Professional Development on Inclusion for the 2024-2025 School Year
September 2024
The California MAP* to Inclusion and Belonging Project… Making Access Possible recently updated their web page on Professional Development Opportunities Supporting Children with Disabilities for the 2024-2025. You’ll find a series of free inclusion webinars offered by the California Department of Social Services and WestEd through the Beginning Together Project, state and national conferences, and institutes related to early childhood inclusion on the web page. Highlights are described in this news brief.
Free Inclusion Webinar Series with Follow-up Collaborative Conversations and Support on Inclusion
The California Department of Social Services and WestEd are offering a series of five webinars on Inclusion during the 2024-2025 year designed to support inclusive practices for center-based programs, family child care homes, Head Start/Early Head Start, preschool programs, and family/friends/neighbor caregivers. Direct service providers, administrators, special educators, trainers, coaches, and others who support inclusion are all encouraged to attend.
Each webinar will be held on a Thursday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in English with Spanish interpretation.
Following each webinar, participants will be invited to a ninety-minute virtual small group session called “Collaborative Conversations: Follow-up to Inclusion Webinars and Support on Inclusion”. These sessions are designed to facilitate conversations with others in similar roles to discuss specific areas of interest or concern in relation to supporting inclusion and will be facilitated by a Beginning Together trainer who can provide technical assistance, additional information, and resources.
Dates and Titles of the Webinars
- September 26, 2024: Communicating with Families when Concerns Arise
- November 14, 2024: Supporting Children with Behavior Adults Find Challenging
- January 23, 2025: Understanding Inclusion
- March 6, 2025: Collaborating for Inclusion
- April 24, 2025: Creating Inclusive Child Care Settings
Visit the Beginning Together website to download the flyer with more detailed information about each session and to get access to the registration link.
For more information on the Inclusion Webinar Series, contact beginningtogether@wested.org.
State and National Conferences
Visit the Professional Development Opportunities Supporting Children with Disabilities page with the dates, locations and links to upcoming conferences.
Here in California in October is the Santa Clara County Inclusion Collaborative Conference that has the theme, Inclusioneers Inspire!
The National Head Start Association is partnering with Head Start California for the Parent and Family Engagement Conference to be held in December in San Diego this year.
You’ll also find links to the 2025 Head Start California Education Conference in February and the California Association for the Education of Young Children Conference in April.
If you start planning now, you might be able to attend the longest running and most respected conferences on inclusion in the United States, the 2025 International Early Childhood Institute Inclusion Institute. It will be held in Chapel Hill North Carolina in May 2025.
You will find “Save the Dates” for the annual Beginning Together Inclusion Facilitator Institute that provides intensive training on inclusion, which will be held virtually on Thursdays in March 2025.
This activity is administered by WestEd and is sponsored by the California Department of Social Services, Child Care and Development Division.