From the Director…   
     I am delighted to welcome David Fleishman, as our Project Coordinator for an important city-wide initiative that will have direct impact on the quality of child care in San Francisco. The Institute is taking a lead role, joining other major City agencies in this work. Our initial efforts will be to assess for baseline data, provide technical assistance for childcare centers to improve and most importantly, to collect data, identify trends and develop and disseminate policy that will improve children's development potential.
     The Partners in Quality Child-Care Initiative is an effort to improve the quality of child-care and the professional skills, knowledge and career path for child-care professionals. San Francisco State University, through the Marian Wright Edelman Institute, is collaborating with the Department of Human Services, Department of Children, Youth and Families, San Francisco CARES, Children's Council, Starting Points, and City College of San Francisco to improve quality in child care centers and family daycare sites. Our project coordinator, David Fleishman has been working with 8 Assessors, experienced in early child development, and trained on the nationally reliable Harms Environmental Scales, to begin to schedule evaluations of over 200 classrooms and 100 family daycare sites in San Francisco. This first phase will provide baseline data on variables that effect quality care. After assessing each center or family site the assessor will develop a Quality Improvement Plan, work with center staff to finalize the plan and then provide direct Technical Assistance to the centers through onsite consultation or appropriate referrals to other community agencies or resources. 
     Prior to the assessment process, and to prepare staff in the centers and family daycare sites, City College of San Francisco

Community Science Workshops Opening Nationwide
www.scienceworkshops.org

Community Science Workshop Grand Opening in New Orleans
Congratulations to Frederica Perriott, New Orleans CSW Director and Laura Dial, Executive Director of My House Inc in New Orleans, LA for a very successful Community Science Workshop grand opening on December 5, 2002. The event was attended by local teachers who are interested in bringing their students to the CSW on field trips, My House board members and staff, families from the local community and a group of My House kids who have been watching the CSW grow and have been dying to get their hands on the exhibits and projects (see photo)! CSW National Project Coordinator LeAnn Joy Adam flew out from California to attend the opening and see the wonderful work Frederica and her staff have done so far. 

More CSW National Grand Openings:
Following the successful CSW grand opening New Orleans, two more CSWs will open its doors to its communities in early 2003:
Houston: The Children's Museum of Houston in partnership with the Houston Independent School District will open its Community Science Workshop in Edison Elementary school in February, 2003. (Stephen: I'll have the exact dates soon
Miami: Citizen's for a Better South Florida in partnership with Citrus Grove Elementary School and Fairchild Tropical Garden will host a grand opening in February, 2003.
Congratulations to all!

CSW National Website Launch
The CSW management team has chosen a web design firm to create and host the Community Science Workshops national website. Specializing in content management system websites for small to medium sized nonprofit organizations, Altrue.com's primary strength is creating websites with well designed "backends" that allow staff to easily maintain the data and content on their site. 
We will meet with Altrue's designers in early 2003 and expect an initial site launch by February at www.scienceworkshops.org 

AAAS Annual Meeting
The Community Science Workshop national project will be featured at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference February 13-18, 2003 in Denver, Co. LeAnn Adam will present at the General Poster Session from 11am-3pm on Sunday February 16 in Exhibit Hall A of the Denver Convention Center. 
Open to all, this session provides an opportunity to present research to the broad community of scientists attending the AAAS Meeting. Posters are presented in Education, three areas of Life Sciences, Physical Science, Social Science, Engineering and Technology, and Microarrays and Functional Genomics.
See abstract: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~ladam/AAASabstract.htm 
For more information on Community Science Workshops, please contact:
LeAnn Joy Adam
National Project Coordinator 
Community Science Workshops
Marian Wright Edelman Institute-SCI 389
San Francisco State University
ladam@sfsu.edu
tel: (415) 405-3925
fax: (415) 405-0401

Edelman Conference Kicks Off High Quality Child Care Initiative

November's Advancing High Quality Child Care, an educational conference sponsored by the Marian Wright Edelman Institute at San Francisco State University, opened the San Francisco phase of an initiative that is sweeping the nation: assessing and improving the quality of child care for the nation's children and families. Day One of the conference featured nationally-renowned expert in the field, Dr. Thelma Harms, co-author of The Early Childhood Environmental Scale, and developer of the Harms' Scale training materials, the preeminent assessment tools used in the field. Day Two of the conference delivered "real-world" workshops conducted by professionals in the early childhood field. 

