Appendix A_Information Session Email

Appendix A – Information Session Email

Early Care and Education Social and Emotional Learning

Breakthrough Series Collaborative

Information Session Announcement

We are pleased to share information about a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) focused on creating positive social and emotional learning in local early care and education programs. This year-long BSC is being sponsored by a project called the Culture of Continuous Learning (CCL) Project, funded by the federal Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, to assess the feasibility of implementing a BSC in child care and Head Start settings. This BSC expects to engage up to 12 programs over a one-year period as they focus on making improvements in their practices to support children’s social and emotional learning (SEL). We plan to use the Pyramid Model from the Center for the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL). The Pyramid model has been extensively studied in early childhood and early childhood special education settings, and is used widely in child care and Head Start programs. The Breakthrough Series Collaborative methodology differs from other ECE quality improvement initiatives as it supports change by building capacity and recognizing leaders across an organization, rather than through a single coach or consultant. The model promotes change through collaborative teams that include staff at all levels and families, and engages teams in problem-solving that takes local context into account. A goal is to spread and sustain change in the use of evidence-based practices. The model has supported practice and process improvements in the health, child trauma, and child welfare fields, but has not yet been widely tested in ECE.

The three overarching aims of this BSC are to:

1. Increase the number of classrooms that provide high quality, SEL environments

2. Increase children's social emotional competence

3. Reduce challenging behaviors

We are offering two in-person information sessions to share information about the BSC and learn about the work of your programs and interests in promoting children’s social and emotional learning and development. An information session will also be made available in an online Webinar format to programs that are interested in learning more, but cannot attend an in-person session. These information sessions will last about 1.5 hours and will cover the following information:

• About this BSC: Part of the CCL Project

• What Is a BSC? (Background and Goals – generally)

• BSC Mission and Scope / Collaborative Change Framework

• Discussion around BSC expectations and benefits

• Timeline and key dates for the CCL Project

• Question & Answer Discussion

• We will also ask you to complete a Strengths and Needs Assessment about your program, which will take no more than 20 minutes and can be completed during the session or at your convenience.

Please note the following key dates:

• Date #1, #2, #3 – Informational Conference Call/Webinar and Face to Face Sessions

Please direct any questions about this initiative to [name] Project Manager, via email at [email]. You may also forward this information to colleagues in your own or other centers / programs who may be interested in this opportunity.

If you plan to attend one of these sessions, please use the link below to RSVP so that we can plan accordingly. [Insert RSVP link with the following information: Name, Program/Center, Role/Title, # of people planning to attend from program/center, email address, phone number]

Best,

The described collection of information is voluntary and your responses will be kept private. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB number for this information collection is 0970-0356 and the expiration date is 03/31/2018.

[NAME]