Update on Assembly Bill 546
Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2011 by Shelly Nye
AB-546 that “makes various changes to provisions governing early childhood care and education” was passed by the Assembly over the weekend and will be heard by the Senate and possibly the Finance and/or Education Committee very soon, as the close of the 2011 Legislative Session is rapidly approaching (June 7th). If you have specific feedback with regard to this bill, please contact the Senate Education and Finance Committees as well as your individual Senator right away – things are moving very quickly at this point so there might not be much, if any notice, of when this will be heard by the Senate.
Change in provisions governing early care and education to include the following*: |
Increase in child care training hours to 24 per year - Not less than 16 hours in the Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards (each year)
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The establishment of the Early Childhood Advisory Council which shall: |
Strengthen coordination and collaboration of early childhood programs in the state Conduct statewide needs assessments and recommendations for the quality and availability of programs and identify barriers to coordination among existing state and federally funded programs. Assess capacity and effectiveness of higher education in developing teachers in ECE Submit reports to the Department of Education and the Legislative Committee on Education on: number of persons employed in ECE categorized by types of certification held if any, the status of training and the money spent on training all ECE providers in Pre-K Standards
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Provide recommendations for: |
- Increasing participation in state, federal, and local childcare
- Establish and improve state systems including a unified system for collecting data related to early childhood programs
- Statewide professional development system for teachers
- The establishment of standards for early childhood education
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The Council in consultation with the Department of Education shall: |
- Set goals for training all persons employed in early childhood in the Pre-K Standards
- Assist The Nevada Registry in developing trainer requirements for the Pre-K Standards and the approval of training
- Develop standards for professional development in Pre-K Standards
- Create or adopt a model for highly effective teachers that can be used as a resource
- Make recommendations for appropriate group sizes in ECE
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The Department of Education shall: |
- Develop Pre-K Standards training modules
- When money is available, provide training at reduced cost
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