Thursday, March 6, 2014
ECERS-R Montessori Adaptation Project
A group of Montessori educators from across the country has come together, in response to a conversation on the Montessori Forward List Serve, to solve a problem identified by many in our community. Although not always the case, many high quality Montessori schools have received a low star rating on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale - ECERS.
With the goal of working in collaboration with state level QRIS managers, the Montessori Adaptation Committee has worked together to create Rater's Notes to assist ECERS-R raters in making a valid, and accurate quality assessment when using the instrument in a Montessori classroom. These notes focus on how the goal of an item is met in a Montessori classroom and what to look for in the Montessori classroom in rating that item.
This Montessori specific manual is nearing its completion state and will soon be shared with those in the ECERS-R community for their feedback and input.
The goal is to reach consensus on the final document when the Adaptation committee meets in Dallas at the AMS conference.
This tool will be published on Montessori Forward for use by state organizations and their advocacy committee members in their work with QRIS managers in their states. We will create a How-To to accompany this template.
A huge thank you to this enthusiastic group of dedicated Montessorians!
Sunday, March 2, 2014
State Successes!
Hello Montessori Community,
Lots of great news to report. We hope you enjoy sharing in these many successes. Please share this with those who share our interest in the Montessori community. We welcome and invite participation and encourage others to sign up for blog post notifications and to join the List Serve.
From the Ohio Montessori Alliance: Montessori Week approved by the governor!
From the Ohio Montessori Alliance: Montessori Week approved by the governor!
From Heather Gerker in Kentucky
I wanted to send along the exciting news to you! I received the official proclamation from Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, recognizing this week as Montessori Education Week a few days ago! I’ve attached a jpg and below is a direct link of the proclamation:
If you are interested in helping Heather organize a Montessori group in KY, please email us at montforward@gmail.com and we will connect you with her.
The New Jersey state coalition has recently met with the co-chairs of the state QRIS and they were very amendable to future work with the Montessori community. Evidence for the Montessori credential was accepted and Montessori educators are now on the Standards Writing Committee.
Let us know if you want to be involved in New Jersey and we will connect you with the right people.
The Rhode Island Montessori Director's Association is working on bringing together all Montessori schools in the state. A small group recently met with representatives from the Division of Children, Youth and Families to discuss ratios and group sizes, mixed aged groups of children, and recognition of the Montessori credential. Great work! Who else wants to join in? Let us know.
Iowa Our state coalition representative in Iowa has shared with us a bill that is before the state legislature. When passed, the Montessori credential will be recognized and national organization accreditation will bring benefit to those schools. Stay tuned for the results.
If you would like information about how you can get a bill in front of your state legislature, let us know and we can share some stories from states who have done it.
California A group of Montessori educators from the Montessori Council of CA is preparing to interact with members of the state legislature to discuss QRIS and other rating scales. CA is really interesting in that it has approximately 16 regions which each have their own QRIS and marketing campaign. Makes advocacy tricky but their are groups working to support high quality Montessori education in the state.
This is a just a sampling of the great work going on across the country. Do you have exciting news from your state? Or would you like to share your concerns or questions? Write to montforward@gmail.com or post to montforwardgooglegroups@gmail.com.
Our community is growing! Invite your friends and colleagues.
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