Cayl Institute, Inc.

Programs: 1. The CAYL Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education is an innovative one-year leadership program that identifies and supports mid-career early childhood leaders in Massachusetts who demonstrate both commitment and experience working within communities of color and/or economically under-served communities. Since 2004, there have been 65 CAYL Schott Fellows. The purpose of the CAYL Schott Fellowship is to ensure opportunities for diverse and representative leadership in policy advocacy on behalf of children. The Fellowship seeks to expand Fellows' networks and capacity to engage with others in creating change for children in the Commonwealth. Over time, Fellows are expected to become visible in significant leadership positions affecting public policy. 2. The CAYL Principals Fellowship, established in 2006, creates a learning community for elementary school Principals to strengthen their individual and collective capacity to lead efforts to integrate pre-kindergarten (pre-K) children into their schools and to influence district and state level policies that affect the education of young children. The Fellowship provides an intensive year-long learning experience for promising leaders of elementary schools. Principals that have participated in the year-long program that includes quarterly trainings and seminars, site visits, field trips, and distance learning activities. 3. The CAYL Institute has designed the “Early Educators Fellowship Initiative.” To meet our goal of building high-quality learning environments for our earliest “school-ready” children, in partnership with families and communities across the Commonwealth, we have competitively selected from across all regions of Massachusetts. The Early Educator Fellowship Initiative has selected a group of Fellows from elementary school principals and community based early education providers. Through three one-day meetings in 2011, Fellows will focus on three areas of timely importance to the Commonwealth: child growth and development, literacy and dual language learners. More than topical meetings, as a Fellow you will become part of a statewide learning community with access to national experts and state leaders. 4. The CAYL Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education (a program of the CAYL Institute), also funded by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, has offered a series of statewide Policy Forums, convening national and regional leaders on topics that are timely, relevant, and immediately actionable in the Massachusetts early care and education field. The Massachusetts early care and education environment is rapidly changing, and the CAYL Policy Forums have proven to be a constant and reliable source of information about these changes. CAYL consistently has a strong statewide audience of people who count on the Institute for this unbiased and straightforward information and for the opportunity to collaborate on the direction of change for children. Over 320 people attended the three state-wide CAYL Policy Forums held in 2008. In 2009, CAYL continued to offer a high quality series of four Policy Forums on topics that are timely, relevant, and immediately actionable. These Policy Forums are planned and implemented by our CAYL Schott Fellows with the support and assistance of our entire CAYL Network and key leadership in the field in Massachusetts. 5. CAYL International Study Tours: This initiative strives to create a better understanding amongst educators and policy makers about the academic, social, emotional policy and practice issues encountered by immigrant and migrant children in Massachusetts. The purpose of the International Study Tours and projects includes defining critical issues impacting the development and learning of these young children; articulating policy recommendations which would improve their quality of life and sharing the lessons learned to advance critical policy change and improve practices that impact children and families. The participants of the CAYL International Study Tours focus their attention on the unique issues, strengths and challenges of young children who are immigrants/migrants or are the offspring of immigrants/migrants in Massachusetts. 6. Strengthening Communities through Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Learners AT THE THIRD NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS & CHILD CARE DIRECTORS! July 10 - 13, 2011: Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Plaza Hotel Join CAYL and your colleagues to explore how you can, * better meet the needs of the children and families whom you serve; * collaborate more effectively with community-based organizations and families; * use your school's diversity as a strength and prepare every child for success!