Nominated By: Denise Bega & Stanislaus Office Of Education/CFS/School Readiness & Disability

Nomination of the School Readiness Team Stanislaus County Office of Education

It is with great enthusiasm that we nominate the School Readiness Team at the Stanislaus County Office of Education for recognition of their innovative leadership and impact in early childhood education.

The School Readiness Team has developed and implemented a comprehensive series of STEAM-focused professional learning experiences designed specifically for Coaching and Education teams. Their work goes beyond delivering content; they have created a cohesive framework that intentionally connects curriculum implementation, child assessment, and STEAM practices within early learning environments.

Innovation in STEAM Integration

The team’s approach ensures that STEAM is not viewed as an isolated activity, but as an instructional strategy embedded across domains of development. Through carefully designed content, they guide participants in aligning hands-on STEAM experiences with early learning foundations and assessment tools. Educators are supported in understanding how inquiry, exploration, and problem-solving strengthen children’s cognitive, language, and social-emotional development.

A distinguishing feature of their work is the intentional alignment of STEAM practices with the CLASS framework. The team explicitly connects STEAM facilitation to:

Emotional Support through encouragement, persistence, and relationship-building

Classroom Organization through thoughtful materials management and engagement strategies

Instructional Support through concept development, analysis and reasoning, feedback loops, and language modeling

This alignment strengthens instructional quality while ensuring that STEAM experiences elevate teacher-child interactions.

Relationship-Based Coaching Model Each Specialist utilizes a signature STEAM challenge as a relational coaching strategy. These challenges are intentionally designed to:

Build trust and collaboration among participants

Model inquiry-based facilitation

Demonstrate productive struggle and problem-solving

Reflect on instructional practices through a CLASS lens

By engaging educators as learners first, Specialists create meaningful professional learning communities grounded in shared experience and reflective dialogue.

Practical, Transferable Impact

The School Readiness Team ensures that every session includes a variety of hands-on STEAM experiences that educators can immediately implement in their classrooms. Examples include:

Engineering design challenges using everyday materials

Science inquiry investigations such as sink-and-float explorations

Outdoor nature-based engineering

Ramps and motion investigations

Light and shadow explorations

Recycled materials construction challenges

Each experience is intentionally connected to curriculum goals, assessment documentation strategies, and quality interaction indicators. Teachers leave sessions with ready-to-use materials, questioning strategies, and documentation ideas that strengthen both practice and child outcomes.

Measurable and Sustainable Impact

Through this initiative, the School Readiness Team has:

Increased educator confidence in facilitating STEAM

Strengthened intentional instructional interactions

Enhanced alignment between curriculum and assessment

Elevated reflective coaching practices

Fostered collaborative professional learning communities

Their work exemplifies innovation, intentionality, and sustainability in early childhood systems support.

The School Readiness Team at the Stanislaus County Office of Education demonstrates exceptional leadership in integrating STEAM, curriculum, assessment, and instructional quality frameworks. Their relationship-based coaching model and practical, hands-on approach have created lasting impact across programs and classrooms.

For these reasons, we proudly nominate the School Readiness Team for recognition of their outstanding contributions to advancing high-quality early childhood education.

I would like to nominate the current STEAM Cohort to continue their participation. This group has demonstrated strong collaboration, commitment to innovative practices, and dedication to integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics into their work. Their continued involvement will further strengthen their skills and expand the positive impact on student learning and engagement.