What Early Childhood Professional Learning Looks Like Up Close

Last week, we shared the story behind our approach to early childhood professional learning and the work we have been doing with a large Louisiana school district. This week, we are zooming in on a different kind of partnership, one that shows what this work looks like when it is built around a single school community.

The Starting Point

When Shannon Culotta became Vice Principal at St. Angela Merici School, she saw an opportunity. Teachers were working hard, and she wanted to find ways to invest in their growth. Rather than arriving with a fixed plan, Shannon started by asking teachers what they were struggling with, what they wanted to learn more about, and where they needed support. She was upfront that she did not have all the answers, but that she would find someone who could help.

That search led her back to someone she already trusted in this space: Belinda Baker, a SPED Strategies facilitator with 38 years of experience in early childhood education.

A Structure Built Around the School

St. Angela needed something different, and our team partnered with them to build it. The work took shape as a hybrid of professional learning sessions and individualized coaching, designed around what was actually happening in classrooms rather than a standard menu of topics.

Belinda started by getting a feel for the environment. She did walkthroughs, observed classrooms, and talked with Shannon before and after each visit about what they were seeing together. The subsequent sessions addressed the early childhood environment in its fullest sense: the physical setup of the classroom, the rhythm of the daily schedule, and the way educators interact with students moment to moment.

One question Belinda asked during a session stuck with Shannon: what do I want my students to walk away knowing and being able to do? Shannon described it as a simple but powerful shift in how teachers could think about everything from their lesson plans to the centers they set up in their classrooms.

‍What Changed

The coaching visits gave teachers space to try things and reflect. Some took the strategies and ran with them right away, trying multiple things at once. Others moved more gradually, and that was okay too. What mattered was that things started to shift.

One teacher in particular stood out. She had been doing things a certain way for a long time. Not because she didn’t want to, but because no one had shown her another approach. After the coaching visits, she experienced the most meaningful changes of anyone on the team; transforming her student centers into spaces with high engagement and authentic fine motor skill development. Shannon described watching students come into that room with more energy and purpose than she had ever seen before. 

That kind of shift does not come from a single workshop. It comes from a cohesive professional learning approach that is connected to a real challenge faced by the participants, followed through with coaching, and led by someone who understands the classroom deeply.

The Results

At the close of the project, participant feedback reflected what we see consistently when this work is done well:

• 91% agreed the sessions would positively impact their ability to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
• 91% agreed the strategies covered applied directly to their role.
• 91% agreed the facilitator positively impacted their understanding of how to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
• 91% agreed they felt meaningfully included as a participant.

Why This Matters Now

When we asked Shannon what she would say to other school leaders considering this kind of investment, she did not hesitate: 

"You cannot rest on your reputation. You cannot become stagnant. Students are changing, and there is a real, noticeable shift in behavior and engagement. What you have been doing may have worked, and that is valid. But you have to keep the ideas flowing. Working with SPED Strategies was easy because they came in, worked to understand our school community, and then created something that fit for us. In the end, when I started to see movement and growth with teachers, I knew this type of investment was well worth it.” She also added, “Early childhood is where the foundation gets built. The question is whether the educators doing that work have what they need to do it well.” 

Ready to Bring This to Your Community?

If your school community or early childhood program is looking for professional learning built around your educators and your context, we would like to hear about it. Click here to schedule a time to meet with someone from our team.

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