California MAP* to Inclusion and Belonging… *Making Access Possible Nov 2021 Fall Newsletter Part 2
Dual Language Learners, Inclusion Resources and Professional Development Updates
The California MAP to Inclusion & Belonging… Making Access Possible , funded by the California Department of Social Services Child Care and Development Division, serves as a clearinghouse of information, tools and resources to support early care and education providers in including children with disabilities in their programs. MAP Newsletters alert the early care and education community to recent updates to the MAP website. The most recent newsletter, November 2021 Fall Newsletter Part 1 , focused on providing resources to support children and their families and early care and education staff in coping with the transition back to in-person services. In this newsletter, Part 2 of the November 2021 Fall Newsletter, the MAP Project describes inclusion resources to help child care providers and early childhood educators move forward with a vision of inclusion and belonging for all children, youth and adults! Highlights include new resources, tool kits and websites that support dual language learners in being valued members of their early childhood community. In addition, you’ll learn about inclusion successes during the pandemic: Mia’s Dream Come True (accessible) Playground that opened in June 2021, and a video summarizing successful inclusion during both remote and in-person preschool. Be sure to check out the latest must have inclusion publications (see De-Mystifying Disability!) and new professional development opportunities as well! Get yourself a warm drink, relax and enjoy!
Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter:
- Supporting Dual Language Learners
- The Gift
- A Self Reflection Tool for Early Childhood Educators
- Making Classrooms More Inclusive for Multi-Lingual Learners
- Cultural Diversity Tool Kit, Brooke’s Publishing
- Multi-Lingual Tool Kit
- Early Edge Webinar Series: Designing the TK World: Ensuring Equity for Dual Language Learners
- Teaching Dual Language Learners, Brooke’s Publishing
- Webinar: Supporting Children with Disabilities who are also Dual Language Learners
- California’s Practitioners Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities
- Inclusion During the Pandemic
- Mia’s Dream Come True Playground
- Matteo Goes to Preschool
- Differentiation in Preschool
- Must Have Publications for Your Inclusion Library
- The Powerful Role of Play in Early Education
- Reimagining Special Education
- Demystifying Disability
- Position Statement on Multi-tiered Systems of Support Framework in Early Childhood
- Now Streaming: Becoming Helen Keller, a PBS Documentary
- Professional Development Updates
- Conferences
- Upcoming Webinars
1. Supporting Dual Language Learners
According to the Fact Sheet by Early Edge California Dual Language Learners (DLLs) represent a large and growing population of the United States representing 32% of all children under the age of 5. California leads the country in the size of its DLL population at 1,785,000 DLL children. This set of resources helps early care and education providers create an inclusive community that celebrates the unique strengths and abilities of all children including DLL’s. Included are a video celebrating the gift of home languages, a self-reflection tool for early childhood educators, a short video and article from Edutopia on key tips for supporting multilingual students, a cultural diversity tool kit from Brooks Publishing, the Multilingual Learning Tool Kit website, and an upcoming webinar series from Early Edge California. In addition, to specifically address the needs of dual language learners with disabilities, you’ll find a recorded webinar from Head Start and a California Department of Education Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities.
The Gift (Video)
Length: 5:13 minsDual Language Learners (DLLs) are children who are learning and developing in more than one language. Each one is given a precious gift by their family: the gift of their first language and home culture. This video helps us celebrate the gift.
A Self Reflection Tool for Early Childhood Educators
SRI | February 2021Dual Language Learner Supports created a self-reflection tool for Early Learning teachers geared towards infants, toddlers, and children ages 3-5. It promotes full implementation of research-based strategies that ensure DLLs have full access to and effective participation in the daily learning experiences. The tool can be used to review instructional practices, identify children’s strengths, and plan for next steps.
Making Classrooms More Inclusive for Multilingual Learners (Video)
Edutopia | April 28, 2021 | Length: 3:25 minsThis video demonstrates an asset-based approach to supporting students who are new to the English language can help them thrive. See also the article, Supporting Multilingual Students in the Early Grades , (Edutopia, December 2, 2020). The article describes five strategies that can help teachers strategically and intentionally celebrate and extend multilingual children’s existing linguistic expertise as well as their participation in learning activities both in person and virtually.
