Beyond Feedback: Communicating Assessment Information with Families

Archived Webinar

​

Description: Assessment is a multifaceted, complex procedure. Writing meaningful, functional, and individual reports to share assessment information with families is an important skill. This presentation aims to provide guidelines for early intervention/early childhood special education practitioners to successfully communicate assessment results with families and writing collaborative assessment reports from a family-centered approach. We will use the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices on Assessment as our reference point (i.e., A2 & A11). Real-life vignettes will be shared to illustrate the communication between practitioners and family members who have young children with special needs. Moreover, examples of high-quality assessment reports from the Battelle Developmental Profile: II (Bliss, 2007) will be shared to highlight the importance of word use, language, and format. Practitioners will learn to utilize the “LAFF don’t Cry” strategy as a method for active listening, a key concept in collaborative assessment reporting (McNaughton, Hamlin, McCarthy, Head-Reeves, & Schreiner, 2008). 

​

Participant Outcomes: 

1. Participants will understand the value of family-centered practices during the assessment process, with a focus on providing verbal and written feedback.

2. Participants will increase their knowledge of providing assessment feedback through a family-centered approach, including the use of the “LAFF don’t CRY” strategy.

3. Participants will gain knowledge about follow-up activities to assessments that are framed in a family-centered approach.

Facilitators: Kelly Brown, Stephanie Silva, Serra Acar, PhD

KELLY BROWN is a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is a Certified Early Intervention Specialist and has spent 10 years working in the field. Her research interests include collaborations between early intervention and the foster care system and trauma-informed practice in early childhood settings.

​

STEPHANIE SILVA is a doctoral student in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Stephanie is a Certified Early Intervention Specialist and Master’s Level Psychologist in Early Intervention. Her research includes personnel preparation and transitions into and out of early intervention.

​

SERRA ACAR, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has worked in the field for more than 10 years. Her research includes culturally and linguistically responsive assessment, executive function, and second language learners, and personnel preparation in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE).

Focus Age Group: 0 - 3

Building Essential Toolkits for Novice Teachers

Archived Webinar

Description: Beginning teachers are often overwhelmed in the first few years as to what their classroom should have in order to provide essential teaching and implementation of the information learned in higher education. In this webinar, Dr. Reinking will outline a toolkit for first year teachers and/or veteran teachers entering an early childhood special education classroom for the first time. The “essential tool-kit” focuses on collaboration, assessment, and implementation of math, literacy, and science areas.

Participants will learn about essential items for beginning classrooms; gain knowledge on how to use a small toolkit of items for several instructional methods in the classroom; and report an understanding of how to use and gather a toolkit.

Presenters: Anni Reinking, EdD

ANNI REINKING, EdD, is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). She has degrees in Psychology, Early Childhood Education, and Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Reinking’s research interests include play-based and developmentally appropriate practice in birth-2nd grade classrooms, teacher preparation techniques, effective coaching and mentoring strategies, and multicultural education in early childhood classrooms

Collaborating with Interpreters in EI/ECSE

Archived Webinar

​

Early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) professionals need strategies for working with interpreters in order to provide effective services to children and their families who are linguistically and culturally diverse. In this session, we will share guidelines and ideas to improve communication in EI/ECSE service delivery when the EI/ECSE team includes an interpreter. This session will help you to improve your knowledge and skills when working with interpreters in order to deliver high-quality and cost-effective services.

Participants in the Learning Deck will:

(1) Increase awareness and understanding of the roles and responsibility of interpreters and the EI/ECSE team when working with families who are linguistically and culturally diverse; and
(2) Identify strategies that EI/ECSE professionals can implement in their programs to effectively collaborate with interpreters.

​

Presenters: Patricia M. Blasco, PhD, Serra Acar, PhD

​

SERRA ACAR, PhD, received her PhD in the Early Intervention Program from the University of Oregon. Dr. Acar is working as project coordinator at The Research Institute (TRI) at Western Oregon University and an adjunct faculty at Portland State University. Dr. Acar’s primary areas of expertise include family-centered practices, culturally and linguistically responsive assessment approaches, and personnel preparation in early EI/ECSE. She is from Istanbul with a multicultural family.

