eNotes
July 13, 2018In this Issue:
- Final Rule: Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
- Applications for New Awards: Educational Technology for Individuals with Disabilities Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
- Babies May Understand Words Before They Can Talk (Video) Source: Child Trends
- Early Childhood Workforce Index 2018 Source: Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE)
- 2018 KIDS COUNT Data Book Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation
1. Final Rule: Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education published its final rule in the Federal Register on July 3, 2018 that postpones the date for States to comply with the Equity in IDEA or significant disproportionality regulations by two years, from July 1, 2018, to July 1, 2020. The Department also postpones the date for including children ages three through five in the analysis of significant disproportionality, with respect to the identification of children as children with disabilities and as children with a particular impairment, from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022.
2. Applications for New Awards: Educational Technology for Individuals with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education invites applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2018 for Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities - Stepping-up Technology Implementation, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 84.327S. The application deadline is August 2, 2018.
3. Babies May Understand Words Before They Can Talk (Video)
Child Trends' recent video (June 2018) highlights a study revealing that as early as 6 months old, babies can understand how two different objects are more alike than others. For example, when the babies were shown images while the caregiver named the objects, they were able to understand how words "stroller" and "car" were more alike than "juice" and "car". This demonstrates that babies may understand many words and concepts before they are able to speak, and that communicating with your baby as much as possible is very important for early literacy development.
4. Early Childhood Workforce Index 2018
The 2nd edition of the Early Childhood Workforce Index is now available (June 2018). It provides comprehensive state-by-state analysis of early education employment conditions and policies across the United States. This resource also offers state profiles, FAQ's, a social media toolkit, and an interactive map displaying current wages and changes over the last two years.
5. 2018 KIDS COUNT Data Book
Since 1990, KIDS COUNT has examined trends and ranked states on child well-being across four domains: (1) Economic Well-Being, (2) Education, (3) Health, and (4) Family and Community. The latest report, 2018 KIDS COUNT Data Book finds improvement in economic well-being with mixed results for the other three domains. The 3 states that ranked the highest for overall child well-being were New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico were the three lowest-ranked states.