CHILDSPAN – Child Development and Education Training System

Address: 153 Summer Street
Providence, RI 02903 Phone: 401-276-4300 Fax: 401-331-3285 fax Email: info@cfsri.org Website: http://www.cfsri.org/childspan.html

Children's Friend

CHILDSPAN is Rhode Island’s Child Development and Education Training System. This program provides a variety of affordable professional development opportunities including workshops, conferences, and series-based training. CHILDSPAN holds annual conferences such as the Advanced Leadership Institute (for seasoned professionals), the Keys to Quality Conference in the fall, and the Critical Issues Conference (focusing on mental health issues) in the spring. Professional development sessions are scheduled at times convenient for working people and usually take place during the school year on week nights or on Saturdays, with occasional summer time sessions. Throughout the year, educators can access CHILDSPAN’s lending library of books and other professional development resources plus instructional materials for use in the classroom. In the past, professional development opportunities as well as resources in CHILDSPAN’s library have focused specifically on early childhood educators and administrators, but CHILDSPAN has recently expanded its library and training resources to include an extensive collection of materials for school-age practitioners and programs who serve children of all ages. CHILDSPAN has a fee-for-service program, Pathways to Quality, which provides on-site technical assistance and professional development for early care and education, school age, and youth services practitioners and administrators.