Essential Fellowship

Overview

Developed by Start Early, Essential Fellowship (EF) is a professional development opportunity that helps people who give technical assistance (TA) to early learning program leaders and educators.

Essential Fellowship provides foundational knowledge on the characteristics and drivers of program quality; strategies to support leaders’ move towards greater program quality; and tools (such as protocols) for supporting programs through technical assistance.

Essential Fellowship also provides knowledge about the Early Education Essentials system and uses data to inform program goals and decisions, and measure impact. Six cohorts (450+ participants in total) have gone through the program in Oregon, including both Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) staff and other early learning system leaders.

The current Essential Fellowship framework comprises several experiences:

Four training sessions (conducted virtually over two to four months)
- Foundations of Instructional Leadership
- Data
- Team Lesson Planning
- Collaborative Groups
Transfer-to-practice supports (six months)
- Monthly TA sessions
- Monthly Community of Practices
- Access to additional resources

In 2022, Oregon’s first Essential Fellowship Authorized Core of Trainers (EFACT) was created. Currently, EFACT Is focus on providing Essential Fellowship training to professional learning professionals. Professional Learning professionals are encouraged to use Essential Fellowship practices, skills and tools on consultation with early learning instructional leaders, as part of their facilitation Focus Child Care Networks, and as a framework for job embedded professional learning.

Early learning owners and employers who are interested in learning more can contact their local CCR&R.

Oregon CCR&R Map

Essential Fellowship is a research-based professional learning experience that has demonstrated an ability to support instructional leaders and educators engaged in programmatic continuous quality improvement.

Those participating in this training and technical assistance learn a variety of tools, protocols and processes designed to support continuous quality improvement in the Early Education Essentials. When implementing Essential Fellowship with programs and instructional leaders, professional learning practitioners can identify the best element for the situation. Essential Fellowship is a flexible program that can be adjusted within Oregon’s mixed-delivery system. Based on the identified Early Education Essentials, Essential Fellowship provides an avenue to common language, a shared understanding of quality, and tools that support active inquiry cycles for improvement. For these reasons, and in support of the four cohorts of professional learning practitioners, programs leaders, and system leaders during the last four years, we are continuing to install Essential Fellowship into our professional learning system.

System goals of installation of Essential Fellowship:

Skilled and knowledgeable Essential Fellowship Authorized Core of Trainers (EFACT) working directly with professional learning providers and programs
Increased program quality as demonstrated by Early Education Essentials
Shared understanding and language to support drivers of program quality across program type and funding streams
With consistent implementation, in five years we will have these outcomes:
1. All technical assistance practitioners working with publicly funded programs have participated in an Essential Fellowship training program and ongoing technical assistance to support transfer to practice.
2. Instructional leadership for ELD/DELC-funded programs (Preschool Promise and Oregon Pre-Kindergarten) have participated in an Essential Fellowship training program and ongoing technical assistance to support transfer to practice.
3. Technical assistance practitioners use Essential Fellowship tools and protocols within technical assistance experience, including coaching and Focus Child Care Networks.

Essential Fellowship Theory of Change

Essential Fellowship is an “individualized, immersive training experience…for early education leaders.1“ Leaders go through cycles of learning geared to address critical drivers for program and child outcomes: data dialogue, collaboration routines, and effective team educational planning. Through the collaborative effort of Early Learning System Initiative (ELSI) at Oregon State University, The Research Institute (TRI) at Western Oregon University, the Professional Learning System Team (PLST) and Community System Team (CST) at ELD/DELC, professional learning practitioners, and program instructional leaders, we will see an increase in overall program quality.

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.