eNotes
June 16, 2017In this Issue:
- DEC Position Statement on Personnel Standards in Early Childhood Special Education - Call for Comments Source: Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood
- New OSEP Memo on Response to Eligibility Determinations for Children Suspected of Having a Visual Impairment Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
- The "I" in QRIS Survey: Collecting Data on Quality Improvement Activities for Early Childhood Education Programs Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
- Educator Expectations, Qualifications, and Earnings: Shared Challenges and Divergent Systems in ECE and K-12 Source: Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE)
- Measures Taken to Prevent Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Neuroimaging technique may help predict autism among high-risk infants Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
1. DEC Position Statement on Personnel Standards in Early Childhood Special Education - Call for Comments
The Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood (DEC) has revised its position statement on Personnel Standards for Early Education and Early Intervention, and is accepting general input about the position statement until June 30, 2017. See the full announcement for more information. To provide input, click here . Please feel free to share this survey with friends and colleagues who are interested or have expertise on this topic.
2. New OSEP Memo on Response to Eligibility Determinations for Children Suspected of Having a Visual Impairment
OSEP has published a new memo, OSEP Memorandum 17-05 (May 22, 2017) to provide additional guidance to assist states with supporting their local education agencies in reaching appropriate eligibility determinations for children with a visual impairment disability, including blindness. Additional resources are listed at the end of the memo to help states examine their procedures that relate to the identification and evaluation of children with this disability.
3. The "I" in QRIS Survey: Collecting Data on Quality Improvement Activities for Early Childhood Education Programs
This recent report from IES (February 2017) provides surveys that states can use to gather data about the methods in which early childhood education programs use quality improvement activities and strategies. The survey can also assist states identify obstacles to quality improvement, especially within a QRIS. The appendices include 3 surveys to choose from depending on the program (i.e., center-based program, home-based with assistants, or home-based without assistants). Each survey is designed to be administered to directors and primary staff most knowledgeable about the strategies used to improve their programs.
4. Educator Expectations, Qualifications, and Earnings: Shared Challenges and Divergent Systems in ECE and K-12
According to the CSCCE many inconsistencies exist in the minimum qualifications expected for early childhood education (ECE) teachers across states. While expectations have risen in recent years for formal ECE teacher qualifications, compensation has not, thus contributing to high costs due to turnover within the ECE field. This brief discusses the ECE teacher shortage and the importance of having the ECE and K-12 systems (and their governing policies) collaborate to meet the common goal of recruiting and retaining skilled teachers. The brief further explains that this approach would benefit both communities, elevating the quality of early childcare and education.
5. Measures Taken to Prevent Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy
According to the CDC (June 2017), Puerto Rico reported the largest number of confirmed cases of Zika virus infections among pregnant women in the U.S. between Jan. 2016- Mar. 2017. "Most women (98.1%) reported using at least one measure to avoid mosquitos in their home environment. However, only 45.8% of women reported wearing mosquito repellent daily, and 11.5% reported wearing pants and shirts with long sleeves daily." See additional statistics below:
6. Neuroimaging technique may help predict autism among high-risk infants
According to the NIH, a functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) technique may have the ability to predict 6-month old infants with high-risk of developing autism spectrum disorder by age 2. The brain scans were administered while the infants were asleep and compared against brain scans of cases with autism and without. The method identified 82% of the infants who would later be diagnosed with autism, and identified 100% of all the infants who did not develop autism. After further research, this technique may eventually help families to get an earlier diagnosis and treatment of autism for their children.