eNotes
March 10, 2022Updates from the ECTA Center
Disability Services Coordinator Institute Webinars Available
Among the archived webinars of the recent Disability Services Coordinator Institute (DSCI) Virtual Conference is IDEA 101: Building Your Toolkit. Presented by ECTA staffers Jani Kozlowski and Ben Riepe, the webinar helps disability coordinators understand the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Many children with disabilities and suspected delays will qualify for specialized services under IDEA. The 45-minute session explores key IDEA components that support disability coordinators' work with children and families in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. All webinars are captioned in English and Spanish. Registration is required before access.
Tool Spotlight - COS Practice Scenarios
The COS-PS is a collection of scenarios of children, ages 6 months to 5 years, that allow you to practice aligning information about each child with the three child outcomes and anchoring the information by age. Each of the case studies includes a short video introducing the child and written information about a child's functioning organized around the following information sources:
- Referral and intake
- Assessment results for each of the five developmental domains
- Daily routine skills and functioning
OSEP Part B 619 Child Find Self-Assessment (CFSA)
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), with the collaboration and support of Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center and Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) (for Sections II and III), developed this voluntary self-assessment tool to help local education agencies (LEAs) strengthen their child find system. The goal is to ensure that children eligible for special education and related services are referred and enrolled. This toolkit can also be used by state education agencies (SEAs) to look across LEAs to support understanding and document their work on child find regulations, identify best practices, and improve the efficiency of their child find efforts.
Also available is the OSEP Part C Child Find Self-Assessment (CFSA).
Data Sharing Partnerships Improve Systems
Partnerships between the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program and Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) program can support and improve outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and their families. Collaboration between these programs is specified in the IDEA Part C Regulations 34 CFR §303.302(c)(ii)(J) and strengthened in P.L. 115-71, EHDI Act of 2017.
Data Sharing Partnerships Improve Systems summarizes federal requirements, features of high-quality data sharing agreements between EHDI and Part C, the bridge between EHDI and IDEA, and data sharing resources. Available to read online or download in PDF.
News from the Field
Universal Masking - Four Questions for Schools to Consider
The debate about when schools should begin to scale back or do away with universal masking in schools is in full swing now that the spread of the Omicron variant is slowing and vaccination rates are rising. For most states, mask policies are set at the district level; therefore, thousands of school districts need to decide how they will use masks for the rest of the school year. The questions to consider:
- What does research say about the benefits of children wearing masks in schools?
- What community issues should education leaders consider?
- Should schools require particular kinds of masks?
- Does the use of masks in schools affect students' language and social development?
Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative: Communities as Researchers
First Light Education Project and Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) have teamed up to create, conceptualize, implement, and support working with Native communities in early childhood education and research. The Indigenous Early Learning Collaborative (IELC) is a national early childhood education (ECE) initiative designed for Indigenous communities to strengthen ECE and learning by developing their own critical questions and constructing local, relevant, sustainable solutions. Dr. Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz, Founder and Principal Consultant of First Light Education Project and Director of the IELC, says, "In community-based inquiry (CBI), community members are the researchers: they know the context and the questions that need to be studied, have access to relevant data, and generate critical ideas on how to implement solutions in practice."
IDEA Alliance Federal Policy Agenda Survey
Calling all early childhood providers, educators and parents: your voice is needed! Help Start Early shape a federal policy agenda focused on improving equity and inclusion for young children with disabilities and development delays across the birth-to-five early childhood system by sharing your experiences, perspectives, and ideas. Please complete the survey by March 18 and help us amplify our reach by sharing with your networks.