Recommendations Recommendations of the Task Forces: The Task Force on Quality and Jewish Identity was charged with developing recommendations for initiatives and programs, while the Task Force on Access focused on developing recommendations for further research. Participants in the Task Forces brought wide ranges of experience and perspective to the process, and this diversity is reflected in the recommendations they created. While there are nine distinct recommendations, the boundaries between them are fluid. Recommendations on Quality and Jewish Identity: Professional Development for Teachers and Directors – Learning Communities: This recommendation advocates for ongoing professional development systems and opportunities in the areas of pedagogy and Jewish-content. The importance of conducting needs assessment, pursuing a variety of methods and delivery systems, overcoming barriers related to time and money, and focusing on Jewish content were emphasized. Parent Engagement – Family Centers: This recommendation supports ECE Centers connecting with parents and families of all young Jewish children and providing parents with Jewish learning and parenting education. An important component of this recommendation is with careful planning to position ECE Centers at the beginning of a “pipeline” for Jewish education/engagement from infancy through adulthood. It advises coordinating regular programming to meet a variety of parental needs and improving the customization and personalization of information to families. Integration of Best School Practices in Child Development and Jewish Life: High Quality: This recommendation suggests working collaboratively to create standards for high quality Jewish ECE, borrowing from an existing model called Reflective Practices created by Colorado CAJE and area day schools and funded by Rose Community Foundation, working with a national Jewish ECE initiative (JECEI) to explore its interest in Denver/Boulder as a pilot site, and training and support for willing ECE Centers in using standards and accreditation processes. Jewish Learning: This recommendation proposes Jewish learning infuse both the ECE curriculum and class- and school-wide programming. Developing a Jewish vision, practice, and curriculum within schools and across the community is suggested. Professionalism/Compensation/Benefits: This recommendation maintains the importance of increased compensation and benefits to the professionalism and retention of teachers. The importance of subsidizing and increasing the use of the pooled benefits program and establishing fair and reasonable standards for compensation and benefits is highlighted. Recommendations on Access to Jewish Early Childhood Education: Financial Access: This recommendation suggests ways to investigate options for removing financial barriers to Jewish ECE. The exploration of untapped funding sources, creative scholarship programs, and a community-wide scholarship program for Jewish education in all its forms is recommended. Special Needs Access: This recommendation outlines the areas for investigation for improving service to families that have children with special needs. Ideas for identification and screening, developmental tracking tools, referrals, collaborations with publicly funded programs are proposed, as is the concept of a referral sourcebook. Extended Access: This recommendation describes the knowledge needed to increase access for families who need ECE for children birth–two and/or full-day care. The initiative suggests a multi-faceted approach to further research including additional needs assessment and the exploration of ways to provide Jewish ECE birth–five in nontraditional settings. Geographic Access: This recommendation describes how data from the 2007 Metropolitan Denver/Boulder Jewish Community Study can be used to increase our understanding of geographic barriers to Jewish ECE in Colorado. Specific information which will be available from the survey is described. The recommendation suggests using that information — and additional research — to make further proposals about reducing geographic barriers. Other Notes: During the course of the Task Force discussions, several ideas emerged which could be implemented immediately without additional resources. These “low-hanging fruits” related to professional development sessions and family centers. Examples included having a monthly class for teachers, strengthening existing parent programs at individual schools, and sharing information about parent programs across schools. Other initiatives could take up to five years to show results, such as increasing the number of families in Jewish ECE. Conducted during the Task Forces’ work, the 2007 Metropolitan Denver/Boulder Jewish Community Study shows that there are significant numbers of Jewish households who do not use Jewish early childhood institutions. So both long-term ECE Center improvement plans and marketing emerged as two important issues for task forces, and the idea of a “get out the vote” campaign was identified as an overarching need even to spread the word about the importance of Jewish ECE. Conclusion: After a three year comprehensive community process, the Denver-Boulder Jewish community is now poised to help initiate significant change and improvement in the crucial sphere of Jewish ECE. It is the strong hope of the staff and volunteers of the Colorado Jewish Early Childhood Initiative that the community will use the recommendations in this report to implement initiatives and change-processes that will improve the lives of Jewish children and their families — and of the entire community — through accessible, quality Jewish early learning experiences. This Initiative was funded by a series of three consecutive grants over two years by Rose Community Foundation.

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