There are many processes for developing products for Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) deliverables. The project manager and internal team work closely with the Professional Learning and Coaching director and the Professional Development Project Manager to onboard the internal team to the project’s expectations. There are regularly scheduled Block Parties, reporting tasks, and other opportunities to partner and communicate with DCYF.

In additon to following guidance in other chapters of this guide, review the following sections when working on products for DCYF deliverables.

DCYF Production Guides, Templates, and Glossaries

DCYF Production Guides

• Writing Style Guide (2019). According to DCYF, “This style guide details the standards and specifications of how the DCYF brand should be represented across a wide variety of publications and media. This ensures our brand is always represented correctly and consistently in all communication.”
• Branding Guidelines: DCYF Publication COMM_0027 (07-2019). Review this guide for the visual elements of the DCYF brand identity.
• DCYF Content Development Process Manual (DRAFT)

Templates

There are templates available for most products being developed for DCYF. These templates can be found on Webdam in the Brand Lines folder. Work with the project manager to determine which templates are appropriate for your product. Refer to the Partnering for Product Development chapter for more information about teaming with the graphic design team.

DCYF Multilingual Glossaries

The Spanish and Somali glossaries ensure early learning terminology is translated accurately and consistently. The glossaries are located on the Early Learning Professional Development webpage or, select the direct links below:

• Spanish Glossary
• Somali Glossary

Review Processes

Reviews are an important component to content writing. This is one strategy we use to build collaboration and share knowledge with each other. Reviews also help to ensure our work meets standards and guidelines. Engaging in the review process can help to ensure consistency and build your understanding or project expectations. Reviews should be planned for in project timelines.

In addition to using the tools listed in the Reviewing Our Work chapter, consider maintaining a feedback summary document to track feedback and how it has been addressed. This can be a useful tool as the product moves through various reviews listed in this section.

Internal Review Processes

• WA State Values and Processes Review
  • The WA State Values and Processes Team should review each product at least once during the development process.
  • The WA State Values and Processes team includes staff, in a variety of roles, from across Cultivate Learning that are engaged in DCYF work.
  • This is an opportunity to share your project at whatever stage it is at. The goal of this review is to ensure alignment across systems, connect our projects, and tap into cross-unit knowledge for resources, content, etc.
  • The project manager can add the project the Values and Process Meeting sign-up.xlsx
• Director Review
  • Depending on the project, the Professional Learning and Coaching director, the CERE director, the Quality Recognition director, and the Deputy Director reviews each product before final approval. The project manager can collaborate with the directors to determine which phase this review occurs in, who needs to be on the review, and how best to communicate about the review. The project manager should incorporate these reviews in the project timeline to ensure time and space for this review.
• Multilingual Review
  • Many of our products for DCYF are translated to or written in multiple languages.
  • Products that are not being developed using simultaneous multilingual design, or that do not have a biliterate content specialist writing for the project, should be reviewed by the biliterate content leads.
  • This review can happen at the outline stage.
• Work with the internal project team to determine additional internal review and project touchpoints needed throughout the product’s development.

External Review Processes

Each product will have its own process for review with DCYF. These reviews often include working with external partners and stakeholders. The project manager can collaborate with the internal team and DCYF to determine the review process for their specific project. This should be documented in the project charter.

In addtion, work with the project manager to understand how to most effectively share materials with DCYF and other external partners. The DCYF PD Project SharePoint site can be useful when sharing materials with DCYF. Specific folders within this site can be viewed by external partners when the folder is shared with each individual reviewer. Collaborate with the director, professional development manager, and the project’s project manager to determine if this is the best strategy for your project.