eNotes
January 5, 2016In this Issue:
- Increases for Part C and Section 619 in Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 Source: U.S. Department of Education - Retrieved December 31, 2015
- New, Redesigned Preschool Development Grant Program in Every Student Succeeds Act Source: U.S. Department of Education - December 10, 2015
- Journal of Early Intervention Abstracts Available Online Source: Journal of Early Intervention - December 2015; Vol. 37, No. 4
- Early Childhood State Policy Profiles Updated Source: National Center for Children in Poverty - Retrieved December 28, 2015
- Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators Source: ZERO TO THREE's Workforce Innovations Team - Retrieved December 28, 2015
- Strengthening Policy that Promotes Effective Early Childhood Teaching Source: BUILD Initiative and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes - Retrieved December 30, 2015
1. Increases for Part C and Section 619 in Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016
On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113), making appropriations for FY 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies through September 30, 2016. See Budget News for education funding, including:
- A $20 million increase for Part C grants for infants and their families under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - scroll to page 6 of http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget16/16action.pdf
- A $15 million increase for IDEA Part B preschool grants - scroll to page 6 of http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget16/16action.pdf
This article from CLASP highlights additional funds for child care and early education, including:
- A $326 million increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
- A $570 million increase for Head Start, which includes $135 million increase for Early Head Start - Child Care Partnerships.
- Flat funding for the current preschool development grants programs, which allows for a third year of funding for grantees.
2. New, Redesigned Preschool Development Grant Program in Every Student Succeeds Act
On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and will replace the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It takes full effect during the 2017-18 school year. Guidance to states from the U.S. Department of Education on how the transition process will work is available at http://www.ed.gov/essa. The new federal education law authorizes $250 million annually for a new, redesigned Preschool Development Grant (PDG) program to be administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education.
For more information about additions related to early education, see a commentary from Laura Bornfreund at the New America Foundation.
3. Journal of Early Intervention Abstracts Available Online
Abstracts of the following articles are now available online at http://jei.sagepub.com/content/37/4
Training Teachers to Enhance the Play Skills of Young Children With Developmental Disabilities During Outdoor Time by Embedding Instructional Interactions
Christian A. Martin, Erik Drasgow, and James W. Halle
Using Video Modeling, Prompting, and Behavior-Specific Praise to Increase Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity for Young Children With Down Syndrome
Elyse K. Adamo, Jenny Wu, Mark Wolery, Mary Louise Hemmeter, Jennifer R. Ledford, and Erin E. Barton
Mediational Analyses of the Effects of Responsive Teaching on the Developmental Functioning of Preschool Children With Disabilities
Ozcan Karaaslan and Gerald Mahoney
Systematic Review of Engagement in Culturally Adapted Parent Training for Disruptive Behavior
Ashley M. Butler and Courtney Titus
The Journal of Early Intervention (JEI) is an official publication of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children and SAGE Publications. It offers articles related to research and practice in early intervention for infants and young children with special needs and their families.
4. Early Childhood State Policy Profiles Updated
The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) recently updated its Early Childhood State Policy Profiles. The profiles provide a two-generation view of current policies affecting children birth to age 8, nationally and state-by-state, in the areas of early care and education, health, and parenting/family economic supports. NCCP regularly updates and adds policies to these profiles.
For additional state-by-state data, policies and initiatives related to early childhood care and education, see the collection of Early Childhood Data Sources compiled by the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center.
5. Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators
A new resource, ZERO TO THREE Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators (2015), describes the essential skills educators need to optimize the social-emotional, cognitive, and language and literacy development of infants and toddlers. The Critical Competencies:
- support educators who work in group settings (center-based and family child care homes) with infants, toddlers, or both;
- focus on pedagogy - the method and practice of teaching;
- feature considerations for working with high-needs populations;
- offer considerations for supporting multi-language learners; and
- build on professional criteria for the early childhood field, giving consolidated and easily understood guidance.
6. Strengthening Policy that Promotes Effective Early Childhood Teaching
A new paper, Sharpening the Focus: State Policy to Promote Effective Teaching that Improves Learning (2015), provides guidance to state policymakers and their partners on how to strengthen policy that promotes effective early childhood teaching, birth through 3rd grade. An accompanying discussion guide focuses attention on the important role of teaching conditions in fostering quality early childhood teaching, reviews available tools that assess teaching conditions, and poses policy and systems questions to assist leaders in crafting effective policy-to-practice supports in this area.