2005 Maine Children's Congress

Glossary of Terms - Text Version

Compiled by Linda Leiva
Note: some sources assisted in the specific definitions

Accreditation- is the process of certifying the quality of early care programs according to national standards. National accrediting bodies are the National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Association for Family Child Care, and National After-School Association for school age childcare. http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/maineroads.

Alignment – is the process used to bring coherence to the relationships among standards, training and technical assistance, monitoring and accountability, finance, and consumer engagement, creating an early care and education system.

Assessment- is the practice of determining needs, capacities, and instructional goals for the purpose of furthering the educational, social, emotional and physical development of a child. Examples of tools are the Head Start National Reporting System, Brigance Screening of Kindergarten Readiness, Batelle II, Bailey III, and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire.

Best Practice- is practice that research has shown to be effective in educational settings, child-development, and service delivery models.

Braiding Funding – a community- and program-level strategy for wrapping together separate categorical streams of funding to support seamless or unified services.

Blending Funding – A state-level strategy that makes funding streams less “categorical” by removing, reducing, or aligning requirements and regulations so that funds from more than one program are “blended” into a unified funding stream.

Certificate - is a license to serve as a teacher, administrator or educational specialist in the public and approved private schools of Maine. The Maine State Board of Education establishes certification standards and procedures. The Commissioner of Education is responsible for implementing the certification process. http://www.maine.gov/education/index.shtml.

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) – A federal block-grant program administered by the Office of Child Care and Head Start to fund child care subsidies for children under age 13, quality-building, system-building, and resource and referral activities.

Child Care Subsidy – is CCDF financial assistance available to eligible families through vouchers or contracts with providers. Parents may select any legally operating childcare provider. See Child Care and Development Fund.

Child Care Contracted Slots – funds provided directly to a program to provide childcare to children birth to age 13. See Child Care and Development Fund.

Child Care Vouchers – A portable subsidy given to a parent to reduce the cost of their childcare services. See Childcare and Development Fund.

Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential- is a federally funded early childhood credential administered by the Council for Professional Recognition, a division of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. http://www.cdacouncil.org.

Child Find- is the identification, location and evaluation of children birth to five who have a disability to determine eligibility to receive early intervention services or special education and related services. See Chapter 180, Early Intervention and Special Education for Children Age Birth to Under Age Six, revised August 3, 2004.

Collaboration - working together to jointly deliver services and programs for one purpose: furthering the educational, social, emotional, and physical wellbeing of children.

Coordination – See Braiding Funding.

Credentials –are the proper licensing, certification, and endorsements that qualify educators, service providers, caregivers, and technicians for employment in the field in which they work.

De-categorizing Funding – See Blending Funding.

Developmentally Appropriate Practices- are practices, which are informed by knowledge of ages and stages of human development, strengths and needs of children, and knowledge of social and cultural contexts in which a child lives. www.naeyc.org.

Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (Part C of IDEA) – A federal grant program administered by the Maine Department of Education to operate a comprehensive statewide program of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth through age 2 years, and their families.

Early Learning Guidelines – is a guide for early care and education practitioners to improve professional practice and programs for young children ages three through their entrance into kindergarten. The ELG are intended to effect greater collaboration and consistency across systems by aligning practice across all early childhood settings and the early grades.

Eligibility – are categories under which a child or family may qualify to receive various services.

Endorsement - means a notation on or attachment to a certificate issued to a teacher, which specifies the grades, and subject area for which the certificate is valid.

Essential Programs and Services- is a school funding formula that considers student outcomes and the programs and services needed to achieve those outcomes.

Evaluation - helps decision-makers responsible for planning, designing, and implementing projects and programs to determine whether resources were well spent and planned outcomes were achieved.

Evidence-based Practice – are demonstrated as effective through multiple research studies that document similar positive outcomes. See Dunst, C. J., et al. (2002). Toward An Operational Definition of Evidence-based Practice. Centerscope, 1(1).

Family Child Care- is care provided in a home for groups of 3 to 12 children under 13 years old who are not the provider’s own children.

Head Start and Early Head Start – are programs that serve children from birth to age 5, pregnant women, and their families and have the overall goal of increasing the school readiness of young children in low-income families. There are 13 Head Start grantees in Maine.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 - is the updated version of this federal law that works to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.

Inclusive Environments – are settings where all children, including children with disabilities, diverse linguistic, cultural or developmental characteristics have access to and participate in the same programs as children who are typically developing. www.umaine.edu/cci/ec.

