Instructions

Part A:

Investigate NYS OCFS licensing regulations OR the guiding rules your program is expected to follow.

Part B:

Investigate the current trend toward individual state's Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS's). Information is available at the National Child Care Information Center's web site,Administration for Children & Families. Then explore NY's program,QualityStarsNY.

Part C:

From guidelines for teacher preparation through safety standards, NAEYC Accreditation ensures that programs are safe, well prepared, and intentional about ensuring children's success. Investigate NAEYC Accreditation Criteria & Procedures as the highest standard of care. Focusing on each of the ten areas addressed in the accreditation criteria.

Once you have explored the OCFS regulations that set the minimum standards for health and safety, QualityStarsNY which helps program meet higher standards across all areas of the program in New York, and finally NAEYC Accreditation, which is focused on the highest standards of quality care and programming - it's time to begin your written assignment. Apply this knowledge as youbegin to develop your program (or imagined program) and staff handbook (this will be submitted with the final project). In an essay format, please develop the first three sections of a staff handbook and/or provide a rationale for any recommended changes, and be sure to include a header for each section:

1. Based on what you learned about quality programming for young children, define thevision and mission statementsfor a program. If you already have them, revisit them. Do they need to be updated or edited? These should be followed by a description of the program (without using the program's name). Consider this the first page of a handbook that will be shared with current parents, staff, and potential customers.
2. Organizational design- whether the program is a stand-alone organization or one site of many for a large organization, start to think about the management structure and/or communication structure. You may use the OCFS definitions of staff structure if it's helpful; executive director, head teacher, teacher assistant, teacher aide, etc. How is your program structured?
3. Noteworthy practices/policies/procedures- management, human resource, human relations. Throughout the course you will continue to develop this staff handbook. Please refer toCaring for our children: National health and safety performance standards, guidelines for early care, and education programsfor a detailed list of common policies (page 372). For this assignment, develop a table of contents that includes 6-8 noteworthy practices/policies/procedures that you will focus on during this course. You will continue to develop these policies along with others as you develop the staff handbook, and submit them with your final project.

Evaluation

To seehow your assignment will be evaluated, please review thewritten assignment rubric.

General Written Assignment Instructions

Your written assignment is intended to test your understanding of important concepts and to sharpen your intellectual skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application. The intent of the written assignment is to provide an opportunity to more fully describe, explain, and analyze the books and other sources. Be sure to cite any and all sources correctly so that your academic integrity is not called into question. Throughout this course, these resources will enable you to successfully complete written assignments.