classroom-support

Professional Learning: Classroom Support

Whether you’re an educator looking to enhance your skills, get support with a specific challenge, or an employer seeking to create a supportive environment for educators, this page contains information on topics such as inclusion, quality improvement, and various trainings available.

Childcare Resource and Referral (CCR&R)

Childcare Resource and Referral (CCR&R) services promote the health, safety, and development of young children in childcare settings as part of Oregon’s Early Learning System. They are responsible for providing a wide variety of program services through professional development and collaboration with community partners to align and coordinate local early learning systems.

They serve as community experts for childcare systems and the Early Learning Workforce. Their work prioritizes support for Early Educators across all program types participation in Professional Development opportunities.

Regional CCR&Rs provide support for professional development training, starting and maintaining a childcare business, coaching and technical assistance, and community knowledge of the childcare system.

Spark is our state’s Quality Recognition & Improvement System

Created in 2013 to assess, improve, and communicate to families about the quality level of child care, preschool, and school-age care and education programs throughout Oregon.

Spark’s primary goal is to help new and existing programs offer the best care and education services possible to children and families in Oregon. Running a high-quality program requires careful consideration and planning in the following areas:

Children’s learning and development
Health and safety
Personnel qualifications
Family partnerships
Administration and business

We call these areas “domains” and each domain includes a set of standards. Standards are guidelines that describe what high-quality care and education programs should be doing to support children, families, staff, and their businesses. Most standards have three levels of varying difficulty.

Spark offers a structured process for assessing each standard, creating plans for improvement, and offering financial support to help programs implement their plans. The process also includes a portfolio that programs complete to show how they are meeting each standard.

When programs have completed their portfolios, they can submit them for review. Programs that meet or exceed the requirements for each standard will receive a 3-, 4-, or 5-star rating as well as an incentive payment.

Available Support

Programs do not have to go through the Spark process alone. Guidance and support are available in many ways including, but not limited to, Quality Improvement Specialists that work at Child Care Resource & Referral offices and the Spark Team at Western Oregon University.

Spark Redesign

Spark has been operating since 2013 and is currently undergoing a redesign process. The redesign process will be led in partnership with families and adults caring for and educating young children in a variety of settings including homes and centers.

Our goal is to redesign Spark together to become a more equitable, inclusive, and accessible system that truly supports responsive care and education services with a strong focus on:

Connection and alignment to the bigger Early Learning System
Continuous improvement
Recognition of efforts as well as accomplishments

Suspension and Expulsion Prevention

What if instead of calling it the “Suspension and Expulsion Prevention Program”, we called it the “making sure ECE providers have the training, coaching, consultation, and other supports they need to be able to support every child” program?

In July 2021, the passing of HB 2166 and SB 236 by Oregon legislature established the Early Childhood Suspension and Expulsion Prevention Program and launched a study on Oregon’s use of suspension and expulsion in early childhood care and education programs. In the 2022 Legislative Session, HB 5202 approved the full $5.8 million funding for the program.

Learn more on the Suspension and Expulsion Prevention page.

Inclusive Partners

Inclusive Partners is a statewide program. We are funded through the Oregon Department of Education, Department of Early Learning and Care, and Oregon’s Department of Human Services. We are a program that supports inclusive practices in child care settings.

We work with child care providers caring for children who need additional accommodations to support inclusive care. We offer these supports for children and youth from birth through age 17. Families, child care providers and other partners are able to make requests for our assistance at no cost.

Inclusive Partners helps to promote and support inclusive practices by offering technical assistance / consultation services, a financial supplement (see DHS Eligibility Requirements), and professional development opportunities for providers.

Learn more on the Inclusive Partners page.