder - Established in 2002, the Nevada Career Ladder serves to support the field of early childhood education as an established professional education system. National research has demonstrated a link between formal education of educators and quality of care in early childhood programs. In Nevada the Career ladder has 7 levels beginning with newly graduated high school students to professionals with Ph.Ds teaching in higher education. Additionally the Career Ladder provides an opportunity to collect data on education and training levels of the early childhood workforce. The Ladder incorporates the 8 CKAs to help assess training needs.

2003

Pre-K Standards - Nevada pre-K standards writing teams were formed in 2003. The standards addressed seven content areas: Language and Early Literacy, Math, Science, Social Studies (Social/Emotional, Creative Arts, Physical Development, and Health). The standards were approved by the Nevada Board of Education in March 2004. The pre-K standards were distributed to all licensed child care facilities and pre-K programs and are available on line. Training modules were developed for teacher training and parent support.

2004

T.E.A.C.H. - NevAEYC became the administrative home for Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Early Childhood Nevada Program. This early childhood educational development system addresses the high turn-over rate of early childhood educators, lack of early childhood specialization, compensation and the professional image of early care providers in Nevada. T.E.A.C.H. provides scholarships for home care providers, facility directors, and facility staff. Scholarships provide 80% of the tuition, and stipends for books, travel, and bonuses.

Nevada Registry - The Nevada Registry originated in October 2004 as a Training Approval System. The cooperation of the Office of Early Care and Education and the Washoe County School District developed the Registry to provide a structure to the Core knowledge Areas and the Career Ladder adopted by the Nevada State Child Care Advisory Committee. The Nevada registry offers an on-line calendar of training, a job board, Career Ladder placement, and community resources/information. Every licensed caregiver in Nevada must be a member of the Registry.

2006

State Childcare Regulations - The NevAEYC has an on-going relationship with Nevada Licensing entities and the Nevada Legislature to strengthen licensing regulations as a means to increasing safety and the quality of care for Nevada's youngest citizens. In 2004, a comparison of the National Health and Safety Standards and Nevada child care regulations was conducted and found Nevada to be sub-standard. Through much hard work from a variety of workgroups representing a wide range of occupations in the State and a comprehensive set of changes were recommended. The proposed regulations were tabled.

2009

QRIS Nevada - The Nevada Quality Rating and Improvement System began the pilot project for the new system in July of 2009 with 12 child care centers participating. Named the Silver State Stars project, the project is designed to gather information and evaluate the design and criteria of the model. The child care programs are assessed and given a number of stars to indicate their level of quality based on a rating conducted using validated and reliable instruments to measure levels of quality. Centers are assisted in making improvements through funding and consultation. The center then may be reevaluated.