Continuing Education for Child-Serving Professionals

This professional development is available at no charge for child-serving professionals in the Finger Lakes/Western New York region (or who have hosted a Nazareth University student teacher/clinician in the past 2 years) and at a low cost for others!

Nazareth’s Rochester Interprofessional Scholars of Early Intervention (RISE) is dedicated to supporting and empowering those who work with young children and their families — so you can advance your skills and knowledge and make a meaningful impact in the lives of families.

This learning is designed for all early childhood professionals working with young children between ages 0-8 and their families, related service providers (speech-language and audiology, occupational and physical therapy, psychological services, recreation, etc.) as well as students, families, and community members seeking more knowledge.

How to Enroll

Thanks to generous grant funding from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, child-serving professionals in the Finger Lakes/Western New York area can access this high-quality training at no cost. All others can access the learning at a low cost

Getting started is easy

• If you are a child-serving professional in the Finger Lakes/Western New York region or have hosted a Nazareth University student teacher/clinician in the past 2 years, you can access this training for FREE. Fill out this interest form. You'll receive instructions and a personal access code for our online learning platform. Creating an account there will unlock full access to all available RISE learning modules.
• If you work outside of the Finger Lakes/Western New York region, you can access the learning at a low cost. Visit https://learners.naz.edu/browse/projectrise to register and get started.

You are welcome to explore and complete as many modules as you’d like.

Support available

Once enrolled, you’ll have a dedicated learning facilitator available to guide and assist with any technical questions.

Available Modules

The following modules are under development for spring 2026:

• Sing, Play, Grow: Music for Early Learners

• Let’s Talk! Nurturing Early Language

If you have questions or suggestions, please reach out: projectrise@naz.edu

Reflective Practice Guide

Guided reflective conversations help early childhood professionals deepen learning, make connections to practice, and identify opportunities for action.

Our Reflective Practice Facilitation Reference Guide supports facilitators in leading reflective practice sessions with colleagues following shared online training. Participants first complete one of the training modules on their own, and then the guide provides a structured framework to deepen learning and encourage reflection on practice.

The short guide offers practical support for planning and facilitating reflective conversations focused on:

• Applying new learning to practice
• Connecting training content to daily work
• Identifying opportunities for individual or collective action

This resource extends professional learning by deepening understanding of training content and fostering reflective dialogue between colleagues that supports professional growth and high-quality early childhood practice.