Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce

Are you a Head Start director, in the process of developing a research-based coaching strategy for your education staff so that you are in compliance with the Head Start Performance Standards?

Are you an agency that hires staff to facilitate peer-to-peer networks and need an inventory of dispositions, knowledge, and skills necessary to hire the best staff?

Are you currently working as an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant and want a tool to help assess your own consultation skills?

Are you a public school administrator looking for contract and proposal language for procuring additional coaching resources?

Are you in an organization that is looking to create a mentoring position and need ideas for a job description?

In late June 2017, nearly 70 technical assistance (TA) professionals from a wide range of disciplines who support Maine’s diverse early childhood workforce gathered in Hallowell, ME for the rollout of the Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce.

Materials from this rollout are provided below at no cost and are intended for use by all TA professionals working within the early care and education field in Maine.

The Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce Self-Assessment Checklist (2017) [PDF] is a companion to Maine’s TA Competencies. This checklist supports technical assistance (TA) professionals in assessing their skills within the five competency areas. Guided by the results of the self-assessment checklist, TA professionals can complete the professional development plan to identify areas for ongoing professional growth and development. The checklist can be downloaded and completed electronically.

The purpose of Maine’s Technical Assistance Competencies is to improve the quality of early care and education by providing professional development that supports a highly competent workforce and address some of the needs listed above.

Download the Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce (2017) [PDF] here.

Technical Assistance Professional Dispositions (adapted with permission from the Infant Toddler Consultant Self-Assessment Tool)

Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce (Labas, Lavallee, Downs & Gallik, 2017) includes five attributes, known as dispositions, of effective TA professionals: Caring, Communicative, Creative, Critical, and Professional. These dispositions were developed by an Administration for Children & Families Region 1 Workgroup for the Guide to Effective Consultation (PDF), and were informed by The Iowa Disposition Model: A Framework for Developing Effective Teacher Dispositions.

Because the Maine TA competencies adopted the same five dispositions, a section of  the Infant Toddler Consultant Self-Assessment Tool (PDF) was adapted for use by Maine TA professionals. These two pages, Technical Assistance Professional Dispositions (PDF), can be used to assess their use of these attributes in their current practice. Please refer to this helpful Guide to Using the Infant Toddler Consultant Self-Assessment Tool with the Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce (PDF).

Technical Assistance Competencies for Maine’s Early Childhood Workforce (2017) was developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Early Head Start/Child Care Partnership Grant to grantee Kennebec Valley Community Action Program (KVCAP). Other collaborators include Educare Central Maine; Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network with funding from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services, Child Care Development Block Grant; and the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Grant No. 90DD0005.