Cultural Diversity Tool Kit
Brookes Publishing | October 1, 2020“This collection of resources was created to help you teach young dual language learners effectively and provide skillful and culturally competent support for children and their families.” Here, you’ll find articles, online resources, and book and tool recommendations. The Tool Kit includes 6 sets of resources to help you teach and support culturally and linguistically diverse young children.
Check out “Promoting Acceptance and Friendship” . “Friendships and other social relationships are vital to the well-being of every young child. Early childhood professionals play a key role in supporting authentic friendships among children of diverse cultural backgrounds and helping the diverse children you work with learn to accept and celebrate their differences.”
The recommended resources on this page will help you create a welcoming, inclusive learning environment where all children enjoy strong social connections and feel like they belong.
Website! Multilingual Learning Tool Kit
The Multilingual Learning Toolkit, an online hub of research-based key principles, instructional practices, and accompanying resources, is the result of a collaborative effort between practitioners, experts, and researchers. The key audience for this work is teachers who work with Multilingual Learner children in PreK-3rd Grade as well as program administrators and higher education faculty members.
Three-Part Webinar Series from Early Edge: Designing the TK World: Ensuring Equity for Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
Please join us for a 3-part webinar series focused on supporting and affirming the needs and assets of preschool-aged Dual Language Learners, who represent a large and growing population of young children in California. This series, intended for teachers and administrators, will provide participants with practical strategies and takeaways to apply to their own contexts. The series will also feature expert practitioners from the field, who will share their experiences and key resources.
Teaching Dual Language Learners: What Early Childhood Educators Need to Know
Brookes Publishing | 2021As the number of dual language learners (DLLs) in early childhood settings continues to rise, educators need to know how to teach, engage, and assess children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. They'll have the effective strategies they need with this timely book, a reader‐friendly guide that expertly connects research to practice for teachers of young DLLs.
Early childhood educators will start with a detailed review of the demographics of today's DLLs and the latest research findings on supporting the learning and development of bilingual and multilingual children. Then they'll find practical guidance on the best instructional and assessment practices to integrate into their classrooms. Throughout the book, five in‐depth case studies of diverse children highlight the importance of considering each child's background, skills, and home experiences when designing effective learning environments.
Free Excerpt: Chapter One (PDF)
Supporting Children with Disabilities Who Are Also Dual Language Learners (Webinar)
Head Start, National Center for Quality Teaching and LearningIn this hour long webinar, discover myths and facts about and ways to support children with disabilities who are also dual language learners (DLLs). Listen as presenters share high-quality screening practices to determine if a child who is a DLL needs further evaluation. Explore teaching practices for promoting engagement once a child has been identified as having a disability.
CDE Publication: English Learners with Disabilities
2019In August 2016, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2785 (Chapter 579, Statutes of 2016) calling upon the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a manual that provides guidance to teachers and specialists in grades transitional kindergarten (TK)/K–12 to help them appropriately identify and support English Learners (ELs) with disabilities.
In response, the CDE developed the California Practitioners’ Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities (PDF; 3MB) to provide information on identifying, assessing, supporting, and reclassifying ELs who may qualify for special education services and pupils with disabilities who may be classified as ELs. The manual or guide will also assist leaders in developing and implementing policies and practices related to ELs with disabilities.
2. Inclusion During the Pandemic
In summer 2021 an entire community celebrated Mia’s Dream Come True Playground, a fully accessible play ground with lots of unique features for inclusion in Hayward, California. Watch the video of why and how the play ground came into being and see Instagram posts on families enjoying it.
Watch “Matteo Goes to Preschool, a video produced by Desired Results Access and Larry Edelman, that looks at one family’s experience in an inclusive preschool during remote learning and returning to school in the spring of 2021. See examples of parent-teacher collaboration, embedded learning and peer modeling and much more. A complete directory of Larry Edelman’s videos during the pandemic is also available.
See the Edutopia article, Differentiation in Preschool, September 16, 2021, that explains differentiation and why it’s so important.
Mia’s Dream Come True Playground: A family’s dream and how it came to be (Video)
October 22, 2018 | Length: 3:59 minsThe Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD) Board of Directors and the HARD Foundation has taken the Vasquez’ vision of a “Hayward-Centric” park and made it a reality. Mia’s Dream Come True Playground is a one-acre playground designed for “all” to gather, play and enjoy the outdoors. The new playground provides a variety of play features and experiences for children of all abilities in a fun atmosphere. It includes five elements of inclusion play for cognitive, physical, social, sensory and communication. Among the features are a Music Therapy Zone, Kindness Arches, Sensory Wall, Water Tower Look-out, swings and spinners, slides and rollers, and an Animal and Nature exhibit. The park also provides accessible pathways, picnic areas, seating and shade structures. The park opened in summer 2021.
