The intention for this interactive session is to listen, learn, and share perspectives about inclusion with an interagency panel of policy leaders representing the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, and the US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration and Administration for Children and Families, Offices of Head Start and Child Care.  Each panelist will provide a brief update on early childhood priorities and inclusion initiatives within their agencies.  The audience will then share their challenges and valued resources in implementing high quality inclusion using a live polling feature on their mobile devices, followed by individual questions and comments to clarify the challenges so that panelists and audience members have a chance for lively discussion centered around inclusion from “grasstops to grassroots.”

In this presentation, we will share the 45 years of research behind the Abecedarian Approach’s success in improving outcomes for young children with and without disabilities.  Then, we will provide a basic overview of the four components of the approach: Language Priority, Enriched Caregiving, Conversational Reading, and Learning Games.  We will conclude with a discussion on how programs and classrooms can use the Abecedarian Approach to enrich their existing curricula and interactions.

Topics discussed during this interactive session will include the definition of PLAY, PlayMobile, designing outdoor learning environments, loose parts and modifications to promote inclusion, free resources, and advocacy.  Come prepared to play and share your inclusive outdoor play stories! This session builds on three guiding documents: The Play Rights of Disabled Children International Play Association Position Statement (May 2015), DEC Recommended Practices and the NC Foundations for Early Learning and Development.

Access to high-quality early childhood education is important for all children, but for children with disabilities, the quality of both the general education environment and the special education services are critical.  This session provides an overview of Rhode Island’s Itinerant Early Childhood Special Education (IECSE) Service Delivery Model that allows for the provision of embedded services within high-quality general education settings.  A focus will be on the changing role of the special education teacher and therapist.  Participants will learn how to support special educators as they embrace their new role as collaborator and coach. Finally, the session will allow plenty of time for questions and application of the new concepts.

This presentation will help participants to improve coordination and collaboration across MIECHV/home visiting and Part C programs to better support their youngest children and families.  The need for coordination and collaboration across these programs has never been more critical as state and local entities stretch their capacity to ensure that families can access critical services and supports. Too often these programs are seen as separate and distinct when they actually have many shared goals, principles and desired outcomes.  The joint ED and HHS guidance released January 2017 provides an exciting and concrete framework for participants to consider how to develop policies and practices that support the shared knowledge and practices to ensure that our birth to three systems are the most responsive and effective they can be for our highest need children and families.  Participants will hear from federal agency leaders and state practitioners about strategies to increase collaboration between ECCS, MIECHV, and Part C and have ample opportunity to discuss how they can identify and advance opportunities for increased coordination and linkages in their states and localities.