California MAP* to Inclusion and Belonging… *Making Access Possible April 2022 Newsletter
Six Sets of Inclusion Resources: Developmental Milestones, Inclusive Settings, Diversity, Equity, Family Culture and More!
The focus of this edition of the California MAP to Inclusion & Belonging… Making Access Possible newsletter is on newly available resources that support early care and education providers and families in implementing inclusive practices from when a child is first identified as having a disability through school age and beyond. Featured resources support the identification of children with disabilities with developmental milestones, summarize inclusive practices for infants and toddlers, presents a ‘must read’ white paper on the law and inclusive placements for school age children, support disability as a type of diversity, identifies equity resources for early childhood and videos honoring family culture in early intervention.
The purpose of all of these resources is to help providers, educators and families include children with disabilities in all settings with a full sense of belonging and as proud members of their communities.
In this issue:
1. Share the Updated Developmental Milestones with Families! Download the Poster!
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have revised developmental milestones in the Learn the Signs. Act Early. program, which helps parents identify autism and developmental delays in their children.
The revised developmental milestones are written in family-friendly language and identify the behaviors that 75% or more of children can be expected to exhibit at a certain age based on data, developmental resources and clinician experience.
“The earlier a child is identified with a developmental delay the better, as treatment as well as learning interventions can begin,” Dr. Paul Lipkin, a member of the AAP who assisted with the revisions, said in a press release. “At the same time, we don’t want to cause unnecessary confusion for families or professionals. Revising the guidelines with expertise and data from clinicians in the field accomplishes these goals. Review of a child’s development with these milestones also opens up a continuous dialogue between a parent and the health care provider about their child’s present and future development.”
The process behind the revised milestones is detailed in an article titled “Evidence-Informed Milestones for Developmental Surveillance Tools” published in Pediatrics. Read the entire article for a complete description of the changes .
For a family friendly description of the updated milestones see the Psychology Today article, Understanding Updated Developmental Milestones
Explore the Learn the Signs Act Early menu of tools and training associated with the Milestones , share those tools and the free downloadable poster, Milestones Matter (PDF) , with families.
For more resources related to developmental milestones and supporting families see the Early Identification area on the MAP to Inclusion and Belonging website .
2. Inclusive Education Settings for All Children!
Infants and toddlers can benefit from inclusion in child care settings right from the start! Rocking and Rolling. Promoting Inclusion in Infant and Toddler Settings by NAEYC summarizes all you need for inclusion including a vignette that brings the recommendation to life.
Explore the law around placement in inclusive education settings in the MCIE White Paper: Placement of Learners with Disabilities in the Least Restrictive Environment. You’ll find a detailed analysis of IDEA and case law supporting inclusion of children in general education settings. This is a must read for any educator!
Watch the short video, Great Expectations Inclusive Preschool, produced by Marin County that shows an inclusive preschool in action!
Review the checklist of 26 Things You Can Do to Create Inclusive School Spaces by Nicole Eredics. Which ones can you add to make your school more welcoming?
Rocking and Rolling: Promoting Inclusion in Infant and Toddler Settings
NAEYC, Young Children | Winter 2021“While inclusion is an important goal for many families and teachers and is a hallmark of a high-quality early learning program (DEC/NAEYC 2009; NAEYC 2020), effective implementation requires planning, intentionality, and collaboration.”
This article provides a succinct overview of inclusion for infants and toddlers. It explains why you should prioritize inclusion, describes the key features of inclusion (access, participation and support) and provides strategies in planning for inclusion.
MCIE’s White Paper: Placement of Learners With Disabilities In the Least Restrictive Environment
Dr. Carol Quirk and Alice K. Nelson | February 2021This 21-page document goes through the history of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (including amendments to the law), a thorough explanation of the LRE, case law that supports inclusive placements, as well as calls-to-action for district and school leadership teams to transform their practices. It also includes definitive research that concludes that inclusive environments produce the most beneficial long term outcomes.
