The Hawaiʻi Early Childhood Professional Preparation Project (HI-Pro) aims to enhance community college (CC) programs that prepare professionals for the Early Childhood Education (ECE) workforce to ensure they have knowledge and skills needed to serve the high need population of young children with disabilities and their families. Further, HI-PRO will support partners in Hawaiʻi working to connect information from early childhood health and education programs and existing statewide data to promote informed decision-making at all program levels, collectively addressing our challenges with particular attention to coordinated workforce development and ongoing professional development opportunities to positively impact children’s long-term developmental outcomes.
Funded through the USDOE Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities program over the next five years, HI-PRO will work to ensure that personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge from successful evidence-based practices and to facilitate collaboration between four-year institutions of higher education and community colleges to increase the number of associate degree program graduates who enter bachelor’s degree programs.
HI-PRO will partner with Leeward Community College, Hawaiʻi Community College, and Maui Community College to support faculty in designing and delivering curricula that prepares associate degree students to work with young children with disabilities and their families, including those who are multilingual and from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse populations. They will also partner with the Pathways Hui Project to support pathways to increase the number of graduates who enter bachelor’s degree programs.
Principal Investigator
Co-Principal Investigator
Project Coordinator
Data Manager
Graduate Assistant
