WHAT'S NEW

VPK Enhanced Field System (EFS) Seminar and 2006-09 ELC Coalition Plan Template and Guidance Document( 2/18/08 )

Agency for Workforce Innovation, Office of Early Learning

2007 Florida Early Learning Quality Initiative Symposium

May 16-18, 2007

The Agency for Workforce Innovation, Office of Early Learning works to support families and ensure children have quality care and early learning opportunities. The 2007 Florida Early Learning Quality Initiative Symposium is an annual symposium that provides high-level professional sessions for implementing and guiding quality programs and services for children and families.  Recognizing that the responsibility for school readiness lies not with children, but with the adults who care for them and the systems that support them, the Symposium epitomizes the greatness of this state--citizens working for a common goal--to make Florida the premier early education state with the highest quality services to children and families.

The Florida Early Learning Quality Initiative Symposium provides an opportunity for networking, information sharing, and professional development opportunities to guide our early learning efforts, direct quality improvement, and ensure that we are meeting the differing needs of rural and urban communities. Speakers include national experts, valued trainers, researchers, and workforce professionals leading discussions on child development, early learning and care, collaboration, cultural diversity, quality initiatives, and service delivery improvement strategies.

Why is the Symposium Critically Important?

• Florida is home to more than one million children younger than five and of these approximately 600,000 attend some type of early learning program.  We have promised them they will be offered the best educational opportunities in the nation.
• Acknowledging the significant importance of early education in a child’s development, researchers have demonstrated that children who begin learning in early childhood become much better learners once they arrive in the classroom. Our goal is to have all children in Florida eager to learn and ready to succeed when they enter kindergarten.

To accomplish this, the Annual Symposium will address topics and challenges relating to the delivery of programs and services for Florida’s children and families. We recognize, respect, and value the important work of early learning and have developed a symposium that will allow participants to leave the conference encouraged by and equipped with current and practical best practices.  

Who attends the Symposium?

This event is open to all early education professionals, including those working for: state agencies; early learning coalitions;   universities and community colleges; Head Start/Early Head Start; child care programs; and other agencies serving young children and their families. The Symposium brings together over 400 professionals annually to work on and establish community partnerships that will result in improved services to children and families in Florida.

To register:

1. www.ttas.org.

2. Click online registration

3. Click on 2007 Florida Early Learning Quality Initiative Symposium

QRS Meeting in Tampa, Florida (.zip file and requires a zip program to open) (9/11/06)

QRS Meeting in Orlando, Florida (.zip file and requires a zip program to open) (8/03/06)
National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC) Fact Sheets and Papers

DOE Emergent Literacy Course (12/09/05) 

T.E.A.C.H. Report (4/12/06)

Foundations and Match Information (3/17/06)

VPK Parent Survey (1/11/06) 

VPK Parent Survey Questions & Results (1/19/06)

VPK Provider Survey (3/13/06)

VPK Provider Survey Questions & Results (3/13/06)