PATRICIA M. BLASCO, PhD, Dr. Blasco is a project director at TRI and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). She has extensive experience in collaborating with interpreters and families and their children who are linguistically and culturally diverse. She has worked collaboratively with EI/ECSE teams as a supervisor of EI/ECSE and ECE students and as a researcher.

Collaboratively Supporting Social Emotional and Mental Health

Archived Webinar

Description: Early childhood mental health and social emotional development are such important parts of overall child health. Even with recognition of this, we don't yet have a system that truly supports these factors in young children. This session will help put the puzzle pieces together of how leadership, practitioners, and families support the social emotional development of young children and make sure their mental health is prioritized. This session is geared towards decision-makers and leaders of early childhood initiatives, who can then provide guidance to programs and practices on best practices in early childhood mental health.

Participants will receive a framework for best practices in early childhood mental health, including ideas such as how social emotional screening as well
as maternal depression and anxiety can be addressed in well-child visits; policies and practices to support early childhood mental health consultation in early learning environments; and integrated care strategies.

Presenters: Sarah Davidon, PhD

SARAH DAVIDON, PhD, has led policy and systems-building initiatives related to early childhood, mental health, disabilities, and coordination of human services systems and practices, and has provided guidance and direction for 20 years in Colorado’s development of an early childhood system-of-care that intentionally includes social emotional, and mental health.

Culturally Responsive Behavioral Supports for Children With Challenging Behaviors and Their Families

Archived Webinar

Description: Presenters will describe issues and challenges for supporting
preschool children with challenging behaviors and their families and provide recommendations for using
culturally responsive, evidence-based strategies when conducting functional behavior assessments,
creating behavior support plans, and supporting parent implementation of the plan.

Presenters: Rashida Banerjee, PhD and Erin Barton, PhD

RASHIDA BANERJEE, PhD, is an associate professor and Special Education: Early Childhood Program coordinator at the University of Northern Colorado’s School of Special Education. Dr. Banerjee’s research areas and interests are culturally responsive practices for young children and their families who are from diverse backgrounds, effective assessment of young children, teacher preparation, and effective community, family, and professional partnerships. She serves on the DEC Executive Board and the DEC Recommended Practices Commission. She is an associate editor for Young Exceptional Children.

ERIN BARTON, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education. She teaches courses on single-case research design, early childhood assessment, and social and behavioral interventions. She focuses on identifying evidence-based behavioral interventions that teachers and parents can implement in natural settings. Her intervention research is largely focused on socially valid and effective practices for increasing pretend play skills in young children with disabilities.

Deconstructing Decision-Making with Families to Foster Meaningful Partnerships

Archived Webinar

​

Description: DEC (2014) recommends early educators collaborate with families in decision-making that incorporates family knowledge, concerns, and priorities (F3, F4, TC2). How early educators facilitate dialogue with families plays a key role in the extent to which families participate in decisions about their child. Understanding how conversations unfold is important to promoting equitable interactions with all families, and particularly families from culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. Yet nuances of language use are difficult for speakers to recognize in the moment, and educators are likely to need supports to recognize specific ways in which they use language.

​

In alignment with DEC Recommended Practices (2014) and the DEC Family Monograph (2017), this Learning Deck deconstructs decision-making, illustrating how decisions are made through language with examples from real-life interactions between early educators and families. Participants will learn to identify and interpret key aspects of decision-making, focusing on implications for parents’ participation in decisions. The session highlights research-based communication strategies that contribute to more equitable parent participation in decision-making conversations. In doing so, this session supports participants’ understanding of how early educators engage in responsive interactions with families (TC2, F3) that foster shared decisions regarding a child’s goals or individualized plans (F4).

Participant Outcomes: 

• Participants will understand ways in which discourse contributes to decision-making by families and early educators in EI/ECSE settings.