Learning Results – is a document produced by the DOE for the purpose of outlining the educational outcomes for Maine schools Pre K through grade 12. Curriculum in Maine schools must reflect these outcomes.

Maine Roads Core Knowledge Training- is a consistent body of knowledge in the training of childcare professionals. http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/maineroads/CoreKnowledgeTraining.

Mixed-Delivery System – (as it applies to serving the early childhood community) implies collaboration and coordination among agencies, as appropriate, for the purpose of meeting the child’s physical, social, emotional, and educational needs.

Natural Environment- is the environment that the child would naturally be in at any given time, whether a home, childcare, or an educational setting. In terms of special educational considerations, it is the least restrictive environment with an age appropriate peer group.

Pooling Funding – a strategy, most commonly used at the state, county and regional levels, in which more flexible pots of funding are blended into one funding pool.

Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities (Part B of IDEA) – A federal grant program administered by the Maine Department of Education to serve young children with disabilities, ages 3 through 5 years.

Quality Rating System (QRS) – is a way that many states use to recognize and reward child care programs that excel in meeting or exceeding quality standards. Quality rating systems weave the various standards for licensing, Head Start, national accreditation, and public pre-k so that they work together as a cohesive whole. Quality rating systems create multiple levels, or steps, that many states refer to as a “star rating”.

Resource and Referral – are agencies that help parents find suitable early care and education programs, provide training and technical assistance to practitioners, and develop and recruit practitioners to meet community needs. www.mainerdc.org/mrdc1.

School Funding Formula- The State of Maine Department of Education has a funding formula that calculates Essential Programs and Services against the property values in a given area and determines state allocation and subsidies to be given to that school administrative district or unit.

Statutory Requirement- are federal and state laws that contain guidelines by which schools and providers must operate if they are to receive federal and state funding. Examples of current laws are: Free and Appropriate Public Education Act (FAPE), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), No Child Left Behind Act, Chapt.180, and Title 20-A, MRSA (Maine law). http://www.maine.gov/education/legis/majoreduclawsenacted.

School Readiness- is the readiness of a child for the educational experience in a school setting and the readiness of a school for the child. www.naeyc.org.

Screening- is a system of determining needs for further evaluation of a child with respect to his/her educational, physical, speech and language, or social/emotional strengths and/or weaknesses which may lead to identification for a child’s eligibility for services.

Subsidy -is financial assistance that is provided by an agency (such as the Department of Education, United Way, CCDF) to fully or partially fund parent childcare costs.

Wrap-around Care- is the practice of combining education and care. Childcare and educational programs may be combined, or provided for in a split-day format, utilizing both private and public programs.

Early Care and Education Associations and Organizations

ACCESS - is an alliance of early care and education providers and advocates whose mission is to ensure the availability of family-focused early care and education services through collaborative relationships with traditional and non-traditional partners. Members consist of educational, non-profit and government agencies providing for child care and educational services. Four ACCESS local collaboratives were awarded USACF/DHHS grants to address early literacy and increase the quality in childcare homes and centers their respective regions. The local collaboratives include Coastal ACCESS (Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties) Cumberland County ACCESS, Kennebec-Somerset ACCESSand Western Maine ACCESS (Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties). http://www.accessforme.org.

Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCI) - is an interdisciplinary research unit of the University of Maine. Its four core functions include Interdisciplinary Education, Research and Evaluation, Outreach Education and Technical Assistance, and Dissemination. The CCI Early Childhood Team provides technical assistance to early childhood and school settings, helping programs support all children. www.umaine.edu/cci/ec.

Child Development Services (CDS) – is authorized under the Department of Education, Chapter 180 for the purpose of fulfilling compliance with federal legislation IDEA (see below). CDS is a regionalized, comprehensive service delivery system that serves the 0-5 year old child with a diagnosed physical, occupational, educational, speech and language, developmental, or social/emotional disability. www.maine.gov/education/speced/cds/index.htm.

Maine Association for the Education of Young Children - is to serve and act on the behalf of the needs, rights, and well-being of all young children in Maine and their families, with special emphasis on developmental and educational services and resources and fostering the growth and development of the membership in their work with, and on behalf of, young children. http://maineaeyc.org.

Maine Association of Resource and Development Centers – is a network of eight local regional development centers who provide information regarding finding childcare, how to choose safe and appropriate care, financial assistance through vouchers for childcare, and provider training and technical assistance. www.mainerdc.org/mrdc1.

Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities - is the professional association for administrators of special education in the State of Maine. MADSED serves as a resource for Maine schools and agencies who serve exceptional children. It represents special education within the State of Maine and offers quality professional development for special education teachers and administrators via numerous workshops and conferences on subjects ranging from special education law to the latest on IDEA to the best research on educating children with disabilities. MADSED provides professional support for educators who care for or teach children with any kind of disability, including various physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities, facilitates communication and collegial support, and networks with other state leadership organizations. http://www.madsec.org.
Maine Child Care Directors Association - is a provider organization that has been around for over 30 years. MCCDA is committed to maintaining and expanding a high quality, accessible and affordable child care system in Maine that is equally responsive to the needs of children, families and providers. Of special concern are the needs of children at risk and those who live in poverty. Our membership dues pay for our contract with a lobbying firm who is active on our behalf in Augusta, our affiliate membership to USA for Child Care, who is active in Washington, D.C. and our Annual Symposium for training, visioning and fun. We welcome new individual members, as well as for-profit and not-for-profit organizations as members. For more information, contact picw@gwi.net or call 207-766-2854.

Maine Division of Early Childhood – is a subdivision of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), a national, non-profit membership organization designed for individuals who work with, or on behalf of, children with special needs, birth through age eight, and their families. Founded in 1973, DEC is dedicated to promoting policies and practices that support families and enhance the optimal development of children. Children with special needs include those who have disabilities, developmental delays, are gifted/talented, and are at risk of future developmental problems.

Maine Head Start Directors Association – is a Head Start provider organization. The MHSDA vision is that every family who needs child care will be able to access quality child care in the setting of their choice and every child and family in need of comprehensive early care and education services will be able to access them. Because Head Start is a community-based program, services are tailored to meet the unique needs of the communities where the service is provided. Maine’s Head Start Directors set the highest standards for quality early care and education and value the Head Start philosophy which recognizes the empowerment of parents as the prime educators of their children, comprehensive services as a necessity for young children and their families, community organizations response to local needs, and support for staff in their roles as caregivers. For more information, contact Chris Rallis at chris.m.rallis@maine.gov or
Jeanie Mills at jeaniem@childandfamilyopp.com.

Maine Principals’ Association - is a private, educational, nonprofit corporation with voluntary membership that is comprised of two distinct divisions. Consisting of 900 members, the Division of Professional Activities is open to elementary, middle/junior high and high school principals, assistant principals, vocational directors, assistant vocational directors and other administrators who function primarily as building principals or assistant principals. Associate membership is open to former administrators, graduate students enrolled in administrative certification programs, and other individuals interested in school administration. The Professional Division has over 900 members. Membership in the Division of Interscholastic Activities is open to
public and private high schools statewide for the purpose of promoting, organizing, and regulating interscholastic activities in the state of Maine. http://www.mpa.cc.

Maine Roads Accreditation Facilitation Project – is funded by the Office of Child Care and Head Start to provide financial support and technical assistance to licensed family child care providers, child care centers and school-age programs in Maine who wish to seek accreditation. The accrediting bodies include the National Association of Family Child Care - for family child care providers, National Association for the Education of Young Children - for center-based child care, and National School-Age Care Alliance - for providers of school-age care. http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/maineroads

Maine School Management Association -is a statewide, non-profit federation of local school boards and superintendents consisting of the Maine School Boards Association and the Maine School Superintendents Association. MSMA serves as an advocate for the interests of the state’s public school students and school units and provides programs and services that support the needs of the membership. The policies and direction of the Maine School Management Association are established by the MSMA Action and Policy Committees. The MSBA and MSSA representatives on these committees make decisions vital to the interests of all local school boards and superintendents served by the MSMA staff.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) - is a professional organization for early childhood educators serving children birth to age 8. www.naeyc.org.

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) - is a formally organized advocate for family childcare, providing technical assistance for family childcare associations, professional development and leadership. http://www.nafcc.org/about.

Office of Child Care and Head Start - is responsible for the development and improvement of child care resources across the state. It administers, evaluates and directs the expenditures of state and federal dollars for the provision of child care. The office manages grants, develops and manages programs to improve the quality of child care and provides technical assistance concerning child care. The legislature established the Office of Child Care and Head Start within the Community Services Center of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/ec/occhs/index.shtml.

Task Force on Early Childhood - was first established in the mid-1990’s as a subgroup of the Children’s Cabinet to work on the coordination of home visiting programs into a statewide home visiting system. It became the Task Force to Study Strategies to Support Parents as Children’s First Teachers through a Legislative resolve in 1997.

Four Year Old program Info

2005 Maine Children's Congress

Glossary of Terms - Text Version