Instructional Excellence

Findings Where Participants Work

Over half of the survey respondents (60%) who attended the second webinar lived in Douglas/Sarpy County. The remaining participants lived in other counties across Nebraska and as far away as Illinois and Virginia.

Ethnic/Racial and Gender Identity

A few respondents (13%) identified as Hispanic or Latino. Most respondents were White (63%), while 23% of respondents identified as African American/Black, 3% Asian, and 3% mixed race. Seven percent of respondents preferred not to answer. All respondents (100%) identified as female.

Work Setting

Many survey respondents worked in community-based programs (31%). Other work settings included family child care homes (27%), school-based programs (23%), and university faculty/staff (8%).

Age Group Served

Most survey respondents worked with preschool-age children (36%). The next largest subset of survey participants were individuals working with infants and toddlers (30%). Seventeen percent worked with Kindergartners, and 11% of respondents worked with children in Grades 1 through 3. Six percent of respondents reported working with other age groups, such as Grades 4 through 6.

Predominant Ethnic/Racial Background of Children/Community

More than a quarter of respondents (27%) indicated that the children/community they work with are/is predominantly of Hispanic or Latino background. Nearly half of the respondents (49%) indicated that the children/community they work with are/ is predominantly White; 27% worked with predominantly African American/Black children/community. A smaller subset of respondents worked with predominantly Native American/American Indian (11%) and Asian children/community (8%).

Job Title

Most respondents identified themselves as teachers/providers (40%). Other roles included director (17%), assistant teacher/paraeducator (13%), and home visitor or family facilitator (7%). Some respondents identified as other, including university faculty/staff, instructional facilitator, and Nebraska Department of Education staff.

Do attendees report an increase in knowledge of children’s funds of knowledge?

• 100% of respondents reported that after the webinar they could define the term

“funds of knowledge,” compared to 57% prior to the webinar. • 100% of respondents indicated that after the webinar they recognize strategies to build understanding of the strengths and resources that families bring to children’s learning experiences in and out of school, compared to 90% before the webinar. • One participant wrote that it was helpful “when the presenters gave real-world examples of interactions they had with families.”

Did the attendees find the webinar useful?

• 93% of respondents thought the webinar had a good balance between the theory about the topic and practical information. • 97% thought the webinar helped them understand new information and ideas. • 97% plan to use what they learned in the webinar in their work with children.

Book Study for Early Childhood Educators: Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity

In this four-part series, participants explored the approach described by authors Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple in their book Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity: The Keys to Successful Equity Implementation. The series, facilitated by Institute staff, allowed participants to engage in meaningful conversations and collaborate to deepen their understanding about how to create a culture of dignity with the children and families they serve.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

The second and third webinars in the series, “Bringing Children’s Backgrounds to the Foreground in Their Learning” (webinar 2.2: 32 attendees, webinar 2.3: 30 attendees) were offered to support Family and Community Partnership Engagement. A related community of practice was also offered.

Webinar 2.2: “Shifting From Teacher to Learner: Transforming Teacher-Family Relationships”

In this webinar, Dr. Anne Karabon from the University of Nebraska at Omaha shared research-based strategies to build deep, authentic partnerships with families to inform pedagogical decision-making, while Portia Kennel from the Buffett Early Childhood Fund shared lessons learned from her real-world experiences partnering with families and building community connections.

Findings Where participants work

Half of the survey respondents (50%) who attended the second webinar lived in Douglas/Sarpy County. The remaining half lived in other counties across Nebraska.