Early Care Education Specialist (1979)

BAKERRIPLEY•Austin, TX

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Early Care and Education Specialist is a relationship builder and valued member of the Texas Rising Star program, responsible for developing close working partnerships with child care providers. Recruits new service providers and manages existing relationships through effective delivery of training, technical assistance and resource assessment, and distribution of developmentally appropriate materials and equipment. The Specialist conducts on-site technical assistance, mentoring, assessment and training visits to providers interested in Texas Rising Star (TRS) certification. Prepares inclusions plans for providers caring for children with disabilities, and monitors all providers to ensure compliance with contractual regulations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university in early childhood education, child development, special education, child psychology, educational psychology, elementary education, or family consumer science or Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university with at least 18 credit hours in early childhood education, child development, special education, child psychology, educational psychology, elementary education, or family consumer science with at least 12 credit hours in child development or Associate's degree in early childhood education, child development, special education, child psychology, educational psychology, elementary education, or family consumer science with two years of experience as a director in an early childhood program, with preference given for required experience with a provider that is accredited or TRS certified
1 year of full-time early childhood classroom experience in a child care, Early Head Start, Head Star or prekindergarten through third grade school program
Intermediate experience in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Internet
Demonstrated ability to work with customers and vendors, keep detailed records, and enter data accurately and timely into automated data bases
Ability to handle escalated situations with critical thinking skills and problem solving techniques
Utilizes best practices in early childhood education
Ability to apply early childhood evaluations, observations, and assessments for both teachers and children
Ability to use related assessment instruments including: Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale-Revised (FCCERS-R) Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)
Must be able to work a variable schedule Monday through Saturday with some night and weekend training and travel
Understanding of TRS Certification Guidelines and the minimum standards of Texas child care licensing
Ability to relate to individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds
Detail oriented with strong oral and written communication skills
Basic administrative skills, including recordkeeping and use of a computer or tablet for data entry

Nice To Haves

Frequent Local Travel (up to 50%)

Responsibilities

Recruits providers for Texas Rising Star (TRS) certification
Provides mentoring or conducts provider assessments for Texas Rising Star (TRS) certification as assigned
Performs technical assistance, training visits, and monitoring visits to providers’ facilities to ensure contractual compliance as well as Texas Rising Star (TRS) certification compliance and progress
Works closely with Supervisor in developing inclusion plans for providers caring for children with disabilities
Prepares and maintains updated paperwork for all records within the time frames specified by the Texas Workforce Commission and Board area directives, policies and procedures
Updates The Workforce Information System of Texas (TWIST)
Conducts monitoring of providers to ensure compliance with contractual regulations, and provides technical assistance as needed
Conducts follow up visits on Service Improvement Agreements (SIAs)
Follows unit procedures and guidelines and participates in meetings and other events to increase understand of the Workforce Solutions system
Resolves any problems related to provider contracts and works well with management staff, account representatives, and Intake/Eligibility Specialists to resolve any provider complaints or issues
Insures all provider files contain all the required documents pertaining to the service agreements, tax forms, deposit forms, state licenses, etc.
Collaborates with other Child Care Services staff to enhance program operations
Identifies and documents process improvement opportunities
Performs other duties as assigned
Complies with all policies and standards