History

Meet Atlas!  Atlas was born with Crouzon’s syndrome, a congenital condition that affects the growth of the bones in his skull.  At birth, two of the plates in his skull were fused together causing his head to be under enormous pressure.  He has already had multiple surgeries.  However, due to the changes in space in his head that occurred from the surgeries, Atlas developed hydrocephalus.  Atlas now lives with a shunt and a feeding tube and will undergo additional surgeries in upcoming years to give his brain and his face the space it will need to allow him to live a productive life.

Today, Atlas is a vibrant boy who is in special education and he is a joy to be around.  His medical challenges have affected his development, but they never stand in the way of his passion and love for this world.  Due to the support of so many care professionals, Atlas is thriving.   

The Atlas Training Program for CDA is dedicated to Atlas, and to all children and families who live with craniofacial abnormalities and/or other special needs.  In support of inclusion, a goal of Atlas Training is to raise awareness of the many challenges children and their families must live with when faced with craniofacial abnormalities.

For more information on the Children’s Craniofacial Association, please visit their website at: https://ccakids.org/crouzon-syndrome.html

 

The agency’s founder, Maureen Hogan, has worked in the field of early childhood since the 1980s and has increasingly worked to support professional preparation and workforce development. After working as a program director with the U.S. Navy, she earned her Ph.D. in Training and Performance Improvement and began working in higher education settings to contribute to teacher training. Over the course of her work in higher education, Dr. Hogan developed the opinion that multiple levels of training should be considered – not just college-focused training – for entry level providers. Drawing on her experience with the military training model for the CDA Credential, Dr. Hogan developed the Atlas Training program as a professional pathway for those educators who wish to advance their careers but are not quite ready to commit to college programs. 

The Atlas Training model relies on knowledge of how adults learn. The model has an asynchronous design to enable working professionals to balance their family and work responsibilities. Additionally, learners are able to demonstrate their learning in a variety of formats, including field based assignments (checklists, observations, lesson plans, etc.), social interaction (via online discussion forums), multiple choice assessments, and reflection exercises. The model includes support for the development of the professional portfolio, and includes post-program support to guide participants through the final stages of the CDA application process. 

The program has successfully developed, implemented, and reviewed processes that ensure quality of content, responsiveness to participants, and accurate training hour calculations. The program was reviewed by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) in Spring of 2021 and was subsequently accredited. 

While Atlas Training is a newer organization, its staff and consultants continue to work to build rapport within organizations and communities, to ensure that all childcare providers can advance their professional qualifications logically and sequentially. The organization’s team looks forward to deepening its relationships with providers in New York and Connecticut as it works to realize its vision of a qualified early childhood workforce.