Program

Today’s American families are more diverse than ever before and today’s professionals must address the many forms and backgrounds of these families. Central to partnering with families is the acknowledgement and respect for each family’s strengths, culture, language, and ability to make decisions that are “right” for that family, regardless of challenges they may face.  Participants in this workshop will explore the many aspects of diversity in themselves and in the population of families with whom they work.  Reflective practices will be applied to the identification and discussion of strategies that enhance effective communication with family members in order for programs to support a range of child and family objectives.

Pre-Institute

Learn about emerging information on federal early childhood policies, including updates on the Obama administrations’ new early childhood agenda and its implications for inclusion.  A  panel of three policy leaders from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Education will share, inform, and respond to audience questions and perspectives.  

Plenary

We believe that high-quality, inclusive learning environments are best for young children (0 – 5 years) with and without disabilities. However, education and caring for children in inclusive settings can be extraordinarily challenging. It is difficult to meet the diverse needs of children, families and colleagues, and the demands of partner-regulators, and school districts. In this roundtable we will share some of those challenges, and generate a collection of strategies and wisdom for going forward in our work. The voices of teaching professionals, inclusion specialist, therapists, and administrators are welcome and needed in this roundtable discussion. Come prepared to listen and share.

Concurrent

Early Childhood professionals can help parents of children with disabilities / special needs to develop high expectations for their children. Having high expectations when raising a child with a disability requires challenging everyone involved in the child’s life to have high expectations and not assume that the disability will limit the child. Parents need to build a framework in which a child can grow and succeed. The professionals working with the child and family can help the family to develop a vision that includes helping a child learn how to build a community of support, find happiness, have friends, and choose a fulfilling vocation. Two presenters will share their life experiences and give insights as to how they were able to fulfill the hopes and dreams they set for themselves.

Concurrent

This session will share a model, Parents Interacting with Infants (PIWI), that has been used in inclusive parent-child groups, socializations and home visits. In addition, PIWI has been used as a practicum setting for training students in the use of the model to support infant-toddler development through parent-child interactions. Many PIWI resources will be shared as well as implementation ideas, issues and strategies. 

Concurrent

A qualitative study has informed us of the specific behaviors of both therapists and classroom teachers that make or break the success of integrated therapy. Success is defined as: a) teachers implementing strategies when therapists aren’t in the room and b) children learning the skills. This session will provide ideas for administrators in how to establish policies and procedures for effective integrated therapy.

Concurrent

The way in which some children process sensory information may make them feel out of control, exhibit a whole host of behaviors, and have difficulty concentrating and focusing – is there a role for assistive technology (AT) in promoting positive behaviors and enhance development and learning?  Join us to explore how AT may be used to support these young children.  Review key aspects of AT services and devices. Explore the various roles that adults play in collaborative planning specific to the use of AT. Learn about a decision making process about promoting children’s development and learning using AT. Emphasis will be placed on discovering ideas for using AT in situations when the challenge seems to be the way in which sensory information is processed.

Concurrent

 If our goal is to help children be ready for school, what supports do you have in place to ensure positive child outcomes for every child? This session will share ideas, examples and resources to help reflect on current practices in order to enhance positive child outcomes. Specific examples will be given using the Head Start Approach to School Readiness and show how thoughtful attention to family engagement and to strengthening and supporting teachers are necessary for accomplishment of school readiness goals and successful transition to kindergarten for all children. 
 

Concurrent

Coaching has been identified as one key “driver” to support practitioners’ implementation of empirically supported promotion, prevention, and intervention practices. The purpose of this interactive session is to define and describe one approach to coaching—practice-based coaching; to share and discuss a framework that has been developed, validated, and evaluated to support fidelity of implementation of practice-based coaching; and to consider the why, who, what, and how of practice-based coaching. 

Concurrent

Come discover rich resources that can help administrators, staff, and families to support the successful participation of each young child. We'll explore evidence-based tools including activities, videos, websites, and landing pads.  Handouts will include diverse examples that can be helpful in many settings and applications. This session will feature an engaging combination of presentation and demonstrations of media and websites. ( This session will be repeated today at 3:30 )

Concurrent

One of the important roles of the classroom educator is to engage parents in their children’s learning. This includes the children’s learning that occurs in the classroom and well as learning that occurs when the parent and child are together outside of the classroom.  This session will explore the reasons why engaging parents is essential, share strategies that have been found to work with parents, and provide opportunities for the participants to exchange their successes.

