About The ECHO ConsortiumThree people sitting around a table having a meeting

The ECHO Consortium

  • Is a collaborative effort of Early Childhood Faculty to address the new unified early childhood licensure in Kansas.
  • Promotes levels of involvement and participation of individual college/university early childhood preservice education programs for delivery of professional development courses across Kansas colleges/universities.
  • Is meeting the goals of Kansas State Department of Education – Early Childhood Supplement to the State Improvement Grant.
  • Is an effort to address the high demand of educators for young children.
  • Supports the delivery of preservice programs by individual colleges/universities.
  • Provides a forum for collaboratively developing courses to support statewide accessibility.

ECHO's Guiding Principles

  • Committed to the early education of all children from birth through 3rd grade and their families
  • Respond to the needs of all higher education students
  • Respect individual and institutional differences
  • Accept each other as partners
  • Seek input from all interested stakeholders
  • Maximize available resources

A Brief History of the ECHO Consortium

  • December 2001 - State Improvement Grant hosted meeting of Faculty from Institutions of Higher Education
  • Spring/Summer 2002 - Institutions of Higher Education Early Childhood Task Force developed to focus on teacher licensure redesign
  • July 2002 - KSBE approves unified birth - 3rd grade license
  • Fall 2002 - State Improvement Grant Supplement Proposal Submitted and Funded (2/1/03-1/31/04)
  • Fall 2002 - ECHO Group Formalized
  • January 2003 - ECHO Phase I Awards to Institutions of Higher Education
  • February, 2004 - ECHO Phase II of grant - RFP to develop distance education classes
  • Summer/Fall 2004 - Development of on-line courses
  • Fall 2004/Spring 2005 - the courses developed through ECHO support first offered on-line
  • 2006 - Reviewed online systems for delivery of common coursework
  • 2007 -Collected information for dissemination of basic data for Kansas Early Childhood Teachers Training Programs
    • Provided copies of curriculum-based assessment tools for Kansas ECO system to all IHE Early Childhood Training ProgramsThree building columns
  • 2008 - Focused on feedback to Kansas State Department of Education regarding Kansas Performance Assessment
  • 2009 - Collected descriptive information regarding training programs for dissemination to stakeholder groups
  • 2010 - Provided information and participated in presentation to P-20 Council
  • 2011 - Provided data and information to Kansas State Department of Education for the Early Childhood Race to the Top Application
  • 2013 - Provided information to Kansas Early Childhood Advisory Council - Professional Development Workgroup information related to articulation
  • 2015 - Provided Input and Development for Revision of the ECU Licensure standards
  • 2015 - Developed four information flyers related to early childhood
    • Early Childhood Programs/Settings Acceptable as "accredited experience" related to Licensure Upgrade/Renewal
    • Can I collect Categorical Aid?
    • Where Can Early Childhood Educators Look for Employment?
    • Who Can I Hire as a Teacher/Early Interventionist?
  • 2015 - Developed and Presented to State Board of Education a Position Statement on the Prekindergarten/Kindergarten Assignment Policy.

ECHO is a consortium of college and university faculty committed to collaboratively supporting and enhancing the development and delivery of programs to meet the standards for the Kansas Early Childhood Unified License.