eNotes
November 20, 2024Updates from the ECTA Center
Save-the-Date for the International Early Childhood Inclusion Institute
Celebrating 25 years in 2025, the International Early Childhood Inclusion Institute will be held May 13-15, 2025 at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. Keynote speaker is Jordyn Zimmerman, educator and disability advocate. As an autistic individual, Zimmerman, at 18, used her personal experience to gain access to augmentative communication to challenge the status quo and promote inclusive learning. The theme for the 2025 Institute is Honoring Our 25 Year History: Reflecting, Celebrating, and Advancing. The Institute is a premier educational experience focused on evidence-informed inclusive practices. It has drawn people from across the nation and around the world to:
- Develop collaborative relationships and cross-agency systems that support early childhood inclusion
- Discover evidence-based practices, resources, and tools for promoting opportunities for inclusion
- Meet, learn from, and problem-solve with peers
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center and Brookes Publishing sponsor the Institute.
A Blueprint to Inclusion: Supporting Systemic Change in California Webinar Available
In this A Blueprint for Inclusion: Supporting Systemic Change in California webinar, ECTA staff present on how to use the Indicators of High-Quality Inclusion. Staff use the Indicators to:
- Support leaders, administrators, and providers in implementing systems, policies, and practices that ensure access to and engagement in supports and services for children with disabilities
- Leverage opportunities at the state, community, local program, and environment levels
California early education leaders also present on their efforts in Inclusion and provide resources and opportunities for collaboration.
News from the Field
Voluntary Self-Assessment for States to Support Military-Connected Children with Disabilities and their Families under the IDEA
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has developed a voluntary self-assessment technical assistance (TA) tool to help states support military-connected children with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It is applicable for IDEA's provisions that require a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under Part B, from ages 3 through 21 or early intervention systems under Part C for children with disabilities, from birth to age 3. The two-part self-assessment will provide states with a thorough review of potentially challenging areas that military families face. It also will provide an in-depth look at current policy and procedures to identify any area in which collaboration or TA could best support the family, local program, or state as a whole. An accompanying OSEP TA call focused on family engagement, which aligns with the following OSERS mission and priority:
- To improve early childhood, education, and employment outcomes and raise expectations for all people with disabilities, their families, their communities, and the nation
- Leading for equitable outcomes by engaging families, individuals with disabilities, educators, providers, policy makers, advocates, and communities to identify successes, barriers, and needs
Fast Facts Explores IDEA Section 618 Data in Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States
OSEP Fast Facts: Children Receiving Services Under IDEA in the Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States from Office of Special Education (OSEP) takes a closer look at 618 data on children served in Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Some highlights include:
- The Federated States of Micronesia, Puerto Rico and the Republic of Palau have larger percentages of students with disabilities dropping out than the United States, Outlying Areas, and Freely Associated States overall.
- There has been more than a 20% decrease in the number of school-aged students with disabilities and a more than a 51% decrease in the number of early childhood students with disabilities in the Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States from School Year (SY) 2015-16 to SY 2022-23.
More Kids Than Ever Need Special Education, but Burnout Has Caused a Teacher Shortage
A growing number of students in public schools, about 15% of them, are eligible for special education services. But going into this current school year, more than half of U.S. public schools anticipated being short-staffed in special education. More kids than ever need special education, but burnout has caused a teacher shortage is a question-and-answer interview with Dr. Kimber Wilkerson, a professor of special education and department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who explains why there is a shortage, and what needs to be done to close the gap.
Research
Coping and Resilience Aid Parents of Disabled Children, Study Says
For parents of children with disabilities, finding time to focus on themselves may be difficult. A new study finds that the right coping strategies and resilience can significantly help manage the challenges of raising children with special needs. Emotion-focused coping increases resilience in these parents. It is a strategy for managing stress by regulating a person's emotional response as opposed to looking for ways to solve the problem directly. That is the key finding from research published in the International Journal of Development Disabilities. It studied families with neurodevelopmentally disabled children in Ghana, West Africa to see what helps parents cultivate healthy, happy lives for themselves and their children. Despite the study being conducted overseas, the findings apply to all parents of neurodevelopmentally disabled children. Neurodevelopmental disabilities, which affect brain development and function, include conditions such as Tourette's syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and cerebral palsy. Regardless of the severity of the child's condition, any neurodevelopmental disability increases distress in the parent.