National/Federal Level Jobs and Communities of Practice in ECE

In my previous blog post I explored associations, organizations, and agencies that foster the well-being of children, families, and the early childhood field that were available to me on my local or state level.  This post references an association, fellowship, and community of practice on the national and/or federal level.  They have also inspired my thinking about my opportunities in the early childhood field.

NAYEC

 (National Association for the Education of the Young Child)

The NAEYC is the world's largest early childhood association working for young children.  As a member of the TAEYC and MAEYC the two local associations in my area I get the benefits of membership in the NAEYC also.  This is the same for any early childhood educator that is a member of their local chapter.  This association provides accreditation to many early childhood centers and is the number one association in accreditation.   

JOB - The association as several jobs available one that I would be interested in and qualified for is the Accreditation Coordinator.  This job provides a support person for the work of their accreditation system.  The description is located at http://www.naeyc.org/about/jobs. 

Qualified - I am currently qualified to fill this role as I will soon have a Master's in ECE.  A BA is needed along with 3-5 ears experience.  I have served as a lead pre-k teacher in a public accredited school for eight years.  I have worked to maintain the accreditation of the program.  I would possibly need more experience using MS office and more training in database skills.  This are preferred skills needed for this job.  

The Teaching Ambassador Fellowship

This is a program that I was asked if I would like to be nominated for a couple of years ago.  My response at the time was that I really wanted to complete my Master's degree. Well, here i am two years later with my degree nearing completion.  The teaching Ambassador Fellowship is an organization of sorts make up of educators across America who come together to discuss policy and practices within their state or in Washington to improve education.  Teachers are involved in developing policies on the state, local, and national levels.  

Job- Must be a current practicing teacher int he U.S. serving any grade preschool- 12th grade. Have a minimum of 5 years experience, be a U.S. citizen, and be able to obtain school/district support to sign an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) agreement.   You can find this information my clicking on the yellow highlighted area above.
Qualified - I am qualified to be a U.S. ambassador for education as a public school teacher with eight years experience.  I am also a U.S. citizen and I have at least two people at our district letter willing to write a letter of recommendation.

Teacher News You Can Use

This is a community of practice that began a year ago with new teacher evaluations and new standards in education.  This groups is located on Facebook and as been a tremendous help and out when you've just had all you can take and need someone to listen or see things the way you do.  It's a group of educators that share stories, comics, and news about what's going on in the education world.  New teachers evaluations, Common Core standards, to have or not to have pre-k, does early childhood make a difference, education budgets, among many other topics are discussed here.  It's a way to advocate and begin to make a difference to one common goal depending on the group you might link up with. It maybe a group you need to be invited too. If you are unable to join just message and you will be asked to join or added to the group.  It is a great community and until this class I didn't realize that it is in part a Community of Practice or way to reach a Community of Practice.