On-site Technical Assistance
Technical assistance is defined as a service provided to an early care and education program to help an individual classroom, multiple classrooms and/or an entire program start-up, address corrective action requirements and/or achieve higher quality.
Early childhood technical assistance refers to the wide range of supports to early childhood programs, including training for staff, on-site mentoring and support, resources available on the web, program grants, and many other activities (Knowledge Into Practice: NACCRRA’s Survey of Child Care Resource & Referral On-Site Technical Assistance. 2007. http://www.naccrra.org/pubs). One of the ways early care and education programs can be improved is through technical assistance services. Technical assistance involves working directly with the child care provider, and working on aspects of the child care provider’s skills.
In North Carolina, child care resource & referral agencies are the primary and sometimes the only source for training and technical assistance to child care programs and providers in many local communities.
Because technical assistance is influenced by both internal and external factors it is not an exact formula; rather it is a dynamic process that requires support personnel to be able to develop a plan that will support change and the individuals involved in the change process. Success will be influenced by a variety of factors including the duration of technical assistance provided, the intensity of the technical assistance and what outcomes are being used to measure success.
The benefits of providing technical assistance (TA) reach beyond the classroom walls, touching the lives of thousands of children and families in our state. TA services also benefit those directly involved in the TA process – the early childhood teacher, family child care provider and program administrator.
Benefits of On-site Technical Assistance
| Children | Families | Teachers | Administrator/Programs | TA Providers |
|
- influence child outcomes
- higher quality environments - higher quality early learning experiences - access to a more qualified early educator |
- provision of quality services
- increased access to resources through teacher/program sharing |
- connection to external models of practice
- access to additional training opportunities - provision of a safe learning environment - support for individualized problem solving |
- access to resources to improve the quality of services
- access to resources for staff training - support from a professionally trained specialist |
- support for building trusting relationships with program staff
- opportunity to hone skills - opportunities to reflect on own practice - impact on quality in the classroom and program |
Source: NACCRRA Opening the Door to Quality (www.naccrra.org)