Great Expectations Inclusive Preschool (Video)
Marin County | January 17, 2019 | Length: 3:28 mins“A collaboration with Lifehouse Agency, the Marin County Office of Education and Dominican University to bring the first inclusive Preschool to Marin County. Let's learn and play together to foster compassion, diversity, and leadership in the young child!” This video describes the benefits of inclusion for all children and shows ‘push in’ occupational therapy.
26 Things You Can Do To Create More Inclusive School Spaces
Brookes Publishing | November 16, 2021Check out this list of 26 ideas for creating inclusive spaces throughout a school campus. How many are you currently using? What can you add to make your school a more welcoming inclusive space?
3. Embrace Disability as Diversity
The article from Edutopia, Setting Up a Disability-Inclusive Curriculum: Six Strategies for Making People with Disabilities a Part of Your Students’ Diverse Learning Experiences, offers resources to enlighten educators about disability in general, myths and stereotypes around disability, contributions of people with disabilities and disability as a part of history.
As a final thought on changing the narrative about disability the authors recommend the TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story.” The presenter, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, gives us vivid examples from her own life that demonstrate the importance of intentionally learning more about a person and not assuming that you already know about them from a single story.
Setting Up a Disability-Inclusive Curriculum: Six Strategies for Making People with Disabilities a Part of Your Students’ Diverse Learning Experiences
Edutopia“As a person with a disability, I (Nikhil) have grown up surrounded by nondisabled figures in the media and in my daily life. As I get closer to reaching adulthood, I’ve become increasingly aware of the lack of representation of people like me who live with disability every day. While schools make accommodations to the physical environment and instructional approach to help students with disabilities learn and grow, the actual curriculum, the “what students learn,” is often silent about disability and the contributions of individuals with disabilities.”
“Because of the silence in our schools about disability, I’ve made it my mission to make the world a better place by increasing awareness about disability and shedding light on what it means to live the way I and other people with disabilities live.”
The Danger of a Single Story (Video)
TEDGlobal 2009 | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Length: 18:33 minsIn her TED Talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses the importance of stories and narratives that help people, especially children, to make sense of the world, develop empathy and understanding for others, and construct a multifaceted personal identity. She argues, “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.
4. Resources to Support Equity and a More Inclusive Society
The Ways 2 Equity Playbook, funded by the California Department of Education, is a guidebook for supporting hands-on equity work addressing students who are African American, English Learners, and Students with disabilities.
Our Identities, Ourselves: A Guide to Anti-Racist Data Collection for: Case Workers and Other Frontline Staff is a four page guide to share best practices for collecting data about race, ethnicity, and other personal information including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE), national origin, language spoken, disability, and tribal affiliation in child welfare agencies nationwide.
Explore articles by NAEYC and Zero to Three to promote racial justice and equity in early childhood!
Ways 2 Equity Playbook
Santa Clara County Office of Education | September 2, 2021Under the California Statewide System of Support, the Ways 2 Equity Playbook (W2EPB) is the work of the California Equity Performance and Improvement Program (CEPIP) of the Inclusion Collaborative at the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) and funded by the California Department of Education.
SCCOE developed the W2EPB, which is a guidebook for supporting hands-on equity work at the school, LEA, and COE levels with particular focus on the following three student groups: Students who are African American, Students who are English Learners, and Students with Disabilities. Download the free publication and check out the webinar recordings, guides and online learning courses offered at the Inclusion Collaborative website.
Our Identities, Ourselves: A Guide to Anti-Racist Data Collection for: Case Workers and Other Frontline Staff (PDF)
Center for the Study of Social Policy | September 2021“The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), in partnership with Casey Family Programs, presents this four page guide to share best practices for collecting data about race, ethnicity, and other personal information including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE), national origin, language spoken, disability, and tribal affiliation in child welfare agencies nationwide. Our purpose is to produce recommendations for how caseworkers and service providers can ask young people and families about their race, ethnicity, and other identities in more accurate, inclusive, and affirming ways, and how child welfare agencies can better report and incorporate that information to support them.”
"What About People Like Me?" Teaching Preschoolers about Segregation and "Peace Heroes"
NAEYC, Teaching Young Children | February/March 2020“As part of the anti-bias curriculum at the preschool where I teach, we study the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the year. Learning about Dr. King’s life provides us with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the principles he stood for. These are ideas my colleagues and I believe are very appropriate for preschoolers to explore and revisit often.”