• Participants will be able to identify key features of EI/ECSE decision-making interactions with families.

• Participants will learn a range of communication strategies early educators can apply to foster more equitable parent participation in EI/ECSE decision-making.

Presenters: Christine Hancock, PhD, Greg Cheatham, PhD

​

CHRISTINE HANCOCK, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Special Education at Wayne State University.  Her scholarship focuses on how early educators and families of young children communicate and collaborate.  She aims to support professionals in facilitating more equitable interactions with all families, resulting in meaningful and mutual decisions.  

​

GREG CHEATHAM, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Kansas.  His scholarship focuses on the provision of effective, appropriate, and equitable services for young children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. He has a particular interest in language diversity.

Deliver Effective Professional Development and Support Inclusion: 3 Tips for Blending Practices

Archived Webinar

Description: As a teacher educator, supervisor, consultant, trainer, or coach, have you struggled with delivering professional development (PD) that results in actual change in practice? Do providers in your area struggle with meeting the needs of children with diverse abilities? If yes, then join us for a webinar designed specifically for PD providers to support blended practices. Like you, we have struggled to support adult learners, and recognize that to get to change, we need to utilize strategies that help shift mindsets. We have carefully designed a webinar where information on the elements that underlie blended practices will be described, while simultaneously demonstrating 3 effective PD strategies to support early educators to implement key practices. All participants will also receive training materials for future use when delivering lectures, workshops, and/or conducting coaching sessions on blended practices.

Presenters: Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Ph.D., Jennifer Grisham-Brown, Ed.D., and Songtian (Tim) Zeng, M.S.E

KRISTIE PRETTI-FRONTCZAK, Ph.D., is the owner of B2K Solutions, Ltd, a company dedicated to transforming services for children from birth to kindergarten. Dr. Pretti-Frontczak spent 16 years in higher education as faculty at Kent State University and served as an applied researcher, trainer, and mentor. Dr. Pretti-Frontczak areas of expertise include authentic assessment practices, blended approaches, and the curriculum framework, a tiered instructional model.

JENNIFER GRISHAM-BROWN is a Professor in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program and faculty director of the Early Childhood Laboratory School at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Grisham-Brown is co-author of two books on blended programs in early childhood education. Her research interests include authentic assessment, tiered instruction, and inclusion of children with significant disabilities. Dr. Grisham-Brown is the founder of a children’s home and preschool program in Guatemala City called Hope for Tomorrow.

SONGTIAN (TIM) ZENG is a doctoral student, research assistant, and field supervisor at the University of Washington. His research interests include blended practices and effective instruction strategies for children with and without disabilities, effective use of online technologies for teacher preparation, professional development and parent support.

Designing Inclusive Environments that Promote Physical Activity

Archived Webinar

Description: Childhood obesity is a national concern. While recent reports show that rates have begun to decline for preschool age children, special educators need to be particularly attentive to this issue. Data indicates much higher rates of overweight and obesity for children with disabilities, especially those with autism. Early childhood and early childhood special education practitioners report difficulty meeting national recommendations for physical activity and for including children with and at risk for disabilities.

Participants in the Learning Deck will: (1) Learn to use utilize universal design for learning (UDL) principles to design high-quality environments that promote physical activity for all young learners (Recommended Practices E2, E6); (2) Use an established rubric to reflect on instructional and physical aspects of the learning environment; (3) Identify strategies to set the stage for physical activity and to lead structured activities

Presenters: Karin H. Spencer, EdD, Lorelei E. Pisha, EdD

KARIN H. SPENCER, EdD, is a parent educator and professional learning consultant. She also serves as adjunct faculty at the George Washington University and Shepherd University. Dr. Spencer has over 20 years of experience in the field of early childhood education as a practitioner, program administrator, and teacher educator. She has directed personnel preparation and training grants and a national training and technical assistance center. She has published and presented nationally on physical activity, resilience, inclusion, and culturally responsive practices.

