Durham Tech program first in state chosen for UNC-based project

Project works to improve early childhood education programs in North Carolina

Durham Technical Community College will be the first in North Carolina to participate in a project based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to better prepare early childhood education professionals across the state.

The project, supported by a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, will be guided by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Members of the UNC institute’s project Supporting Change and Reform in Preservice Teaching in North Carolina, or SCRIPT-NC, will work with faculty and adjuncts from the Early Childhood Education program at Durham Tech to refine the college’s curriculum.

“Participation in SCRIPT-NC will help us ensure that our graduates are well-prepared to support each and every young child and family they encounter,” said Cathy Collie-Robinson, Early Childhood Education Program Director at Durham Tech. “This project will have a far greater emphasis on issues of culture, language, equity, ability, and inclusion.”

Members from SCRIPT-NC will collaborate with Collie-Robinson, Marye Vance, Durham Tech Early Childhood Instructor and SCRIPT-NC Project Liaison, and other Durham Tech and community partners to shape and enhance the college’s curriculum to better support the inclusion of children of diverse abilities, cultures, languages, and life circumstances and their families.

SCRIPT-NC will also give those from the Durham Tech program free access to resources, webinars, and other professional development materials. Durham Tech was chosen for this project partly due to its history of collaborative support and commitment to inclusion and diversity, according to a statement from SCRIPT-NC.

Durham Tech will participate in the project for two years.

For more information on SCRIPT-NC, visit https://scriptnc.fpg.unc.edu/.