Visit the park at:
- Mia’s Dream Come True Playground
- 28377 Huntwood Ave., Hayward CA 94541
- Open daily from 8:30am-8pm
See pictures and videos of families enjoying the part at Mia’s Dream Come True Playground on Instagram
For more about the park project visit Mia’s Dream Come True Playground at RRM Design
Matteo Goes to Preschool
Desired Results Access Project | June 2021 | Length: 14:47 minsThis video, produced by the Desired Results Access Project and Larry Edelman, is a fitting summary for the 2020-21 school year. Evelyn Perales-Solis shares the story of supporting her son Matteo while in distance learning and then in-person inclusive preschool during the pandemic. Evelyn and her son’s teacher, Sarah Lee, an early child special educator in the Los Angeles School District, describe key practices for achieving positive outcomes, including parent-teacher collaboration, parent coaching, embedded instruction, peer modeling, and the importance of children’s friendships and relationships. It exemplifies the importance of parents and educators working together through transitions during the pandemic.
For a complete directory of videos produced by Larry Edelman featuring the provision of services to children with disabilities during the pandemic see MAP’s Video Collection: Training Videos .
Differentiation in Preschool
Edutopia | September 16, 2021Differentiated instruction allows us to tailor our teaching to the needs of individual students. Is it possible to offer very young children differentiated learning contexts and challenges? Does it involve too much extra planning, materials, or space?
From my experience, it’s not only possible but absolutely necessary to give these young students the chance to enjoy the learning experience fully. We need to offer learning contexts, tasks, and activities that carry the appropriate challenge and involve the child’s interests. We must also set reachable skills development goals, so that every child can participate in the learning experience feeling self-assured.
This article tells you how to get started and provides two examples of differentiated instruction in action.
3. Must Have Publications for your Inclusion Library!
Gain access to the free download of California Department of Education’s The Powerful Role of Play in Early Education.
Reflect on Reimagining Special Education – Using Inclusion as a Framework to Build Equity and Support All Students.
Purchase Demystifying Disability to learn how to be an ally to people with disabilities!
Download the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Position Statement of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Framework in Early Childhood
Continue reading for full descriptions of these articles.
The Powerful Role of Play in Early Education (PDF)
This California Department of Education publication, part of the Best Practices for Planning Curriculum for Young Children series, discusses the critical role of play for children, particularly in early childhood. Play is an important context in which children learn, experiment with new ideas, and make sense of the world around them. It’s available to download for free.
Reimagining Special Education - Using Inclusion as a Framework to Build Equity and Support All Students
Brookes Publishing | 2021A visionary call to action from inclusion experts Jenna Mancini Rufo and Julie Causton, Reimagining Special Education guides readers in creating more equitable schools and services, through practical strategies teachers can use right away and thought-provoking, big-picture questions for administrators to tackle. Readers will explore how inclusive educational practices can address each student’s unique needs as schools reopen and bridge learning gaps for students who struggle.
- Free Excerpt-Chapter 1: Resetting School: Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Remote Instruction
The author discusses the impact of COVID-19 on an already inequitable system and reviews the most effective practices that emerged, practices that benefit all students. - Webinar - Reimagining Special Education: Creating Positive Change in Disruptive Times November 29, 2021 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST This same link gives you access to the recorded webinar after it has been aired.
- Inclusion Facilitators: Who they are and how they help
What is an inclusion facilitator—and how can these special educators help school teams ensure authentically inclusive learning environments? In their visionary guidebook Reimagining Special Education , Jenna Rufo and Julie Causton define an inclusion facilitator.
Demystifying Disability
Emily Ladau | September 2021In this easy-to-read book, disability rights activist Emily Ladau gives a simple but broad overview of disability in the hopes that it will help others have open and honest conversations.
It is an approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more inclusive place.
This is a must-read book for anyone who want to understand disability and be an ally for disabled people.
Think Inclusive Podcast: How to Be an Ally to Disabled People
Today on the podcast, we interview Emily Ladau, disability rights activist and author, about her new book Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally . We discuss why this book needed to be written, if there is only one model of disability that is valid, and we even play a little game called, “is it ableist?”