LORELEI E. PISHA, EdD, is adjunct faculty at the George Washington University and Project Coordinator for an Office of Special Education Programs funded early childhood leadership personnel preparation and training grant at GWU. Dr. Pisha has extensive experience as an early interventionist, early childhood practitioner and teacher educator. She provides online professional development and coaching for early intervention systems and families through Early Intervention Partnerships. Her expertise includes language development, inclusion, culturally responsive practice, and physical activity play. She has published and presented nationally on these topics.

Developing Functional Assessment-Based Interventions in Early Childhood Settings: A Systematic Approach

Archived Webinar

Description: Functional assessment-based intervention has been identified as a best practice for addressing the challenging behavior of young children in preschool and childcare settings (Dunlap et al., 2006). In this session, we will share a number of easy to use tools that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the assessment and development of a function-based intervention for young children. We will provide a step-by-step description for the assessment and intervention development process and teach participants how and when tools are most effectively used. Specific strategies and tools discussed during this DEC Learning Deck presentation will address interviewing forms and techniques (including child interview strategies), developing a replacement behavior, assessing the classroom environment, using data to identify function, and procedures for linking assessment information to function-based intervention components.

Presenters: Brenna K. Wood, PhD, BCBA-D, Jolenea B. Ferro, PhD, BCBA-D

BRENNA K. WOOD, PhD, BCBA-D is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education and Human Services at Lehigh University. She has a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Arizona and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst - Doctoral. A driving force for Dr. Wood’s research in the areas of social emotional competence and interventions for decreasing the challenging behavior of young children is the concern for the number of young children suspended and/or expelled from their early childhood programs. Her research focuses on the implementation of positive behavior support strategies to decrease challenging behavior and increase the pro-social behavior of young children. In addition, her research includes strategies to support early childhood practitioner involvement in behavior intervention plan development and to provide training in the use of positive behavior supports in early childhood classrooms.

JOLENEA B. FERRO, PhD, BCBA – D, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies and the Training Director for the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities at the University of South Florida Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She has a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Florida and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Doctoral. Her research and practice are focused on developing interventions and supports for learners with severe behavior problems and applications of both targeted and individualized behavioral support for young children. She has trained and coached early childhood professionals in community settings, Head Start, and school-based programs. In addition, she guides and coaches preservice teachers in the implementation of evidence-based practices and individualized interventions.

Early Mobility Enhances Participation 

Archived Webinar

​

Description: Children with mobility impairments may miss out on opportunities to participate in family routines. This session will explore evidence-based, child directed, and family delivered strategies for interventionist to coach which improve participation by enhancing early mobility. 

Participant Outcomes: 

• Participants will describe three ways in which early mobility enhances social, emotional, language and learning experiences.

• Participants will describe three evidence based ways to enhance early mobility.

• Participants will be able to coach families in developing strategies to enhance mobility. 

Presenters: Ginny Paleg, PT, DScPT, Tricia Catalino, PT, DSc

GINNY PALEG, PT, DScPT is a pediatric physical therapist from Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.  For the past 16 years, she has worked for Montgomery County Infants and Toddlers Program.  Ginny earned her Masters Degree in Physical Therapy at Emory University and her DScPT at the University of Maryland Baltimore.    Ginny specializes in postural and mobility assessment and interventions for children with severe mobility impairments.  She is certified in General Movement Assessment and the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Exam (HINE).  Her most recent publications are on PT and OT  interventions for children with hypotonia, and a care path for infants and toddlers with hypotonia.

​

TRICIA CATALINO, PT, DSc is Program Director and Associate Professor of Hawai'i Pacific University, Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. During her 20 plus years of practice, Dr. Catalino has served children with disabilities and their families in the early intervention (EI) setting. She is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy, Co-Chair of the Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy (APPT) Annual Conference and the Chair of the APTA, APPT, EI Special Interest Group. Dr. Catalino is Chief Delegate of the Nevada Chapter of the APTA and is President of the Nevada Division for Early Childhood Subdivision. She is the physical therapy coordinator for Nevada LEND.