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Mixed Delivery Systems for Early Childhood Care and Education

Intro

Children and families experience early care and education across a variety of programs, providers and settings. The state of Minnesota is working to help early care and education providers across this "mixed delivery" system coordinate services and share resources.

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Illustration of puzzle pieces representing the different early care and education settings

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What is mixed delivery?

Mixed delivery refers to the strategy of providing families with access to high-quality ECE programming through a variety of settings that meet state-established standards, including Head Start and school-, center-, and home-based options. This strategy supports choice and flexibility for families from the full range of local ECE providers.

A mixed delivery ECE system needs to be both child- and family-centered to succeed. Professionals from all community early learning programs — including center- and family-based options, Head Start, and schools — should collaborate with families and each other to inform and strengthen the ECE system.

Aligning programs and supporting communities

Minnesota's mixed delivery system recognizes that high quality care and education happens in a variety of settings, including family- and center-based child care, Head Start, public prekindergarten, early childhood special education, and community-based organizations. Quality is strengthened when further support is provided from home visiting, mental health, Early Childhood Family Education specialists and more.

Mixed delivery system work brings together programs and supports communities to recognize and align components that foster success for learners and their families by:

Ensuring children and families have access to high quality early care and education (ECE)
Increasing parent choice by expanding diverse program options in a variety of ECE settings to offer high-quality experiences that meet families’ needs, including language and cultural preferences
Providing comprehensive and supportive services including screenings, referrals for other interventions, and transportation through collaborative efforts and formalized agreements between a variety of ECE and community partners
Using existing facilities and resources to build community relationships and program capacity
Building a variety of partnerships between ECE programs and professionals known to improve alignment, program quality and family engagement
Increasing the supply and quality of care for young children and protecting program options

This work is supported by the Preschool Development Grant.

Early childhood coaching framework: A mixed delivery approach

The state of Minnesota is creating a coordinated system that links coaching, professional development and guidance across programs and agencies—making it easier to share resources, align efforts and continuously improve quality statewide.

This coordinated system is needed because:

Families depend on many different types of early care and education, from home- and center-based child care to school-based preschool and Head Start.
Different programs get training and professional development in different ways.

A coaching network will help all types of early educators and programs find the wide variety of resources available to them.

There are five parts of the early childhood coaching framework:

Supported workforce

The “workforce” are the people who work in all types of early care and education settings. Coaching, professional development and guidance from coaches will help the workforce strengthen their practice and advance their careers.

The goals to support the early care and educator workforce are to:

Provide full access to and credit for professional learning by removing barriers in program design and learning management systems (online platforms for tracking training and learning opportunities)
Develop a central resource for early educators that shows professional development opportunities and opportunities to engage with a coach
Secure a funding source and/or staff for maintaining the central resource in the future

Supported programs

“Programs” include all of the different settings where young children are cared for and supported. Program-level coaching, professional development and guidance from coaches will help programs create sustainable business practices and supportive environments for children and the people who work in those programs.

The goals to support the early care and education programs are to:

Strengthen understanding of early care and education business models
Strengthen understanding of quality programming

Supported communities

“Communities” include programs, families and organizations that work together to support young children in a local area. Community-level coaching will help communities connect and work together to ensure all children and families have what they need to thrive.

The goals to support communities across early care and education settings are to:

Strengthen and support collaboration between programs, families and community organizations
Increase access to and use of professional development, coaching supports and resources that build community across programs, families and community organizations

Supported coaches

“Coaches” include skilled individuals who build relationships with the workforce, programs and communities and guide them in reaching their personal, professional and collective goals. A coordinated coaching system will help coaches have what they need to be effective in their roles.

The goals to strengthen coaching and support coaches are to:

Increase recruitment and retention of coaches who represent the lived experiences and geographic locations of children and their families
Create multiple pathways for educators to become coaches
Increase access to professional development and career supports for all types of coaches to continually inform and enhance their work
Create a coaching network community and resource hub

Supported systems

“Systems” are the overall policies, structures and processes that influence early care and education. Strong, well-coordinated systems will create clarity and strengthen services for coaches, communities, programs and the workforce.

The goals to make systems more supportive for coaches, communities, programs and the workforce are to:

Align state-level investments to maximize supports, create efficiencies and reduce duplication of coaching efforts
Coordinate language and strategies across various coaching services
Develop visible outcome measures across the coaching system in partnership with coaches, early care and education programs, and state and national experts
Maintain a comprehensive learning management system (online platform for tracking training and learning opportunities) that can document participation in all types of coaching services

Tools and resources

Mixed Delivery in Minnesota: Lessons Learned from the Action Lab Project and Suggested Strategies for Future Success (PDF): This brief summarizes lessons learned from the Mixed Delivery Action Lab project and suggests strategies that DCYF and other state agencies can use to promote mixed delivery success.
Findings From the Action Lab Process Used to Inform and Transform Minnesota’s Mixed Delivery System (PDF): This report summarizes the Mixed Delivery Action Labs participants, approach, and findings and provides suggestions for the next steps in moving mixed delivery forward across the state.
Supporting Mixed Delivery State Pre-K: Findings and Considerations (PDF): This brief summarizes information from other states that have successfully implemented state-funded, mixed delivery pre-K programs. It provides considerations for Minnesota as it looks toward expanding mixed delivery in state pre-K.
Mixed Delivery One-Pager (PDF): This printable handout explains what mixed delivery is and how programs can benefit from a coordinated mixed delivery system.

Individuals and Families

Partners and Providers

Get Involved

Mixed Delivery Systems for Early Childhood Care and Education

What is mixed delivery?

Aligning programs and supporting communities

Early childhood coaching framework: A mixed delivery approach

Tools and resources

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