Contra Costa County Office of Education

The California Preschool Instructional Network provides professional development and technical assistance on the California Early Learning Development System for preschool teachers, transitional kindergarten teachers and administrators.

Quality Matters is Contra Costa County’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) – a system that supports and incentivizes child care providers to offer the best care possible. The campaign is a collaborative effort between the Contra Costa County Office of Education, First 5 Contra Costa and CocoKids to support and promote quality early care and education for children age 5 and under in Contra Costa County. Providers, who voluntarily join the program receive coaching, technical assistance, training, and stipends with a focus on increasing teacher effectiveness and improving environments and interactions. This program is funded under the QCC Consortia and Partnership grants which include: California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Quality Counts California QRIS, Preschool Development Grant (PDG-R) and Workforce Pathways.

The Professional Development Program (PDP) is funded under the Workforce Pathways Program (Quality Counts California) and provides financial support for ECE providers to complete college units leading towards a permit or degree in child development. Participants can also complete professional development hours to qualify for stipend.

The Contra Costa County LPC acts as the united voice for early care and education. It is an advisory body comprised of 20 members appointed by the County Superintendent of Schools and the Board of Supervisors. The council is tasked with assessing local child care needs, developing a county-wide strategic plan, setting priorities for use of state funds, advocacy and resource development, collaboration with other organizations and facilitating the voluntary temporary transfer of funds between state programs.

Transitional kindergarten (TK) is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that is developmentally appropriate and aligned with the Preschool Learning Foundations.