eNotes
September 15, 2023Updates from the ECTA Center
Early Childhood Personnel Solutions Learning Community
The focus of the newly formed Early Childhood Personnel Solutions Learning Community is to share innovative strategies to attract, prepare and retain early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) staff and service providers. Monthly meetings will be held on second Tuesdays, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Eastern US time, beginning October 10, 2023. IDEA Part C and Part B, Section 619 Coordinators are invited to register. Content will be organized around the Office of Special Education Program's (OSEP) Prepare, Attract, Retain framework and will inform the work of the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center's (ECTA) National Synthesis of Innovative Practices in Recruitment and Retention of EI/ECSE Personnel. Register to join.
Application for TA on Integrating Child Outcomes Measurement and IEP Processes
The ECTA Center, in collaboration with The Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy), is inviting Part B, Section 619 Coordinators to apply to participate in a cohort focused on integrating child outcomes measurement and Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) processes. The technical assistance (TA) will support state/entity teams in exploring and/or advancing the integration of child outcomes and IEP processes to improve the efficiency and/or quality of child outcomes measurement, increase confidence in child outcomes data for use with programmatic decision making and federal reporting, and improve IEP development practices. This initiative seeks to engage states/entities that want to be intentional in integrating child outcomes measurement and IEP processes. The cohort will include individualized and cross-state TA. Interested states/entities must complete the application and submit electronically to sonia.sabater@unc.edu no later than November 9, 2023.
Announcements
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention State/Territory Program
Funding available under the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) State/Territory Program will improve language acquisition for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children up to age 3 and enhance the state/territory EHDI system infrastructure. Newborns, infants, and young children up to age 3 who are DHH, will receive appropriate and timely services, including hearing screening, diagnosis, and early intervention (EI).
Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health in Home Visiting Programs Serving Diverse Families: Promising Strategies to Support Child and Family Well-Being
Positive parent and infant-early childhood mental health are central to children’s long-term mental health and development. Therefore, it is important to examine a wide range of approaches that show promise for strengthening supports for parent and infant-early childhood mental health in home visiting programs, especially programs serving diverse families. Promoting Infant-Early Childhood and Parent Mental Health in Home Visiting Programs Serving Diverse Families: Promising Strategies To Support Child And Family Well-Being, from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), provides promising strategies from staff in home visiting programs that span multiple types and models and serve families from different cultural, racial/ ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. The report concludes with recommendations for policy, program implementation supports, and research that could help advance the field’s understanding and use of the most effective strategies.
News from the Field
2021 and 2022 State IDEA Data Displays Posted
Newly released 2021 and 2022 state Part B data displays and the Part C and Part B 619 data displays by OSEP provide a clear, quick, and accurate snapshot of each state’s/entity’s education data for children served under the IDEA. Part B data displays present annual data related to children with disabilities, ages 3 through 21, based on data from various sources including IDEA Section 618 data, IDEA Annual Performance Report data, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data, census data, Common Core Data, and Consolidated State Performance Report data. IDEA Part C and Part B 619 data displays present annual data related to infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities, birth through age 5, based on data from various sources including IDEA Section 618 data, IDEA Annual Performance Report data, and Census data. Access the data displays at:
- 2022 IDEA Part B Data Displays
- 2021 IDEA Part B Data Displays
- 2022 IDEA Part C and Part B 619 Data Displays
- 2021 IDEA Part C and Part B 619 Data Displays
Learning Gained from 2023 PDG B-5 Systems Building Grants
In Brief: Learning from the New Round of PDG B-5 Systems Building Grants provides critical early childhood issues that states and their partners are addressing by using the information found in the grant applications. Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) grants provide immediate benefits and long-term systems implications for the states and their communities. They also shed light on the state of the field through this set of briefs: Infant/Toddler-Focused Strategies, Child Care Access-Focused Strategies, Ensuring Access for All Children: Inclusion, Ensuring Access for All Children: Inclusion, Systems Building through Governance Processes, Supporting Multilingual Learners, and Workforce Compensation. Coming soon are briefs on career pathways, mixed delivery systems, and financing. The BUILD Initiative, ZERO TO THREE, and Start Early, all members of the National TA Collaborative to Maximize Federal Early Childhood Investments, collaborated on the project.
Research
Eye-Tracking Device Could Be More Accurate Test for Autism in Toddlers
In Development and Replication of Objective Measurements of Social Visual Engagement to Aid in Early Diagnosis and Assessment of Autism, new eye-tracking technology may allow for earlier diagnosis and intervention, according to three clinical research studies of more than 1,500 toddlers. The new eye-tracking technology provides automated measures of children's looking behavior and can help spot signs of autism as early as 16 months of age, researchers said. It may also help predict kids' strengths and vulnerabilities. The eye-tracking technology predicted expert diagnoses of autism with high specificity and sensitivity, researchers reported. (Tests with high specificity correctly identify kids without a condition, while a test with a high sensitivity can correctly identify kids who do have the condition.)