The Alabama Partnership for Children (APC) – through its Read Right From The Start (RRFTS) program – is offering a limited number of financial incentives to individuals who are employed in a child care facility or family child care home, and who complete a minimum of 5 hours of online coursework through the “Cox Campus.” The response since April of this year when it began in Alabama has been beyond anyone’s expectations.
As of July 1, there are 1,746 registered Cox Campus members in Alabama. During the month of May, a total of 851 courses were started with 691 courses being completed by users. To date, the APC has paid out $16,700 in incentives, with another 218 individuals who are in the process of completing the requirements for the incentive.
The one-time $100 cash incentive – provided by the APC and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education through grants – is designed to create an awareness of the training courses and to enhance the skills of the teachers working with young children. Funding support comes from the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, the Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation, and the Daniel Foundation of Alabama.
“I would like to encourage other childcare providers to participate in this program. The incentive was a nice bonus; however, I feel these videos and the information shared are crucial to what we do as childcare providers. We are helping to raise the next generation! Language skills, emotional development, social interactions, modeling behaviors … all of it starts with parents at home and with us during our precious time with the children in our care. It’s important for us to work alongside parents to ensure children are brought up in the healthiest, safest environment to learn and explore.
“Even if you have been in childcare for a lengthy amount of time, we can all use reminders and further education in child care. Thank you for including me in this program. It has helped me at work and at home with my own children! I cannot wait to continue to learn more.”
Karen Hobbs
Lead teacher at Hooper Early Learning Center in Hope Hull
Early Literacy RRFTS Facilitators are working with multiple child care programs in Alabama to support implementation of the RRFTS initiatives, which includes content from the online training (via Cox Campus), onsite modeling and coaching, and technical assistance that will positively impact young children’s language, cognitive, and social/emotional development.
“I enjoyed the online classes. The process was easy and I was able to complete them on my down time.”
Arlean Cole
Administrator-director of Arlean’s Little Treasures in Harvest, AL
Alabama Partnership for Children adopted the RRFTS initiative to promote early-language development for children birth through age five. A key partner in our efforts is the Atlanta Speech School’s Rollins Center for Language & Literacy, who developed RRFTS to improve the instruction of teachers. RRFTS is a free, online professional development platform whereby individuals can complete courses, access resources, and learn strategies to enhance their language and literacy instruction with the children in their care. This interactive, video-based coursework is focused on practical strategies teachers can use immediately in their classrooms.
