MICHIGAN Listen and Learn Symposium

Sharing Community Based Birth to Five Strategies

Brought to you by the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5)

July 22, 2020

8:30—2:30

Register at https://bit.ly/MISymposium

Administered out of the Office of Great Start/Early Childhood Development & Family Education within Michigan Department of Education

Overview:

Join the Michigan Department of Education/Office of Great Start for a free, virtual Listen and Learn Symposium to support equitable and innovative approaches to coordinated enrollment, early literacy, transitions and community engagement.

Participants will hear firsthand challenges and triumphs related to early childhood innovations and benefit from the storytelling, panel discussions, Q&A, and discussion groups.

Participants will:

• Gain valuable knowledge about topics related to providing high-quality early learning experiences
• Learn from local innovators and share experiences implementing best practices
• Create connections and generate support with community members

Keynote Speakers

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, PhD

Associate Vice President of Policy at the Erikson Institute

Dr. Pacione-Zayas is credited with establishing The Early Childhood Leadership Academy for Illinois leaders seeking learning experiences to enhance their capacity to inform early childhood policy. She also directs the Community Data Lab which equips local leaders with precise and accessible data on child well-being to inform systems coordination, resource allocation, and policy through the Early Development Instrument Pilot Project and Risk and Reach Project. Her work is informed by over a decade of experience leading education policy and community education initiatives in Illinois’s Latinx communities.

Tonja Rucker

Program Director for Early Childhood Success in the Institute for Youth Education and Families at the National League of Cities

Tonja Rucker is responsible for developing and overseeing implementation of the Institute’s work plans and long-term strategies for early education. Tonja works directly with mayors, city councilmembers, and other municipal officials in creating local systems of support for parents, children, and youth in their communities. By helping cities develop the necessary local infrastructure and providing concrete ideas and tools for policy and programmatic action, a significant number of cities and towns have positioned themselves as models for investing in children’s healthy growth and development.

Conference Sessions

Universal behavioral and developmental screening

Are you wanting to learn more about universal behavioral and developmental screening in a variety of settings? Panelists in this session will share successful community-specific  strategies to remove barriers and increase access to universal behavioral and developmental screening for all infants, toddlers and preschoolers in their communities.

No-wrong-door frameworks and  centralized intake, coordinated  recruitment, and enrollment

Are you interested in learning how other communities are partnering with families as they navigate local programs and services? Panelists in this session will share locally developed strategies to support families as they seek programs and services that meet their needs through leveraging strong local leadership, cross sector coordination, and culturally responsive communication.

Support for transitions

Are you wondering how children and families are supported as they transition through the early childhood system? Panelists in this session will discuss how they are leveraging cross-agency coordination, as well as timely and culturally responsive communication with families, and a commitment to ensuring children and families experience seamless transitions.

Early literacy

Do you want to hear how other communities are promoting early language and literacy supports with children and families? Panelists  in this session will share innovative strategies to provide linguistically and culturally responsive early literacy supports to their communities.

Family and Community Engagement

Are you expanding your family and community engagement efforts and want to know more about successful strategies in other parts of the state? Panelists will describe how they support families as leaders and equitable partners in their child’s care and education. Additionally, panelists will share effective practices on how to promote families to be key decision-makers within early childhood systems as a whole.

Symposium Schedule

8:30—9:00

Opening remarks and

Keynote Speaker: Cristina Pacione-Zayas, PhD

9:00—9:20

Exhibition Hall Exploration

9:20—11:00

Morning Session

Participants select one session and will participate in a brief Content Overview,

Storytelling session, Panel discussion, Q & A and Regional Networking

11:00—11:30

Resources and Idea Sharing

11:30—12:00

LUNCH BREAK

12:00—12:20

Afternoon Keynote Speaker: Tonja Rucker

12:20—2:00

Afternoon Session

Participants select one session and will participate in a brief Content Overview,

Storytelling session, Panel discussion, Q & A and Regional Networking

2:00—2:30

Closing Remarks from the Office of Great Start