This article reports a thoughtful discussion conducted in a preschool classroom that explored injustices experienced by people of color.
Zero to Three: Promoting Racial Equity in Early Childhood
Zero to Three has compiled resources for professionals, parents and policy makers that offer insight and guidance on racial justice and equity issues in early childhood. Together, we will make a better world for our babies — a world in which every baby is valued and loved. Get started by exploring the articles below:
- The ABC’s of Diversity and Inclusion: Developing an Inclusive Environment for Diverse Families
- The First Step for Addressing Bias in Infant-Toddler Programs
To learn more about equity and anti-bias visit the Equity, Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism Resources page on MAP .
5. Honoring Family Culture in Early Intervention - Videos
The most recent videos added to the Desired Results Access Project video library demonstrate culturally and linguistically sensitive and responsive early intervention services to Latinx families in Ventura County.
Desired Results Access Project Video Library
The Desired Results Access Project has recently added videos on the theme of Honoring Family Culture in Early Intervention.
“This two-part video series describes and illustrates how Amigo Baby, an early intervention program in Ventura, California, provides virtual home visiting services that are culturally and linguistically sensitive and responsive to Latinx families, including both Spanish-speaking and migrant indigenous families who speak Mixteco. The videos include insightful interviews with the program director, an early interventionist, an occupational therapist, and parents along with illustrative recordings of virtual home visits.”
- Part 1: Isai and Eliel’s Story (Video) Length: 13:31 mins Part 1 describes strategies for being responsive to families’ language and culture; the use of culturally appropriate communicators; working with all family members; using a team approach; being flexible and following the family’s lead; and the use of a coaching approach.”
- Part 2: Max’s Story (Video) Length: 13:39 mins Part 2 expands on the themes introduced in Part 1 and describes socio-economic and cultural challenges frequently faced by migrant indigenous families, strategies for supporting a family’s basic needs, recruiting practitioners who are a part of a family’s community, and using technologies that meet a family’s needs and resources.
- Reflective Questions to Accompany the "Honoring Family Culture in Early Intervention"
After watching the two videos, these questions may help administrators and practitioners reflect on the extent that their program and practices address the themes identified in the videos.
6. Professional Development
Early Start Online offers a free 10 module course focused on transition of services for children with disabilities out of Early Start, early intervention, at age three. It takes approximately 2 hours to complete. Service providers and families can benefit from this course.
Head Start offers pre-recorded webinars on Infant Toddler Preschool Inclusion and Belonging. The 2020 to 2021 season includes 3 episodes for infant and toddler teachers and 3 for preschool teachers.
Early Start Online: Transition from Early Start
“Transition From Early Start is a free self-paced online course focused on the transition of services for children with disabilities out of Early Start, early intervention, at age three. This course features 10 modules that focus on state and federal regulations governing the transition process, strategies for supporting families throughout their child’s transition, and the roles and responsibilities of Early Start Service Coordinators, local education agency (LEA) staff, family support personnel and parents. Modules are between 8 and 25 minutes long. It take approximately 2 hours to complete the entire course.” No pre-registration is required. Just login or sign up at CPEI Online
Check out other free online courses while you are there!
Recorded Webinars: Teacher Time Webinar Series - Infant/Toddler Inclusion and Belonging
Head Start | September 2021The new season of Teacher Time (2020–2021) focuses on inclusion and belonging with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. Learn ways to support child and family inclusion and belonging in the learning environments and through learning materials. Three episodes are dedicated to infant and toddler teachers and family child care providers, and three episodes are for preschool teachers and family child care providers. Watch teachers and family child care providers use effective strategies to ensure all children and families can fully engage in learning opportunities and typical activities and routines across home, educational, and community environments.
These three episodes focus on supporting inclusion and belonging with infants, toddlers, and their families:
- Inclusive Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers
- Learning Materials That Promote Inclusion for Infants and Toddlers
- Supporting Infant and Toddler Families Through Inclusion
For more professional development opportunities see the Professional Development page on the MAP website.
Direct questions or comments about this newsletter to map@wested.org