Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The National Black Child Development Institute was founded 40 years ago to help black children and families get the early education, health care, and other resources they needed to be successful in society.  I’m interested in making this organization about of my community of practice because of their PEP, Parent Empowerment Project.  Since my challenge focuses on increasing parental involvement during the early years, this program will help me implement ways to meet my challenge.  NBCDI developed a comprehensive curriculum designed for parents to improve the influence they have on the lives of their children.  In the program, parents learn what is best for the child, how to become better parents, and ways to use the resources available to help their child develop.  There are a series of 2 hour classes offered to the parents by training facilitators to empower parents to become engaged in the early learning process.  For more information, please visit http://www.nbcdi.org/what-we-do/parent-empowerment-project.  As of right now, NBCDI has an opening for a President and CEO.  In order for me to be eligible to apply for either position, I must have 15 years of leadership experience in addition to my advance degree.  Even though, I haven’t obtained supervisory experiences of this capacity yet, I have noticed that there isn’t an affiliation in the Dallas area.  With that in mind, I will explore ways to begin a chapter in my region. 

The Association for Early Learning Leaders is a nonprofit organization that has been serving ECE leaders since the early 80’s.  Their purpose is to promote leadership development that enhances the quality of the early learning program.  I am interested in adding this organization to my community of practice because it promotes meaningful collaboration among other ECE professionals not just within my community but within the nation as well.  It will also give me professional development opportunities to fortify my leadership skills after I’ve obtained my advanced degree.  In order to access the job opportunities listed on their website, you must become an ELL member.  Otherwise there is a $49 fee.  However, it does allow you to post employment or volunteer opportunities that you have within your program without a fee.  I am interested in the conferences they offer for owners and directors of child care programs along with the accreditation process they offer assistance with.  For more information, please visit http://www.earlylearningleaders.org/?page=Professional. 

The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organizations that focuses on advancing public education.  I would like to include them in my COP because of the resources and programs they have in place for partnering with parents.  The NEA offers positons in management, professional, and administrative support.  In addition, there are paid and unpaid intern positons.  Even though they have plenty of opportunities, none of the positions listed am I qualified to apply for due to lack of experience in leadership role.  However, I am interested in the fall internship because it provides hands on training to substantive programmatic work experiences that improve the quality of public education.  It will give me more in depth research experience, data analysis, participation with policy forums, and visits on Capitol Hill.  For more information, please visit https://neacareers.silkroad.com/.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

The three local or state organizations that appealed to me this are:  Commit2Dallas, Children’s Advocacy Center for Denton County, and Head Start of Greater Dallas. 

Early this year I applied to Commit2Dallas and was accepted in a long term professional development training that will begin this upcoming school year.  Their mission is to start within early childhood helping children become school ready and develop literacy skills by the end of third grade. 

CAC mission is to provide justice and healing for children who have been abused.  During this process, they offer emotional support, family services, therapy, counseling, and prevention education. 

I chose Head Start of Greater Dallas because of their high priority to partner with parents to ensure children get a great head start during the first five years of their life. 

As I look for job opportunities within each of these, Commit2Dallas have various ways to get involved but at this time there aren't any job announcements.  I also was unable to see any employment opportunities with the Children’s Advocacy Center but there are volunteer options.  The Head Start of Greater Dallas have teaching positions posted on their site.  At this level of my career, I am more interested in directing an early learning programs.  So, even though I didn't see any administrative positions in these three choices, there are plenty of director positions throughout the metropolis of Dallas.  I have acquired the education and skills needed to qualify me as a potential director for an already existing early learning center.  However, I would like to challenge myself to establish a new program within my community. 

For more information on the organizations I selected, please visit the following links:

http://www.hsgd.org/families-teachers

http://commit2dallas.org/cradle-to-career/

http://www.cacdc.org/about/mission/