Communicate with Diplomacy and Tact, and Collectively

Communicating with Diplomacy and Tact, and Collectively 

Hello, this is Sharon Damore, Executive Director, Association of Illinois Montessori Schools (AIMS).  I am part of the new Illinois State Coalition and we have selected our issue as QRIS.  You might have viewed my recent letter to our Heads/Principals of AIMS member schools to ask them to get educated in the QRIS process in Illinois, ExeleRate Illinois, which includes training on the environmental rating scales (on this website:  go to Resources, click How to, and click on AIMS letter).

Being a good model, I have taken the training on the ECERS/ITERS and PAS in the past few weeks.  And as a result, I learned a valuable lesson that I know I need to pass on to my constituents here in Illinois.  And maybe to you.

We are at a juncture in Illinois where we are not quite ready to speak against the QRIS rating system or to make recommendations even to tweak. But we are learning quickly (from many of you).

When the trainers identified me as Montessori, I was subject to some probing and a couple of disparaging comments that I wasn’t quite prepared for (how are Montessori schools doing with QRIS or I heard there may be some issue with glass and safety?).   With all questions, I smiled, the politician in me “kicked in” and I gave responses such as “well, you will find Montessori a little different but it is a long-time, well respected, evidence based curriculum” or “that’s interesting that you should mention that, wouldn’t it be helpful for the validation to include someone with some Montessori training?”

So, the point is, I could have been defensive and told the individuals that they didn’t know what they were talking about.  BUT I didn’t and I walked away without confrontation but left behind some positive statements about Montessori education. 

Now I will have an adapted strategy that I need to communicate to my Illinis Montessori colleagues:  take the training, listen, take good notes, respond diplomatically.  Not the time to argue…. We represent one another.

And now, once a few of us are trained, we will organize our task force and further develop our strategy.  But we will respond collectively, and constructively, not as individuals, but as one voice in Illinois. 

Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge

The US Department of Education has announced the 16 states that have applied for the next phase of Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge grants.These grants are used to improve and increase high quality early childhood programs, set standards for those programs, and to provide a system of evaluation of those programs that can be shared with the public. QRIS is the mechanism for these evaluations and the resulting "ratings" are being actively marketed to the public.

The new applications for RTT-ELC have been received by:
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
the District of Columbia
Georgia
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Vermont

The states winning these grants will be announced in December and awards will be from $37.5 to $75 million dollars.

If you live in one of these states, now is the time to prepare. Organize your state group/coalition for action. Begin learning about the QRIS system in your state- what is it, what are the standards, which tools are being considered, what does roll out look like? We've found that even states with existing QRIS are taking a second look and revising their systems. This makes for a workable opportunity for the Montessori community.

If there is no current Montessori group in your state, we need you to start one! Check out the how-to under Resources, or contact us on how to get started. It's worthwhile, useful, a great way to connect with other Montessori educators, and can be a lot of fun.

We'll keep you posted about specific action your group can take to protect high quality Montessori education in your state. A great starting place is to complete a state census of all Montessori programs or schools in your state (think inclusive for now). Look at the How To Do A State Census under  Resources. What seems like a daunting task really isn't if you take it one step at a time and get volunteers to help. It can actually be a great way to strengthen your Montessori community.

Continue to share your questions, needs, comments, and experience with us through your blog comments and emails.

Next Steps!

It's been wonderful hearing from so many of you about the advocacy work you are planning or doing in your state. There are lots of great things happening!

The QRIS Subcommittee will be focusing on two advocacy agenda items over the next several weeks. With QRIS, many states have created a professional registry that ranks early childhood teachers based on education and experience. We believe that a Montessori credential from a MACTE approved teacher education program should result in a ranking of "highly qualified" on these state rankings. We will be examining the criteria and expectations for this ranking with the goal of providing a comprehensive look at the Montessori ECE credential to share with state QRIS managers.
You can help in this effort. Let us know if the Montessori ECE credential is recognized in your state and at what level. What was the process for this recognition? How does this impact required professional development?

Our second agenda item will be gaining the approval for the Montessori ECE curriculum. There are states who already recognize the Montessori curriculum as an approved state curriculum. If your state is one, share how that came to be. Do you have a Montessori alignment with your state's ECE standards? What state agency grants this approval? Share with us what you know, or share your questions so we know better what to ask in our state.

By sharing our work and our experiences with one another we benefit from each other's successes, or might have ideas to help one another with the hurdles.

Did you have a good conversation with someone at the QRIS office? Were you able to work through a confusion or help someone better understand Montessori education? Has your state group had good luck with a state census? What is your plan for moving forward? Share your comments, tell your story, let us know how things are going in your state.

This is our Montessori community and together we can support Montessori education.

Questions, Comments? Tell us what you need

Let us know what you learned from the QRIS webinar. What would you like now? Leave your questions and comments by clicking on the Comment Link.