eNotes
July 21, 2017In this Issue:
- DEC Position Statement-Call for Comments Deadline Extended Source: Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood (DEC)
- 2017 IDEA Determinations Fact Sheet Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
- Health Insurance: A Critical Support for Infants, Toddlers, and their Families Source: CLASP and ZERO TO THREE
- 2017 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Leadership Development Compendium Source: Goffin Strategy Group
- Early Childhood Homelessness in the United States: 50-State Profile Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families
- Young Children in Immigrant Families Source: Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC)
- Connecting the Steps: State Strategies to Ease the Transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten Source: New America
- Supporting Parents to Help Children Thrive Source: Nemours and the Aspen Institute
1. DEC Position Statement-Call for Comments Deadline Extended
DEC has extended its deadline to August 11, 2017 for seeking input on its revised position statement on Personnel Standards for Early Education and Early Intervention. To provide input, click here. Please feel free to share this survey with friends and colleagues who are interested or have expertise on the topic.
2. 2017 IDEA Determinations Fact Sheet
The 2017 IDEA Determinations Fact Sheet (July 12, 2017) provides information about the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including the determination category for each state under Part B and Part C, for fiscal year 2015. This document identifies those states that meet the requirements for implementing Parts B and C of IDEA, as well as, those states that need assistance, or need intervention.
3. Health Insurance: A Critical Support for Infants, Toddlers, and their Families
This brief (2017) from CLASP and ZERO TO THREE focuses on the essential policies necessary to support infants, toddlers, and their families. Based on growing evidence, "children enrolled in Medicaid in their early years not only do better in childhood than children without health insurance, but also have better health, educational, and employment outcomes in adulthood." Research further "demonstrates that Medicaid coverage improves access to care and overall health and reduces mortality rates."
4. 2017 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Leadership Development Compendium
The Goffin Strategy Group has published the 3rd edition of its Early Childhood Education Leadership Development Compendium: A View of the Current Landscape (May 2017). The compendium addresses the following 4 questions:
- How is the ECE field addressing its needs for leadership?
- What programs are available to support leadership development and who is being served?
- What can be learned about the field's definition(s) for and approach to leadership development based on descriptions provided by self-reported programs?
- How has the ECE field evolved over the last decade in its interests and purposes for leadership development?
5. Early Childhood Homelessness in the United States: 50-State Profile
This updated Early Childhood Homelessness in the United States: 50-State Profile provides early childhood data of those experiencing homelessness in the U.S., including publicly available data for 2014-2015. Two new factors have been added:
- % of families experiencing a high housing cost burden
- % of low-income working families with young children under age 6
Some key national findings:
- 1 in 20 children under age 6 experienced homelessness in 2014-2015
- 100,874 children experiencing homelessness were served by Head Start and Early Head Start and McKinney-Vento sub-grants in 2015
See additional information for expanding early care and education for children experiencing homelessness.
6. Young Children in Immigrant Families
The latest edition of DEC's Resources within Reason (July 2017) explains how those in early childcare can support young children in immigrant families, a population that has grown 36% since 2000. Included are resources for understanding the new immigration orders, for facilitating activities designed to support the child's culture and language, and for mentoring undocumented and unaccompanied refugee children living in the U.S.
7. Connecting the Steps: State Strategies to Ease the Transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten
Connecting the Steps from New America (July 11, 2017) describes the approaches used by 4 states (West Virginia, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) to improve the transition process from pre-K to kindergarten. The brief ends with several policy recommendations for states.
8. Supporting Parents to Help Children Thrive
Nemours Children's Health System and the Health, Medicine and Society Program of the Aspen Institute created this support guide after collaborating with health care and education experts from multiple organizations "to consider existing and new federal policies likely to promote effective parenting." This collaboration and guide was based on the recommendations of the 2016 report, Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children 0-8 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.