Work group urges Kansas to adopt shared training and technical-assistance definitions

Chelsea Schulte, speaking for the Workforce Development Advisory Group, and Stephanie Parks, lead of the Collaborative Technical Assistance (TA) Network work group, presented a recommendation that the panel endorse shared TA definitions drawn from a national training and technical-assistance glossary.

The recommendation asks Kansas agencies, TA providers and professional-development partners to adopt and begin using the glossary’s distinctions—mentoring, coaching, consultation and peer-to-peer TA—to improve clarity, reduce duplication and make it easier to measure and coordinate supports across the mixed-delivery early childhood system.

Why this matters: Panel members said inconsistent use of TA terminology across providers and agencies makes it harder for programs and professionals to navigate supports and for the state to track where TA is happening and where gaps remain.

Stephanie Parks described the proposal as foundational work. She said, "shared definitions are our foundation" and walked the panel through the glossary’s categories: mentoring as a relationship-based process to build confidence over time; coaching as a structured, goal-oriented process with observation and feedback cycles; consultation as work with a content expert for problem-solving on discrete issues; and peer-to-peer TA as reciprocal, informal learning among colleagues.

Schulte explained the Workforce Development Advisory Group’s role, saying the group supports PD system improvement by bringing field feedback into planning and that the TA-network recommendation focuses first on adopting TA definitions rather than the entire national glossary. She said the recommendation includes an ask that organizations begin using the definitions in documentation, training and communication and share them across networks.

Panel members asked how organizations could determine which of their activities fit the definitions; Parks and Schulte invited partners to contact the TA network to work through specific cases and encouraged participation in the work group. No formal vote was taken; the presentation was provided to the panel for consideration and outreach to member organizations.

Next steps identified in the meeting: the TA network asked panel members to promote the definitions within their organizations and networks, to provide feedback to the work group and to consider joining subgroups to refine implementation and documentation practices.