eNotes
June 13, 2022Updates from the ECTA Center
Briefing Paper: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and Early Intervention (Part C)
This Briefing Paper explores the policies and practices of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) that state early intervention (Part C) programs may consider implementing to meet the social-emotional and mental health needs of infants and toddlers in the context of relationships with their parents and other caregivers. The briefing paper is available to read online and download in PDF. It was developed in collaboration with several national partner organizations, including Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center; Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health (AAIMH); Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (CCHD); The IDEA Infant & Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA); National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP); National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI); and ZERO TO THREE.
Transition from Part C to Preschool
Transition for children and their families as they leave Part C and other early childhood programs is necessary to ensure timely access to appropriate services. State and local structures, policies, interagency agreements, personnel development processes, and other mechanisms must be in place to support the transition process. This webpage boasts a checklist that can be used during transition planning to gather key Part C information for consideration during the Part B evaluation and eligibility determination process.
New Resources to Support Victims of Shootings and Violence Webpage
The ECTA website highlights several resources that provide useful information and strategies for early childhood professionals and families in supporting young children and families in the wake of shootings and violence.
News from the Field
Project Engages Young Children with Visual Impairments in Storybook Conversations
The development of two video demonstrations on engaging young children with visual impairments in storybook conversations is the result of a collaboration between the STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMIE) Center, the Kansas Deaf-Blind Project, and the Kansas State School for the Blind.
The first video helps prepare children for a shared book reading experience using the book Rosie’s Walk (2022) by Pat Hutchins. The video is designed for early childhood and early childhood special education practitioners and family members. It suggests adaptations in environment, materials, and instruction to support children’s comprehension of the book. By walking children through the story before reading it, caregivers can help young children become familiar with the content and novel words.
Rosie’s Walk was selected because it explicitly introduces spatial and positional concepts as well as cause and effect and offers many other opportunities for STEM talk.
Both/And: Early Childhood Education Needs Both Play and Equity
Early education is segregated by race and class in the same way K–12 education is. Author Ijuuma Jordan, illustrates these systemic disparities based on anecdotes from her own experience visiting childcare centers across the country. Her call is that play-centered advocacy must dismantle oppressive educational systems that deny access to play based on race and class.
Effective Implementation Capacity to Impact Change Within State Education Systems to Support Students with Disabilities
This article describes how a national technical assistance center used Active Implementation Frameworks (an implementation science approach) to cultivate systemic change and create improved outcomes for students with disabilities within several state, regional, and local education agencies. The article provides a summary of the lessons learned thus far and resulting considerations for practice and policy. One key lesson was that state education agencies (SEAs) supporting districts and schools in implementation of a specific, educator-student-level practice realized improved outcomes for their students with disabilities. SEAs implementing frameworks or processes without an operationalized and measurable educator-student level practice had limited or no evidence of improved student outcomes."