Insider News: Listing scholarly, funding and creative achievements of the Edelman Institute faculty and staff

Valencia Health Services (SFSU Co-PI Charlotte Ferretti), $2.1 million five year grant to UCSF from the US Department of Health and Human Services to expand primary health care to a diverse population of underserved families and children. 
Charlotte Ferretti, Partners in High Quality Child Care , $85,000 contract to hire and train staff to assess the physical environment of 400 child care sites in San Francisco. 
Janet Egiziano, research, development, writing, budget analysis for the following grants: Genentech Corporation, "Mission Science Workshop Educational Program", $15,000; McKesson Foundation, "Mission Science Workshop Ida B. Wells Program", $10,000; "Gear Up - Science and Math Enrichment - Year 4", $78,704; Jamestown Community Center, "Mission Science Workshop After-School Program", $14,685.
Dawn Terrell and Lygia Stebbing, Jumpstart San Francisco, $80,814 grant, from Americorps/Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc.

Students, practitioners to benefit from spring Literacy Courses

Dr. Gail Weinstein, English professor and director of the community-based ESL projects SHINE (Students Helping In the Naturalization of Elders) and SAIL (Students Assisting Immigrant Learners) will offer two courses in the spring semester at SFSU of interest particularly to CAD majors and Jumpstart members and to practitioners in the field of adult literacy.
"Language, Literacy and the Community" (English 434/734) will provide students with language mentoring and support for participation in community-based ESL programs such as SHINE. Participation will consist primarily of providing language "coaching" (i.e. citizenship preparation, general ESL, etc.) to an individual or small group of immigrants; but may also include such projects as development of curriculum or training modules; developing related resource materials; teaching a larger group of immigrant learners (for teacher trainees); and collecting narratives for special projects such as the First Amendment Project.
Participants will receive intensive training in issues of language, literacies and learning including; receive an orientation to the specific ethnic communities served; will become acquainted with an individual or small group of language learners; and will explore issues relevant to their own major field. 
In addition to the above, graduate students enrolled in "Language, Literacy and the Community" select an additional assignment such as developing a thematic unit for the First Amendment Project, training modules for coaches, grant proposals for continuation/expansion of SHINE or completing another project of choice pending the instructor's approval. 
A distance learning course, "Learner-Center Teaching with Accountability", will be offered through the College of Extended Learning. This course is aimed at professional adult and family educators who teach English language and literacy to non-native speakers. It will focus on themes addressing the needs of adults as family members, workers and citizens. Participants will develop tools for creating classrooms where learners master language while reflecting, individually and with others, on their changing lives within these roles. 
     Participants in this course will apply a framework for learner-centered curriculum and materials development for their own program or classroom purposes; develop a thematic unit for use in their own program; and will join a network of teachers locally and nationally who share materials and support one another in creating learner-centered classrooms. Fellowship monies may be available for those working on First Amendment units.To learn more about these courses, contact Gail Weinstein at gailw@sfsu.edu or at 415/338-3103

CAD CONNECTIONS

Message from the Coordinator
By Rene F. Dahl, Ph.D.

At press time, I am pleased to announce that we have over 300 CAD majors; indeed, it is one of the fastest growing majors on campus. About one-third of our majors are in the Young Child and Family concentration, another third are in the School Age Child and Family concentration, while the remaining third is split between the Youth and Family Services concentration, and the Research and Policy concentrations. 
As you may have read in the last issue of this newsletter, we are pleased to welcome to the CAD Program Assistant Professor Carol Stevenson. She has extensive experience in law and policy related to young children and their families and is a tremendous asset to the program. Some of you are enrolled in her classes this semester or have seen her for advising. With so many majors, it is a huge benefit to all of us to add her to the small list of CAD advisors.
Placements for Spring 2003 internships are in full swing and Kelli Harrington-Otero is working hard to place approximately 65 students. In an attempt to make good matches between interns' goals and preferences and our approved agencies, Kelli interviewed all 65 intern candidates this month. Be sure to check your email on a regular basis for messages from Kelli regarding the status of your placement. Please note that CAD will not be offering summer internships this year. Check the website for future internship application deadlines. 
The first ever CAD Student Association meeting will be held on Monday, November 18, from 3-4 p.m. in SCI 270 (the student room on the second floor in SCI). Please join your fellow CAD students to plan the goals and activities of this important student organization. Other student organizations on campus sponsor fundraisers, speakers series, and host social events. Attend the meeting and help to decide what the CAD Student Association will do.
CAD's outreach efforts at both City College of San Francisco and Canada College are doing well. Our goal is to make it possible for community college students to take some SFSU-CAD courses, with the goal of easing the transition from the 2 to 4 year college. We have found that matriculated SFSU students also take advantage of these course offerings. At Canada College this semester, we are offering RAZA 510 and REC 380, while at CCSF we are offering CAD 300, REC 380, and THA 451. Watch our website for Spring 2003 course offerings at both CCSF and Canada College (http://cad.sfsu.edu). 
As a reminder, be sure to check our website, the CAD bulletin board, and your email for CAD related information about deadlines, updates on courses, and other important information. We all hope you are doing well this semester!