Concurrent

This interactive session will focus on the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) Preschool Training Modules. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss why it is important to be intentional about teaching social and emotional skills in an effort to support school readiness, as well as learn strategies for supporting the development of friendship skills and emotional literacy.

Concurrent

This session will focus on post-secondary education as an important new direction in NC and nationally, for young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and long term resource for preschool children with special needs and their family members.  It will profile a program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro which is considered a national model. Specific topics to be covered include commonalities with, and connections to early intervention and how these two programs can complement and strengthen each other. Key features of this program such as curriculum, how inclusion is achieved, use of university and community based natural supports, family involvement, transition planning, interagency collaboration, and student outcomes will be discussed. Two students in the program will share their thoughts on the challenges they have faced and the many successes they have achieved. Finally, there will be a national perspective on this issue including examples of other innovative models and resources for those wanting additional information.

Concurrent

This session examines cross-cutting issues regarding RTI and inclusion, including what is the role of formative assessment in determining children who need targeted interventions and monitoring their progress; what evidence-based instructional practices work best to promote learning at different skill levels; and what types of resources and PD are needed to implement these approaches in early childhood settings.

Concurrent

Learn about how Iredell County’s Partnership for Children staff created a Community of Practice centered around using the CONNECT Modules to enhance their knowledge of child care inclusion practices.  The Community of Practice also includes Local Interagency Coordinating Council members who are now planning improved identification, transitions and collaborative services.  Come hear about what Iredell is doing and how you can create your own Community of Practice using the CONNECT Modules.

Concurrent

Listen to the process that one of the largest school systems in North Carolina undertook when bringing administrative partners together to create an intentional plan for inclusion between the Title I and Exceptional Children PreK programs.  From embracing the NAEYC/DEC joint position statement, conducting a cross-sector program self-assessment, developing administrative agreements for balanced classroom configurations, to implementing a series of connected professional development activities that supported staff in conducting embedded intervention with teams of classroom teachers, coaches, and related service providers, the proof is in the pre-and-post data for least restrictive placements and teacher commitment. The session will feature a case study highlighting the positive impact of this collaborative process for a child and his family.

Concurrent

This session discusses the importance of program quality in early childhood settings where children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are included.  Presenters will describe the APERS (Autism Program Environment Rating Scale-Preschool-Elementary Version) developed by the National Professional Development Center on ASD, how the instrument has been applied in inclusive early childhood settings, how program quality influences the implementation  of evidence-based practices,  and ways in which attention to program quality can impact outcomes for children with ASD, as well as their peers.

Concurrent

Come discover rich resources that can help administrators, staff, and families to support the successful participation of each young child. We'll explore evidence-based tools including activities, videos, websites, and landing pads.  Handouts will include diverse examples that can be helpful in many settings and applications. This session will feature an engaging combination of presentation and demonstrations of media and websites. (This is a repeat of an earlier session.)

Concurrent

This session will highlight Louisiana’s efforts to reach their ambitious statewide target for preschool inclusion  (97% of preschoolers in inclusive settings by 2015).  Intensive support to a large, diverse school district to increase inclusion was provided, including external facilitation, and coaching, using SpecialQuest support.  The community cross-system team planned, implemented, and evaluated inclusive early childhood services, family support, professional development, and coordinated services.  Data on change in practices over time, documented using the Community Perceptions of Inclusive Practices tool, will be reported.

Concurrent

Successful inclusion of children with disabilities in typical early care and education environments requires effective strategies for ongoing observation and assessment. The purpose of this session is to explore strategies for building a systematic approach to ongoing assessment in typical early childhood settings.  The session will focus on observation and documentation strategies, planning for assessment and using assessment to inform intervention.   Resources for engaging families in assessment and tailoring assessment for children who are dual language learners will be highlighted.  (This session will be repeated 5/15 at 10:15.)

Concurrent

This interactive session presents practical advice and guidance for teachers of linguistically diverse early learners for building the vocabulary so essential for school readiness and future academic achievement.  Video demonstrations of effective teaching episodes, as well as detailed descriptions of sound, research-based practice will be provided to support the prioritization of word learning for this unique population of students.

Concurrent

Recent national and state initiatives have focused on moving states and local communities toward developing an aligned early childhood professional development system for all personnel who provide services to young children and their families.   This is easier said than done. The current fragmentation of early childhood programs has been years in the making and is devilishly hard to undo. Drawing upon an implementation science framework, the presenters share tools and resources that states and communities can use to assist them in reaching this goal.  Note:  This session is based on an invited presentation at the National OSEP TA Leveraging Conference in Washington, DC, March, 2013,

Concurrent