This month’s spotlight is on Julie Robichaux from Seattle. Julie is the CLASS Assessment Lead for the Early Achievers Program, Washington State’s QRIS, which is administered through the Childcare Quality and Early Learning Center for Professional Development (CQEL) at the University of Washington. Early Achievers staff conduct CLASS and ERS observations, as well as file reviews for participating programs, which range from family childcare, privately run childcare programs, publicly funded pre-school programs, and Head Start.
Julie was first introduced to the Pre-K CLASS in 2012 and since that time, she has added on Infant, Toddler, and K-3 certifications. In addition, she is an Affiliate Trainer for Infant, Toddler, and Pre-K CLASS.
Julie’s job duties include reviewing each and every completed CLASS score sheet to ensure that the recorded evidence supports the code assigned by the data collector. When she notes a discrepancy between the notes and the score, she meets with the data collector to discuss the observation. The in-depth knowledge required for this task comes in quite handy when she conducts CLASS trainings for new data collectors.
When I asked her what has helped her most in her role as an Affiliate Trainer, Julie explained that she has learned new training strategies and facilitation tips at each of the three TTT programs she has attended. She also said that participating in the Lunch and Learn at Teachstone’s Regional Training in Seattle last January was quite helpful because of the networking opportunities with other trainers in her area.
Julie’s advice for new trainers: Frequently refer to the manual during your training. She explained, “You [the trainer] aren’t going to be there during an observation, go get people into the manual.”
See Julie (second from the left in the back row) with her fellow Affiliate Trainers @ CQEL at a Pre-K TTT program this past spring.
If you would like to be featured, or if you would like to nominate a colleague for this spotlight, please get in touch with us at contact@teachstone.com.
