eNotes
October 18, 2024Updates from the ECTA Center
Webinar Recordings Available on Safeguarding Privacy and Preparing Your APR
A webinar recording, Unlocking Early Childhood Privacy: Latest Trends and Insights and What You Need to Know, focuses on how the latest policy and data trends affect how states safeguard privacy. Listeners will learn how to protect personally identifiable information (PII), identify options for data sharing, and explore critical topics from the perspective of IDEA and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Topics covered include confidentiality, parent consent, understanding the role of participating agencies, and options for data-sharing protocols. The discussion is sponsored by the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy), the Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center.
Preparing Your Annual Performance Report: Helpful Resources So You Have More Fun in January shares information and resources that can support states in preparing and submitting their APRs. Updated tools include the SPP/APR Basics, the What You Need to Know module, and the SPP/APR Checklists and Tips. ECTA and DaSy co-sponsored the webinar.
Announcements
NASLEE Recruiting State Leaders for Cohort
The National Association of State Leaders in Early Education (NASLEE) Executive Committee is recruiting for the second cohort (2025) of the Leadership Academy. The NASLEE Leadership Academy builds the leadership capacity of state early education leaders through leadership development opportunities and supports equitable pathways to leadership at the state and national levels. It is a nine-month executive leadership program tailored to state early education administrators. Those interested can sign up for two informational webinars:
- Informational Meeting 1: Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 3:00 PM EDT
- Informational Meeting 2: Thursday, November 14, 2024, 2:00 PM EST
Submit your NASLEE Leadership Academy Application by Friday, December 6 at 6 PM EST to Lori Connors-Tadros at lctadros@nieer.org and cc: Nicole Madore at nicole.madore@maine.gov
Inform Education and Training for Providers of Young Children
For those interested in informing education and training for providers who care for young children, consider responding to a survey and/or participating in a key informant interview facilitated by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Provider Education Center (PEC). Your feedback will inform the development of mentorship programs, AAP Chapter grants, tele mentoring initiatives, and digital resources.
Providers who could provide insight include:
- Primary care pediatric providers
- Pediatric subspecialists
- Audiologists
- Speech-language pathologists
- IDEA Part C service coordinators
- IDEA Part C providers of special instruction
To respond, complete the EDHI PEC Needs Assessment Survey and EHDI PEC Key Informant Interview Participant Interest Form. For questions, contact: AAPEHDI@aap.org or visit https://www.aap.org/ehdi
News from the Field
Accessible Educational Materials and Assistive Technologies in Early Childhood Education: What, Why, and How
Ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities, can access and engage with learning materials is a pivotal aspect of educational equity and inclusion. Accessible Educational Materials and Assistive Technologies in Early Childhood Education: What, Why, and How explores the use of accessible educational materials (AEM) and assistive technology (AT) supports in inclusive early childhood settings by explaining what they are, why they are crucial for fostering inclusive learning environments, and how they can be implemented effectively.
GAO Report on Child Care Accessibility Recommends Coordination
In Child Care Accessibility: Agencies Can Further Coordinate to Better Serve Families with Disabilities, the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined barriers that children with disabilities and their parents face in accessing child care. In a report the GAO recommended that the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education further coordinate with one another to promote resources designed to help parents of children with disabilities.
The report addresses:
- The prevalence of children and parents with disabilities.
- What barriers children and parents with disabilities face to accessing and participating in child care facilities and services.
- What selected federally funded child care providers report about their ability to serve children and parents with disabilities.
- The extent to which HHS and Education provide informational resources about child care to families with disabilities and to child care providers about serving these families.
Early Childhood Workforce Index 2024 Available
The Early Childhood Workforce Index 2024 provides a state-by-state look at policies and conditions that affect the early care and education workforce. The report includes:
- 50-state data on early childhood educator wages and poverty rates.
- Interactive maps and tables on wages and workforce policies by state.
- New data on the use of federal relief funding and state-level initiatives that supported early educators over the last three years.
- Actionable policy solutions.
The Index, which has tracked state progress since 2016, fills a critical data gap, that provides insights for policymakers, media, and the broader early care and education community.
Research
An Early Start to Self-Regulation: Evaluating the Effects of an Early Childhood Self-Regulation Intervention on Educator Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practice
Educational researchers are increasingly evaluating intervention effects on educator outcomes – such as knowledge, beliefs, and practice - as an important precursor to intervention-induced change in children's learning and development within educational settings. This may yield important insights into intervention efficacy, feasibility, and long-term sustainability. In An Early Start to Self-Regulation: Evaluating the Effects of an Early Childhood Self-Regulation Intervention on Educator Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practice, a mixed-method study reports on the effects of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) program. This program explores early childhood educators' beliefs, such as confidence in their knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and self-reported changes to knowledge and practice. It goes beyond previous reporting of effects on children’s outcomes. Quantitative results showed significant improvement in educators’ confidence in their knowledge of self-regulation. Qualitative findings suggested positive perceived change to their knowledge and practice. Findings emphasize the importance of examining educator-level change within a professional development framework and highlight opportunities for future program evaluations.