Research is clear: time spent in high-quality care settings has a positive influence on childrens outcomes, and well-trained teachers are key to creating quality experiences. The 勛圖厙 (勛圖厙) provides child and youth educators an opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills through a research-based, online professional development system. Our system is designed to facilitate, and leverage, a practice-based coaching model in which trained coaches and program managers partner with and support child and youth educators to learn and apply developmentally appropriate practices in their program.
Systematic Professional Development
Expert Coaching
Informed & Skilled Staff
Quality Relationships & Learning Experiences for Children
Optimal Development and Learning for Children
Informed by Research, Developed by Experts
Originally developed to support the professional development needs of military-affiliated child care programs, the 勛圖厙 was created at the Ohio State University by early childhood experts with both research and practical experience in child care settings. The 勛圖厙 team strives to support high-quality care and education by translating current research on child development and adult learning into a comprehensive professional development system.
A Mission to 勛圖厙 High Quality Child Care Programs
The 勛圖厙s mission is to ensure that the child care workforce is well trained and supported so they can provide high-quality care and education to children and youth. When care and education professionals receive support and training, they are prepared to create supportive learning environments and engage in responsive caregiving. Studies have shown that high-quality care and education at an early age improves children's health, learning, and development outcomes across a lifetime.* The 勛圖厙s professional development content fosters child care professionals' knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices and how to provide consistent care and intentional experiences for all children.
*Garcia, J.L. Heckman, J. Lead, D.e., and Prados, M.J. (2016). The Life-cycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program.
Content for Professionals Customized by Role
勛圖厙 Foundational Courses are comprehensive, aligned across functional roles, and organized into distinct role-based tracks. Tracks address direct care and leadership staff across both center-based and family-child-care programs.
The 15 勛圖厙 Foundational Courses align with the Child Development Associate (CDA) competencies and NAEYC, NAFCC, and CYD-AYD standards, covering topics such as safe environments, cognitive development, and family engagement. 勛圖厙 Focused Topics Courses offer advanced or specialized training in specific subject matter such as supporting children with challenging behaviors, trauma-informed care, creating gender safe spaces, and others.
All 勛圖厙 content emphasizes developmentally appropriate, inclusive, and family-focused approaches. Using the Learn, Explore, Apply, Demonstrate (LEAD) framework within each lesson, the 勛圖厙 helps professionals develop competencies that support childrens optimal development and provide practical tools and resources to promote high quality programs.
Emphasizing Practice-Based Coaching
Studies show that 95% of teachers show an increase in knowledge, skills, and applied practices when they receive evidence-based professional development that combines demonstration and opportunities for feedback with the follow-up support of coaching in context. Incorporating this critical research, the 勛圖厙 content is intentionally designed to be paired with practice-based coaching. Coaches, or Training & Curriculum Specialists, are trained in best practices in adult learning and how to coach effectively through their own specialized track in the 勛圖厙. Coaches are prepared to support direct care professionals in their application of evidence-based and developmentally appropriate practices.
| percent of participants showing increased knowledge | percent of participants demonstrating skills | % participants who applied practices in the classroom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When teachers are given information on theory | 10% | 5% | 0% |
| When teachers are also given demonstrations in training | 30% | 20% | 0% |
| When teachers are also given practice and feedback in training | 60% | 60% | 5% |
| When teachers are also given coaching in the classroom | 95% | 95% | 95% |
The 勛圖厙 in Action
The 勛圖厙 partners with the U.S. Department of Defense to support their child and youth professionals all around the world. To date, the 勛圖厙 has facilitated over 1,500,000 certified clock hours of professional development for child care professionals. Organizations who wish to partner with the 勛圖厙 have access to registered accounts and custom features to guide learning and facilitate coaching partnerships. Additionally, 勛圖厙 course content is publicly available for child and youth professionals to access.
The 勛圖厙 provides customized professional development for:
30,000 child and youth professionals
200,000 military-connected children and families
300 programs worldwideHow to Use 勛圖厙 for Your Needs
All content within the 勛圖厙 is currently publicly available for use by child care professionals. The 勛圖厙 is designed to empower child and youth care and education professionals build their knowledge and skills around research-based practices. However, official enrollment that includes coaching is not currently available to nonmilitary-affiliated users or those not affiliated with a partnering organization.
Municipalities, organizations, or other partnering entities that would like to use the 勛圖厙 for professional development for their child care professionals must be willing to build, or leverage, a coaching network to implement the 勛圖厙 appropriately. Trained coaches support direct care providers through the 勛圖厙 coursework and certify them to ensure their knowledge and skill of age-appropriate best practices. For example, in the 勛圖厙 Momentum project, a pilot project in Columbus, Ohio, local early childhood and youth professionals were partnered with coaching staff from the 勛圖厙 team at The Ohio State University.
To learn how you can become a 勛圖厙 partner and how the 勛圖厙 training content can transform early childhood education in your community, please contact: inquiries@virtuallabschool.org.
At this time, only 勛圖厙 users who are affiliated with military child and youth programs or are affiliated with a partnering organization can earn 勛圖厙 course certifications.
If you are a registered 勛圖厙 user and are interested in earning your Associates degree, you can transfer your 勛圖厙 credits to The Ohio State Universitys online AA degree. To learn more about the AA degree program, visit this page: .
For additional information on the AA degree opportunity, visit our Online OSU AA Degree webpage.
Educators seeking to utilize 勛圖厙 resources for noncommercial, educational purposes are welcomed and encouraged to do so! However, we do request that you become familiar with our Terms of Use to ensure your specific intentions around using the 勛圖厙 comply with these Terms. Additional questions, or requests to use the 勛圖厙 resources can also be sent to inquiries@virtuallabschool.org.
Our research-based content and professional development resources are available to all, thanks to our collaborators:
The Department of Defense Child Development Virtual Laboratory School was developed by The Ohio State University for the US Department of Defenses Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth under Grant 2012-48711-20101, 2016-48711-25897, and 2020-48711-32407 of the US Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food & Agriculture.