Resources

Data Source Handbook Now Available
The California Department of Finance’s Demographic Research Unit has just released “The Data Source Handbook,” which gives addresses, phone numbers and websites for over 100 state, federal, and nonprofit agencies. An easily printable version of the handbook can be found at www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/DEMOGRAP/scdc_handbook.pdf.

Grants for Youth Nutrition and Fitness Programs
The General Mills Champions group is offering 50 grants of up to $10,000 each to community-based groups to develop creative ways to help youth maintain a balanced diet and physically active lifestly. More informaiton about the grant process, as well as the grant application itself, can be found on the General Mills website at 
http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/about/community/#Nutrition. 
Applications are due by February1, 2003.

Program Growth Brings Staff Changes at the Institute

With the Child and Adolescent Development Program now serving over 300 majors and as three new grant-funded programs commence; the Institute has initiated several staff changes that will enhance our capacity to provide support to our projects and activities.
Janet Egiziano, formerly Director of Operations, has been named Director of Special Projects. In this liaison capacity, she serves as a resource to and facilitator for specific Edelman programs on a variety of issues including strategic planning, sustainability, budget planning, grant writing and reporting and project management. Janet identifies interrelationships among her assigned programs and the other programs of the Institute and makes recommendations for purposes of collaboration and funding. The programs to which Janet is currently assigned include Mission Science Workshop, the Global Learning Center, SHINE/SAIL, and the Child Study Center. Janet also undertakes special projects for the Institute such as conference and event planning and she works with the Director, Charlotte Ferretti, to develop new grant proposals for the Institute. 
The role of Beth Runciman, Office Coordinator for the Edelman Institute, has been expanded to include operations. Beth is now responsible for organizing, prioritizing and managing the day-to-day workflow of the Institute as well as the CAD program. This includes hiring, training and supervising student assistants, managing Institute and CAD program budgets, ordering office supplies and equipment, telephone and facilities work requests, handling faculty appointments, course scheduling, and faculty advising.
Stephen Joachim, long-time student assistant, is currently completing an internship at the Edelman Institute. A business and marketing major, Stephen is spearheading the production of our now bi-monthly newsletter. He is supported and guided by the members of our Editorial Review Committee that includes Charlotte Ferretti, Rene Dahl and Janet Egiziano.
The Institute welcomes Rachel Canero, student assistant. Rachel is an Asian American Studies major and is minoring in Health Education. Rachel is at the front desk where she fields most calls to the Institute, responds to visitor inquiries and assists all programs with their clerical needs.

WiRED: News From the Frontlines on Aids 
health care system.
We will supply our medical e-library and get the computers on-line so the students and faculty can join other teaching facilities around the world in accessing the most current medical information. We also have made provisions to link the medical school with the WiRED field Centers in an outreach program that will extend the expertise in Nairobi to cities and towns throughout the country. Our firm belief that information is a powerful tool against the spread of HIV/AIDS will be tested at a new level with this program. If we tune these activities properly, I think we can significantly enhance the country's health care delivery network. I'll keep you posted on events associated with the new Center and with work that follows in the aftermath. 
Finally (and on a different continent), next month we'll cut the ribbon for a new full-size teaching Center at a medical high school in Bosnia. The 4,000 students who attend this school will become Bosnia's future medical workers and, as in Kenya, the Center will become the first computer facility available to students and faculty. This Medtronic-funded Center will join a sister facility in Vukovar, Croatia that, you may recall, we installed during the summer. 
WiRED/Global Learning Center began as a small effort by Dr. Gary Selnow, Professor of Communications in the College of Business at San Francisco State University, while he was serving as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Zagreb in Croatia. During that time he witnessed the devastation the war inflicted on the region's children, who were both without educational supplies and cut off from the experience of observing people work together in harmony. Their fascination with the technology he was using gave him the idea that the Internet could help end their isolation, enhance their education, teach them about cooperation, and diffuse ethnic tensions in their communities. With funding from USAID, his first effort provided Internet access to Vukovar, a devastated town along the Danube River in eastern Croatia.
Since then, WiRED/Global Learning Center has received funding from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, private industry, family foundations, San Francisco State University and many concerned and generous individuals.
From 1997 to the present, WiRED expanded from Croatia to the rest of the Balkans (Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo), established a network of nine Community Health Information Centers in Kenya, and installed the first non-profit Internet Center in Leon, Nicaragua, benefiting land mine victims. Dr. Selnow is currently on release from SFSU in order to establish 35 additional Community Health Centers in Kenya. For more information about WiRED please visit http://www.wiredinternational.org.