The Child Development Division partnered with Building Bright Futures and the Children's Equity Project through the Preschool Development Grant (PDG) to identify resources for early educators on supporting equity in their programs. We’ve designed this newsletter to provide information and resources you can use to support your work in implementing the Vermont Guiding Principles (VTGP): Supporting Each and Every Young Child and Family’s Full and Equitable Participation.
The focus of these resources is on how to use the Vermont Guiding Principles to promote and embed equity, inclusion, and diversity within your program. The Guiding Principles describe what individuals, organizations, and communities understand and do to realize the promise of each and every young Vermont child. They highlight explicit, intentional, and strengths-based practices that are respectful of and responsive to child, family, and community values, priorities, and beliefs. They are consistent with relevant state and national laws and policies. These principles articulate Vermont’s commitment to fully include each and every child and their family in a continuum of meaningful experiences to ensure their health, mental health, safety, happiness, and success now and into the future.
- Who am I? Developing a Sense of Self and Belonging the article from Zero to Three is an excerpt from a course that supports development of the essential skills educators need to optimize the social–emotional, cognitive, and language and literacy development of all infants and toddlers.
- 2020 Equity in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Webinar Series promotes equity by building awareness of the impact of institutional racism and other forms of bias on the experiences of children and families from marginalized communities.
- Let's Talk! Webinar: Creating Anti-Racist Early Childhood Spaces provides panel discussions related to equity, inappropriate discipline practices, and effective strategies. This webinar presents strategies for creating an anti-racist environment to promote the development of healthy racial identities.
- Effective Practice Guides: Sense of Identity and Belonging from the Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center provides information about domain-specific teaching practices that support children’s development. The guides show what these practices look like in early learning settings.
- NAEYC Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education Position Statement. This position statement is one of five foundational documents NAEYC has developed in collaboration with the early childhood profession.
- The Pyramid Model Equity Coaching Guide provides the classroom coach with a reflection tool to examine the implementation of Pyramid Model practices through the lens of culturally responsive practices and identification of implicit bias.