Position Statement of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Framework in Early Childhood
Division for Early Childhood (DEC) | September 17, 2021This position statement replaces the 2013 Frameworks for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood: Description and Implications.
The purpose of the revised statement is to define an early childhood multitiered system of support (MTSS) framework and to promote a broader understanding and discussion of the implications for young children, their families, and those who serve them.
The guidelines provided in this position statement are useful to programs seeking to implement the broad principles and elements of an MTSS framework. Specifically, programs can ensure that young children are being universally screened, authentically assessed, and differentially supported in ways that are developmentally appropriate and address their unique needs across both curricular and developmental outcomes.
4. Now Streaming: Becoming Helen Keller (Video)
PBS | Length: 1 hr 23 minsRevisit the complex life and legacy of the author, advocate and human rights pioneer. Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, used her celebrity and wit to champion rights for women, people with disabilities and people living in poverty.
The film reveals little-known details of Keller’s personal life and examines her public persona and advocacy, including the progressive reforms she helped achieve. Speaking out for civil rights at great personal cost, Keller supported women’s suffrage, the NAACP, access to health care and assistive technology as a human right, and workers’ rights as a member of the Socialist Party of America and the labor union Industrial Workers of the World.
Streaming available until December 1, 2021
5. Professional Development Updates
Check out new additions to MAP’s Professional Development web page . Upcoming conferences include Head Start California in February, CAAEYC in person in April. The 2022 Beginning Together Institute will be held virtually in March 2022.
Also new are upcoming webinars on Dual Language Learners, several new webinar series from Head Start and a new series from the Brazelton Touchpoints Center.
Conferences
Head Start California Conference
Virtual | February 7-11, 2022- Location: Virtual
- Dates: February 7-11, 2022
CAAEYC 2022
- Location: Pasadena, CA (In Person)
- Dates: April 29-May 1, 2022
- Theme: Visions for the Future: Coming Together to Advance the ECE Profession
Upcoming Webinars
STEMIE Innovations for Inclusion in Early Childhood Webinar Series
Playful STEM for All Young Children: Families and Equity
- Date: December 9, 2021, 1 pm ET
- Registration now available
Designing the TK World: Ensuring Equity for Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
Please join us for a 3-part webinar series focused on supporting and affirming the needs and assets of preschool-aged Dual Language Learners, who represent a large and growing population of young children in California. This series, intended for teachers and administrators, will provide participants with practical strategies and takeaways to apply to their own contexts. The series will also feature expert practitioners from the field, who will share their experiences and key resources. First webinar is October 20, 2021. Go to the website for details and registration information for all three webinars.
Head Start NCECDTL’s 2021–2022 Webinar Series: Integrated Theme!
Supporting children’s social and emotional development and well-being is critical to ensuring successful transitions to full in-person services for children, families, and staff. To support grantees’ efforts to move Head Start Forward , the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL) is aligning content across several webinar series.
In the upcoming program year, our Education Manager, Teacher Time, Home Visiting, and Coaching Corner webinar series will focus on the Approaches to Learning domain of the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) . Discover effective practices for promoting children’s approaches to learning and embedding equity in teaching, home visiting, leadership, and coaching. Each webinar will include a viewer’s guide to help apply featured practices in your daily work.
Save the Dates:
- The Education Manager Webinar Series will return Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, 3–4 p.m. ET
- The Teacher Time Webinar: Supporting Preschooler's Cognitive Self-Regulation is scheduled for Thursday, December 2, 2021 3-4 p.m. ET
- The Home Visiting Webinar Series will return Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, 3–4 p.m. ET
- The Coaching Corner Webinar Series will return Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, 3–4 p.m. ET
Brazelton Touchpoints Center: Strengths-Based Family Engagement five-part workshop series beginning November 9, 2021
Each workshop is 90 minutes, includes a certificate of attendance, and offers live Spanish translation. You can register for each workshop individually, or sign up for the entire series and save $25.
- Price: $35/workshop or $150 for all 5
- BTC Learning Network Member Price: $33/workshop or $145 for all 5
Learn about joining the BTC Learning Network .
Can’t make the live sessions? Register to receive access to the recordings!
Have questions or want to register a group? Contact us!
Direct questions or comments about this newsletter to map@wested.org