What Is It?

Ready, Set, Grow! (RSG) is an accreditation facilitation project funded by The Plough Foundation. 

RSG mobilizes leaders in business, government, education and the childcare community of Memphis around the common purpose that every young child in Shelby County cared for outside of his or her home receives the highest quality care and education.

Why It Was Created?

Today, in excess of 70 percent of young children regularly attend non-parental childcare and early education settings. Numerous studies point to the fact that early childhood development as measured in cognitive, social, and emotional school readiness is a key indicator for social and academic success later in life. These indicators can be significantly improved by ensuring children are in quality early learning experiences in care settings.

A key RSG strategy is to enhance the quality childcare centers, using a national standard as set by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which, in turn, will raise community awareness of and demand for high quality childcare in Shelby County. RSG enables Directors and Staff of programs for young children to implement a Self-Study process, improvement plan, and documentation of practice. This process results in Accreditation by NAEYC.

As of June 1, 2008, 17 programs participating in RSG activities have become nationally accredited.

Who Does It Benefit?

First, and foremost, the primary beneficiaries of the RSG program are Shelby County’s children. The information gleaned from this program benefits the entire community by recognizing quality childcare as a community’s highest priority which the children of Shelby County so richly deserve.

How Do I Become A Part of RSG?

Download the Program Application and Board of Directors/Owners Statement of Understanding documents from this website, fill them out and submit them to the RSG office at Ball Hall 212 on the University of Memphis campus by 4:30 on June 16, 2008.  You may also call the RSG office at 678-3517 and register for a help session scheduled for June 11, 2008.  During this session, that will be held at the Benjamin Hooks Library from 2- 4:30 pm, centers will receive assistance filling out the application packets. 

Academic Program

The Ready, Set, Grow! Project is an accreditation facilitation organization and we are funded by the Plough Foundation.  Early childhood accreditation is awarded to programs by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  In order to achieve accreditation, programs have to engage in a voluntary, rigorous self-study, make improvements, be visited by an assessor, be reviewed by a national commission and judged to be in compliance with the high quality standards set by NAEYC.

Part of the preparation for accreditation is to ensure that the center’s director meets all of the Program Administrator qualifications.  Among these is that the director has to have had nine credit hours in leadership and management of early childhood programs.  RSG! will support the director in taking these three classes, purchase all the books, and pay application fees to the U of M.  Seventy-five to 85% of the tuition may be paid for with a scholarship from TECTA provided the director attends an orientation of 30 hours.

The director must also have had a concentration of course work in early childhood education or a closely related field and NAEYC has identified several pathways to achieve this particular requirement.  RSG! will guide the director through these requirements and provide networking opportunities. 

During 2009-2010 period RSG! will offer support in beginning the accreditation process, depending on the readiness of the center.  Centers will be able to apply for funding through NAEYC and TECTA to pay for self-study materials.  Our staff will help directors plan timelines, understand criteria, and the accreditation process. 

NAEYC accreditation standards are substantially more comprehensive than licensing standards.  While the accreditation process examines the total program, emphasis is placed on the quality of interactions among teachers and children and quality of the program’s curriculum—what really happens to the children throughout the day.  Accreditation helps families identify high-quality programs.  The Ready, Set, Grow! initiative was created to help more programs achieve the highest level of quality in Shelby County. 

Examples of these types of standards:

10.E.07-Staff are provided space and time away from children during the day. When staff work directly with children for more than four hours, staff are provided breaks of at least 15 minutes in each four hour period; 10.B.12-The maximum recommended staff–child ratios for children 12 to 28 months is 1:4; for children 2½  to 3 years old the ratio is 1:9; and for 4 and 5 year olds the ratio is 1:10.

Mentoring

A panel of directors of accredited centers in Shelby County provides mentoring and support to the RSG program and to the RSG directors. Accredited center directors share their time expertise regarding the self-study process and specialized areas of working with young children and their families.

Directors’ Networking

Besides participating in the courses, directors have opportunities to share concerns and information.

Team Building

In the fall of 2008, a team building and networking experience will be held for two days with the Experiential Learning Center, under the direction of Dr. Al Seed and Dr. Ben Dyson.  While not physically strenuous, team building activities will enable the participants to develop a close working relationship. 

Timeline

Those programs selected to be part of the cohort will be informed by mid-July 2008 and the first class for directors will begin August 26, 2008.