Ten Years of Learning and Growing Together: ISSA Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary

ISSA was delighted to celebrate its tenth anniversary at this year’s Annual Conference in October in Bucharest, Romania.  The anniversary was highlighted during the conference in a session devoted to ISSA’s first ten years, as well as a special celebratory reception on 16 October, to which all conference participants were invited.  ISSA also marked this milestone with a high level ECD advocacy roundtable prior to the Conference, the launch of the Revised ISSA Pedagogical Standards Competent Teachers of the 21st Century: ISSA's Definition of Quality Pedagogy , and the launch of a Handbook of ECD Experiences, Innovations, and Lessons from CEE/CIS.

During the special celebratory session, ISSA was pleased to receive a letter from George Soros, founder of the Open Society Institute, congratulating the organization on its achievements over the past ten years.  This letter was presented by Sarah Klaus, Director of the Open Society Institute’s Early Childhood Program and member of the ISSA Board.  Ms. Klaus, who has been intrinsically involved in the Step by Step Program and the creation and growth of ISSA since its inception, spoke about the history of ISSA, explaining how the Step by Step Program came to exist, and sharing her recollections of the past ten years of ISSA’s development.

ISSA member organizations received certificates of appreciation from ISSA at the special session to honor their contribution to ISSA’s mission during the past 10 years. In addition, key partners of member organizations and individuals with outstanding performance from across the network of 28 countries in CEE/CIS, were also acknowledged and thanked via certificates of appreciation.

The International Step by Step Association is an outgrowth of the Step by Step Program initiated by the Open Society Institute (OSI) in 1994, as a direct response to the decline in social service systems supporting families and children in Central and Eastern Europe.  The program is based on the belief that democratic education in the earliest years – child-centred, inclusive, individualized, responsive, community-based – can prepare an adult population that will be ready to take active, informed roles in civil society. 1

In 1994, Step by Step Program leaders from 15 countries came together in the U.S. to be trained in the provision of child-centered pedagogy. A team of trainers from Georgetown University’s Child Development Center provided the trainings based on methodologies they had created for Step by Step.  After the trainings, these Step by Step leaders returned to their countries and began implementing the program through national Soros Foundations in each country, in coordination with Ministries of Education. 

In each country, 5-10 pilot sites, public preschools, were renovated, refurbished with new materials, and provided with additional staff (family coordinator and teaching assistants), and each site organized a parent room.  Two expert trainers from the US were paired with each country to provide introductory training and ongoing mentoring, while the national teams provided at least monthly mentoring visits for the pilot sites.  Over the next 5 years, in response to needs in the countries, the program grew to encompass a wide range of interventions that serve children from birth through age 10 and their families. Step by Step gained respect for its comprehensiveness and continuity, as well as for its effective systemic implementation model, which links pilot programs with teacher training institutions and policy reform.  Official permissions were obtained from Ministries of Education, accrediting programs for widespread implementation.  Each year the number of sites increased.  The program grew to include:

• center-based preschool and infant/toddler programs
• Primary School Programs (grades 1-4)
• Equal access for children with disabilities, Roma and other minorities, and children living in poverty
• Teacher education:  pre-service and in-service teacher training courses, student practicum, preparation of adult teacher trainers;
• Civic Participation in Education

In the coming years, as part of the strategy for sustainability of the Step by Step Program, National Foundations began to spinoff the national Step by Step programs into independent non-profit organizations.  As the NGOs continued to implement the program, they underwent an intensive, hands-on education in non-profit management.   With the existing programs and new NGOs, the Open Society Institute’s Step by Step program staff explored the creation of an umbrella association to unite efforts of early childhood professionals across the region.

In October 1998, in Dubrovnik, Croatia, the Founding Assembly of the International Step by Step Association (ISSA) was set up by the directors of the 26 national NGOs then implementing the Step by Step Programs.  The organization was registered as a membership organization in the Netherlands in 1999, governed by a General Assembly of Council Members (the SbS NGO in each country), each with equal responsibilities and rights, and an elected Board of Directors.  The organization was initially managed by the OSI New York Step by Step program staff, who helped guide the association as it developed and grew.

As ISSA began to evolve, developing its first significant project – the ISSA Pedagogical Standards, first published in 2001 – and creating its first business plan, an office was established and staff hired in Budapest, Hungary.  Sarah Klaus served as ISSA’s Executive Director for five years, starting in 2001, ensuring that ISSA and OSI continued to meet each others’ goals and needs, using the strengths of both organizations to transform the early years of children and their families throughout the region. In 2006 OSI ceased to manage ISSA when a new Executive Director and Program Director were hired. The 2006-2008 strategic plan outlined a further transition in ISSA’s development and growing independence from OSI. 

Today ISSA’s core members are 29 non-governmental organizations located primarily in Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ISSA, its national NGO members, and OSI continue to collaborate to strengthen early childhood education and development.  At the same time, ISSA has strengthened existing relationships and developed new partnerships with an array of international early childhood organizations and networks.

Over the years since its inception, ISSA has transformed into a robust, independent association with broad international links and partnerships, management of a significant roster of EU-funded early education projects, and a strong reputation as a leading professional network for early education and care in the regions of Central and Eastern Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union. ISSA works towards a future in which every child receives inclusive, quality care and education, laying the foundation for each child to become active participant in democratic knowledge societies.

ISSA wishes to express its sincere gratitude for the Open Society Institute’s continued support to the organization and the impact this investment has made in the region. As spin-off organizations, both ISSA and its members have received generous support, both monetary and advisory, from OSI and over the years have developed close cooperation with OSI in a number of programmatic areas. Ten years after it was established, ISSA continues building upon the substantial investment and success of OSI’s Step by Step Program and upon the vibrant network and movement resulting from the program, with the aim to improve the lives of children and their chances for success in life.

ISSA would like to extend warm thanks to Mr. George Soros for his continued support towards the CEE/CIS region and to early childhood development. ISSA also thanks Arieh Neier, President of OSI, and Liz Lorant, former Director of OSI’s Children and Youth Network Programs, for their support towards the establishment of ISSA. ISSA would like to extend a special thank you to Sarah Klaus, Director of Open Society Foundation’s Network Early Childhood Program, for helping to establish ISSA, and for providing leadership to the association in its first years of existence, as well as for her continued support and input into the development of the network.    

Over the past 10 years, in addition to its ongoing partnership with OSI, ISSA would like to acknowledge other organizations which have played a significant role in working with ISSA to improve the early lives of children throughout the region.  ISSA would like to thank UNICEF, especially Deepa Grover, Regional Adviser – Early Childhood Development, UNICEF (Regional Office for CEE/CIS) for successful partnership. ISSA would also like to acknowledge partners: Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training (DECET), IBM, Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Education, the World Forum Foundation, the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA), the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Children in Europe, Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries (COSPE), Sardes Educational Services, and the Comenius Foundation.

There are many individuals who have contributed expertise, time, and resources towards ISSA’s first 10 years – if we included it here, the list would be very long, indeed. Special thanks goes to those who have served as board members, consultants, advisory board members, friends, and partners. Their contribution has been invaluable in helping the ISSA network find its voice in advocating for and implementing programs to achieve quality early education and care throughout the region.

Most of all, ISSA would like to acknowledge its members who are the agents of change in their countries. They have worked tirelessly for years, every day, to  ensure that every child has access to quality early education and care, both in their own countries and in the region.