Office of Early Learning (OEL) | Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
 Hello, Early Learning Leaders!
This month, in Early Learning, we thank you! We know that many of you joined us in honoring Autism Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention Month; in engaging parents and families in their children's development and education every step of the way; and in setting high expectations for all children. And what an impact you make! For all of our readers, we've shared a wealth of resources related to each of these topics, including many engaging videos and webinars.
Our "Grantee Spotlight" features exciting early childhood work in Arkansas that provides specialized support focused on the diverse and unique needs of families and their children. Related to engaging and educating families, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) held a ParentCamp this month to bring parents and other stakeholders together to discuss the topic of summer slide.
We also emphasize the importance of establishing high
expectations for children with disabilities, and working with families to help their children meet those expectations. In OSEP's latest virtual symposium, now available online, we bring experts from across the field together to discuss high expectations, appropriate supports, and the importance of individualized education programs (IEPs), especially in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that addresses these topics.
Thanks, as always, for reading Early Learning, and for the work you do!
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 ED's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is currently seeking input from the public via the OSERS Blog. We are seeking comments, particularly from state educational
agencies and state lead agencies, on how best to provide technical assistance
(TA) to states on the collection and reporting of data required under Part B,
Sections 618 and 616, of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA). This includes input on the most effective and efficient method of funding this
TA.
The blog post, which contains additional information and questions to consider when providing input, will be open for comments from April 24, 2018 through May 24, 2018.
 Read on for information about the awareness activities members of early childhood communities engaged in this month.
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS’) Children’s Bureau is sharing information on how to build strong and nurturing communities that are supportive of families, and play a role in preventing child abuse and neglect by promoting child and family well-being.
 In 2016, Arkansas was awarded a Preschool
Development Grant (PDG)
to expand and improve its pre-K program, Arkansas
Better Chance (ABC). One of the activities of this grant involved providing funds to 16 local pre-K programs, each of which were then required to hire a family services manager to support local families in
meeting their children's and families' needs. These family services managers
provide comprehensive services for families, including
- conducting a
comprehensive assessment of the needs of each family and assisting them in
setting and achieving ambitious goals;
- conducting home visits;
- assisting families
in securing all necessary paperwork needed to enroll their children;
- ensuring that each family has a medical home and dental home, and that each child receives
a medical, dental, and social-emotional screening; and
- actively referring
families to community resources through established partnerships, and using a clearly
defined referral process.
ABC program staff believe
that just as early childhood programs must adapt their curriculum and practice to
the unique needs, abilities, and interests of the child, so too, must they adapt to the diverse needs, abilities, and interests of
parents and families.
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 ED Event for Parents on Summer Slide
 On April 23, ED hosted ParentCamp: Informed Families Thrive—Preventing the Summer Slide. This event was a series of workshops, facilitated by ED staff and invited guests, that brought parents, students, educators, and faith-based and community representatives together. They shared their experiences, concerns, solutions, and resources related to the topic of summer slide, including those specific to early learners. ParentCamp is designed to help participants make informed decisions about their children's education. Visit ED’s family and community engagement website for more information about all of the Department's ParentCamp events.
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 Virtual Symposium on the Importance of IEPs
On April 9, OSEP hosted the first event of its 2018 virtual symposia series. The symposium's many presenters focused on
- the factors that drive high expectations for children with disabilities;
- how to support each child and family in
establishing and meeting those expectations;
- how to ensure that every child has
access to an education that meets their individual needs;
- how
high expectations relate to state academic content standards; and
- ways to incorporate evidence-based practices into IEPs.
The practices and principles highlighted in this symposium were presented in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in
Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1, commonly referred to as Endrew F. OSEP's questions-and-answers document on Endrew F. can be found here. You can find additional information and resources for all of the symposium's topics on the symposium web page.
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 New Collection of IDEA Child Outcomes Reports
DaSy (the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems) recently unveiled its latest
special collection of resources, Child Outcomes Reports. This collection provides a convenient means for users to access a variety of IDEA child outcomes data reports that select state agencies have produced for their local early childhood programs. As users will note when perusing the collection, the featured states have offered many examples and templates that are intended to assist other states in this work.
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 Explore Head Start's Redesigned Website
We invite you to check out the recently redesigned Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) website from HHS' Office of Head Start. While exploring, users can navigate the ECLKC content topics from the main menu bar, and subscribe to email updates. The site provides the latest
evidence-based information, training materials, and resources that respond to
the needs of Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
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 Webinar Series on Key Issues in Early Education
The Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) is hosting a series of free webinars featuring national experts, and focusing on issues facing the early education community. This series comes in advance of CEELO's 2018 Roundtable for state agency early childhood specialists. This year's roundtable, conducted in partnership with the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS-SDE) and national technical assistance initiatives, will seek to address the issues raised in the webinar series, and focus on participants' collective and collaborative work advancing early learning. The webinar topics are the following:
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 ED's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released findings from a longitudinal study that followed students from their kindergarten year to the spring of 2016, when most of the students were in fifth grade. The study, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11, and the findings from the fourth-grade round, provide a first look at the reading, math, and science achievement of the students involved. Key findings include the following:
- About 88 percent of children enrolled in kindergarten in the 2010–11 school year were in kindergarten for the first time that school year, and were in fourth grade in the spring of 2015.
- In the spring of fourth grade, males had higher average math scores than females, while no significant differences by child's sex were detected in children's reading and science knowledge and skills.
- In reading, math, and science, white students, Asian students, and students of two or more races had higher average scores in the spring of fourth grade than both black and Hispanic students. In math, Hispanic students had higher average scores on the spring assessment than black students.
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This
month, we interviewed Nancy Thompson
and Janine Figiel from the Jolly
Toddlers child care center in Southampton, Pennsylvania. Thompson and Figiel shared with us what
it takes to create a positive, nurturing, and collaborative child care
environment that benefits both early childhood program staff and the children in their care. One of the ways Jolly Toddlers has done this is by successfully
implementing the Pyramid
Model to improve young children’s social competence. Check out the full interview on the OSERS Blog.
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