Empowering Preschool Quality
About EPQ
This was created to provide resources for early childhood professionals and the trainers providing professional development for them.
With the strong focus on early childhood education in recent years the EPQ Project is striving to meet the needs of teachers who are continually working to better serve young children. As the EPQ Project continues to grow, content will be added and revised as appropriate to meet the changing needs of teaching professionals and trainers.
As you explore this site, you will find a wealth of information including:
- Video examples of children and teachers in classroom settings that relate to specific
- Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS)
- Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards (IQPPS)
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards and Accreditation Criteria
- A page for Trainers with resources to support their work
Although this work is based primarily on Iowa standards, the information contained in this web site is useful to early childhood professionals, consultants, or professional development providers outside of Iowa. The video examples illustrate high-quality preschool practices and will reflect the standards adopted by most states.
The EPQ Project was developed to help early childhood professionals and trainers achieve ever higher levels of excellence. You can help the EPQ Project achieve this by sharing your suggestions on how we can improve via our comment form.
Education Standards
The EPQ videos do not align with the current standards.
The State of Iowa has written Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) for children ages birth to five years. These standards fulfill a requirement of the federal government. Standards are "statements that describe expectations for the learning and development of young children" (Early Childhood Education Assessment Consortium, 2003).
Iowa's QPPS were developed as a beginning point for cc programs to engage in of a continuum of to implement quality standards for early childhood programs to work toward accreditation with NAEYC program standards and criteria. The QPPS were designed to be used with programs having funding linked to the Iowa Department of Education including those operated by local school districts: Early Childhood Special Education, Title I, and district operated preschools and childcare centers. In addition, community based early childhood programs were considered necessary to be included in this pool of programs since preschoolers with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) need to receive special education services in the least restrictive environment (setting with typical peers).
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8. NAEYC is committed to becoming an increasingly high performing and inclusive organization.
Funding
The Empowering Preschool Quality (EPQ) project is funded by a grant from the Iowa Community Empowerment.
The goal of this grant-funded project is to provide a common vision for high-quality preschool programs in Iowa by providing materials to supplement current early childhood trainings in Iowa. There are three components to the grant:
- DVD with video clips of Iowa preschool classrooms illustrating the Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) and the Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards (IQPPS) in action.
- A facilitator's guide to accompany the DVD and provide ideas for how to use the clips and in indices of clips by standard (IELS, IQPPS, and NAEYC) and video title.
- A website with the video clips and other information related to high-quality preschool.
These materials are designed to be integrated with current trainings or classes in early childhood. The focus on a common set of standards provides a vision for Iowa preschool programs as we strive to provide a strong foundation for our children.
Resources
Iowa Early Learning Standards
For children ages birth through five years.
Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards
Designed to be used with programs having funding linked to the Iowa Department of Education including those operated by local school districts.
A voluntary child care rating system for child development homes, licensed child care centers and preschools, and Child care programs that are operated by school districts.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Each standard describes an essential element that together with the other nine standards provide a definition of quality for child care, preschools, and kindergarten program.
Acknowledgments
This project could not have been a success without help from the following:
Preschool Programs
- CAL Community School District
- Clear Lake Community School District
- Hampton Community School District
- Iowa State University Laboratory School
- Marshalltown Area Catholic School
- Mason City Community School District
- Mount Ayr Community Schools
- South Winneshiek Community School District
- St. Malachy Catholic School
- University of Northern Iowa Child Development Center
- Waterloo Community School District
Focus Group Participants
- Sarah Boleyn
- Curt Buhr
- Dawn Collins
- Pam Elwood
- Kris Engstrom
- Johnna Haggerty
- Paula Lee
- Penny Milburn
- Carol Rainforth
- Judy Knox Russell
- Mary Schertz
- Lori Tapke
- Terry Wangberg
- Gail Wilker
