Forum for Professional Development

This year CAAEYC’s Forum will be returning to the Renaissance Palm Springs, November 7-9. We are very excited to be once again partnering with California Department of Education Early Learning and Care Division to provide an event full of learning and networking. In addition, thank you for your input on our community outreach survey. We welcome you as critical friends and thought partners working toward a powerful system of professional learning for California’s early childhood education workforce. We invite direct providers of professional development like trainers, coaches, mentors and faculty at institutes of higher education as well as administrative roles that coordinate local systems of professional development to attend.

This year’s Forum theme is Everyone at the Table because we believe that California is poised to develop a truly comprehensive system of support for all early childhood educators. Although our speakers are still being finalized, we have defined five tracks for our breakout sessions. We will have information sessions that include original research and publications, skill-building sessions that will focus on skills that will have an immediate impact on your work, values sessions that include content we are ethically committed to, models sessions to provide examples of collaborative efforts to strengthen local professional development systems, and systems sessions to provide updates on state-wide professional development systems. Finally, we are developing a closing session that will provide participants an opportunity to plan for continued collaboration with other attendees.

In addition to all of those opportunities, registration also includes Thursday and Friday night receptions, breakfast on Friday and Saturday, and lunch on Friday. The Forum for Professional Development is such a worthwhile experience that many of our participants return year after year. If it’s your first time, don’t wait to register! If you’re coming back, we can’t wait to see you again!