California Early Start Community College Personnel Preparation Project [CCPPP]

The Community College Personnel Preparation Project creates quality training and educational opportunities for early intervention assistants statewide.  Through a coordinated network of community college child development programs, a comprehensive curriculum is offered for those persons working with infants, toddlers and young children with disabilities and other special needs in a variety of settings.

California Early Start provides services for children who have or are at risk for developmental disabilities from birth to age three and their families.  To improve the knowledge and skills of personnel working with this unique age group, the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), lead agency for Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), funds the Community College Personnel Preparation Project (CCPPP) through a contract with the WestEd/ California Early Intervention. CCPPP supports the development of early intervention assistants to work with young children with disabilities and other special needs and their families through California Community College child development programs.

Three of the primary goals of the program are the cornerstones of our efforts here at Skyline College:

1. A major outcome of the program is to infuse competencies for working with young children with special needs and their families into all child development courses.
2. A major project of the program is to review and revise early childhood courses to align with the paraprofessional competencies in the Early Start Personnel Model to ensure a quality standard of training that is consistent statewide.
3. To establish community advisory committees with representation from regional centers, special education, early intervention, family resource centers and other community programs to support and guide the local projects and provide opportunities for field placement and employment for students.

Towards those ends, we have begun the process of infusion into the core courses required for both the ECE Certificate and Degree Programs.  This is a multi-year process, begun Spring 2009.  Second, we are creating an Early Childhood Special Education [ECSE] Certificate, which will begin Fall, 2009.  Third, we are adding relevant members to our existing ECE Advisory Committee, which convenes twice annually,