PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
The Education Team is your go-to for connection to continued education for you and your educators. Our specialists are certified in a variety of training programs offered by the Florida Department of Education, Division of Early Learning, Teach Stone, Brookes ASQ, and a wide compliment of training internally developed in partnership with our Professional Learning Advisory Committee.
You can view the menu of training topics and delivery options by clicking the links below.
If you or your staff would like to be connected to additional learning opportunities, you may use the links provided below or reach out to the Education Services Team through Redline.
| Emergent Literacy Micro-Credentialing | TEACH Early Childhood Scholarship | Gulf Coast State College CDA |
| Gulf Coast State College FCCPC | Chipola College FCCPC |
If you would like to join our Professional Learning Advisory Committee, you can send in a request to join through Redline.
VPK PROGRESS MONITORING: FAST, STAR EARLY LITERACY ASSESSMENT
The Education Services team is proud to serve as your site administrator, in partnership with the Division of Early Learning, for VPK Progress Monitoring. Our team is able to assist VPK providers in accessing required test administrator training, provide access support in the FAST-testing site, and provide reminders of testing windows. The team can also provide your educators with support in reading and interpreting the testing data once each PM window closes.
After PM1 and PM2, the team will reach out with resource information that you can share with the families of children whose score qualifies them for programs like the New Worlds Reading Initiative and the New Worlds Reading Scholarship. Following the conclusion of VPK and PM3, the team will also reach out to families whose children score in the 25th percentile or below to notify them that their child is eligible for the VPK Summer Bridge program.
Click the links below for quick access to information about Renaissance and the Educator Academy training.
| Renaissance Quick Reference Guide | Resources and Reports FAST STAR Early Literacy | Educator Academy Enrollment Guide |
SR AND VPK PROGRAM ASSESSMENTS: CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT SCORING SYSTEM (CLASS)
In the State of Florida, School Readiness and Voluntary Prekindergarten contracted child care businesses undergo an annual program assessment using TeachStone’s proprietary CLASS® tool. CLASS® is an observation-based tool that measures the quality of teacher-child interactions in the classroom.
Administered by trained, certified observers, the CLASS® tool measures how classroom interactions and experiences help children develop language and learn new concepts, how the classroom is organized to help focus children’s attention, manage time, guide behavior. The tool also gauges the responsiveness and sensitivity of the classroom environment to children’s emotions, which helps develop their ability to interact with others.
Research shows that the quality of teacher-child interactions has a direct impact on child outcomes and the quality of early learning programs. The effectiveness of early teacher-child interactions can positively impact children’s cognitive development, with the effects lasting through the 3rd grade. Proof-positive that the work you do everyday is the most important when it comes to a child’s future success.
Starting in the 2026-2027 program year, the Florida Department of Education, Division of Early Learning has required that all program assessments for 3-year-old, 4-year-old, and VPK classrooms are observed using the PreK 2nd Edition CLASS tool. Our local observers have been hard at work making this transition through training, practice, and recertification and are ready to launch on July 1, 2026. You will find the crosswalk between the 2008 edition and 2nd edition tools linked below.
Use the Professional Learning Request Form above to request CLASS focused training for you and your staff.
CHILD SERVICES
The Coalition has a Child Services Specialist on staff that serve as your local support in completing ASQ’s, providing support and technical assistance for educators who are experiencing challenges in the classroom, and resources for parents of children identified as needing a little extra support.
To speak with the Child Services Specialist please call toll free 1-866-269-3022, or reach out through the Warmline for support.
WARMLINE
Warmline Services are available to any child aged birth to five years old in a child care setting contracted with ELCNWF. The Warmline is a request for a Child Services Specialist with ELCNWF to come out to the center and conduct an observation on a child due to developmental and/or social and emotional delays. All services provided by Warmline are free of charge. Warmlines can be completed by child care administrative staff, educators, parents, or other ELCNWF staff. To complete a warmline request after a child is enrolled into your childcare center, please click the following button:
For more information regarding Child Services and the Warmline, please contact [email protected].
SupportED
The SupportED program is a new and innovative addition to the Child Services array of support for educators. Currently in its pilot year, staff working on this program are testing various strategies that can be used to immediately respond to major behaviors that occur in the early learning classroom. Functioning as an emergency response program, staff will push into classrooms and support educators through the process of diffusing chaos and helping everyone get back to calm.
While we are still in the very early stages of this program, we are hopeful that this approach will help to reduce big behaviors, expulsion rates in our local ecosystem of early learning programs and ensure that every child is ready to learn when they enter the kindergarten classroom.
If you are interested in having your program participate in this pilot program, apply by clicking the button below. Space is limited to 7 programs for the first year, and applications are due by July 31, 2026.