Camille CatlettFrank Porter Graham Child Development Institute

Chapel Hill, NC

Building Policies and Practices that Support Each Child

Skill-Building Clinic at the Leadership Connections National Leadership Conference

What messages do your words convey?

• Family as a broader term

• Person first language (child with a disability instead of disabled child)

Have you established policies related to cultural and linguistic diversity?

We believe that . . .

Learning about and respecting differences among people are promoted when children have many opportunities to play and interact with classmates of different racial and cultural backgrounds and varying abilities.

Have you established policies related to inclusion?

Specialists work closely and collaboratively with classroom staff using an integrated model of service delivery (working primarily in the classroom rather than in a separate “therapy room” or other segregated environment).

Have you established policies related to families?

An atmosphere of mutual respect among staff and families is important for all who interact with children. When staff recognize and value the beliefs, customs, and traditions of each family, the child and family are best served. Staff work as partners with family members, but family members are the ultimate decision-makers in planning and setting goals for their children.

Early Childhood Inclusion: A Joint

Position Statement of

DEC and NAEYC

Definition

Early childhood inclusion embodies the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child and his or her family, regardless of ability, to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society. The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning to reach their full potential. The defining features of inclusion that can be used to identify high quality early childhood programs and services are access, participation, and supports.

Delaware Inclusion Guides

Cultural/LinguisticResponsiveness

Programs are responsible for creating a welcoming environment that respects diversity, support children’s ties to their families and communities, and promote both second language and preservation of children’s home languages and cultural identities. Linguistic and cultural diversity is an asset, not a deficit, for young children.

NAEYC, 2009

Resources for Building Policies That Support Each Young Child & Family

• Higher preschool performance and promotion to next grade

• More positive engagement with peers, adults, and learning

• Buffers negative impact of poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes

(Harvard Family Research Project, 2006; Izzo, Weissberg, Kasprow, & Fendrich, 1999; Mantizicoupoulos, 2003; McWayne, Hampton, Fantuzzo, Cohen, & Sekino, 2004)

Family Engagement Helps Children to Succeed

Families can become lifelong partners or lifelong bystanders based on how you engage them in the process of supporting their child.

Traditional Models of Parent Education or Family Involvement Have not been tremendously

effective at engaging families, especially those that are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse

Often convey the attitude that the professionals have all the answers

Often disregard the knowledge-base and strengths of the family (Halgunseth, 2009)

Effective Models of Family Engagement View families as “involved”

and “invested” in their children’s learning

View family members as having unique skills and interests

Ask the question “how are we engaging family interests and skills in our program?”

Effective Models of Family Engagement

Emphasize a reciprocal relationship (not one-sided)

Takes a partnership approach to children’s learning, in which both programs and families collaborate

Emphasize respect for families and a value for their expertise

Promote two-way communication and co-planning

Biases, even unconscious biases, by teachers and administrators can harm the partnerships between programs and families and discourage families from participating.

Recent research has found changes in teachers’ negative beliefs about Latino and other immigrant families after having direct contact and experiences with these families in their communities.Source: Halgunseth and Peterson in Family Engagement Landing Pad.

Does your program incorporate . . .

• The many people in children’s families?

• The many ways your families speak?

• The many religious beliefs and practices of your families?

• The many ways your families eat?

• The many ways your families sing, dance, and make music?

• The many important people in your communities?

Recommendations

For working with families Actively involve families in the early learning

program Help all families realize the cognitive advantages

of a child knowing more than one language, and provide them with strategies to support, preserve, and expand home language learning.

Convince families that their home’s cultural values and norms are honored.

NAEYC, 2009

CONNECTThe Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge

http://connect.fpg.unc.edu/

Teacher’s viewpoint (China) Family’s viewpoint (Aaron)

Two Points of View

Resources for Supporting Engagement for Each and Every Family

Resources for Supporting Engagement for Each and Every Family

High-quality, culturally responsive early learning environments are critical to closing the achievement gap between children living in poverty, especially children of color, and their peers.

(Whitebrook, Gomby, Bellm, Sakai, & Kipnis, 2009, p. 1)

Stand in the doorway and imagine that you are each one of the children in your program.

- Do I feel comfortable here? Does the place remind me enough of my home and my community that I feel I belong here and will be cared for and safe?

-Do I see children and adults who look like me represented in the learning materials and room decorations?

Saturate the environment with the children, families, and staff who currently make up your program.

Saturate the environment with the children, families, and staff who currently make up your program.

-Do any of the teachers speak my home language?

-Do I see reflections of my family structure, daily life, and neighborhood in the learning materials?

-Do I hear any of the music that I hear at home?

-Do snacks and meals include foods I eat at home?

Culturally responsive interactions between

personnel and young children are more

likely to support progress toward children’s mastery

of language, literacy, science, and math skills

(Au & Jordan, 1981; Boykin, 1986; González et al, 1993; Roseberry, Warren & Conant, 1992; Tharp, 1991, 1992)

An effective teacher can have a stronger influence on student achievement than poverty, language

background, class size, and minority status

Most Valued CharacteristicProgram personnel ensure that children with disabilities are active participants in all classroom routines and activities

(Hurley & Horn, 2010)

Anti-bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves

Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olson Edwards

Chapter 2: Creating an Anti-Bias Learning Community• Positive interactions with

children• Positive interactions with

and among families• The visual and material

environment• Curriculum planning

RecommendationsFor working with young children Ensure that children remain cognitively, linguistically, and

emotionally connected to their home language and culture. Encourage home language and literacy development, knowing

that this contributes to children’s ability to acquire English language proficiency.

Help develop essential concepts in the children’s first language and within cultural contexts that they understand.

Support and preserve home language usage. Develop and provide alternative, creative strategies to promote

each child’s participation and learning. Provide children with many ways of showing what they know

and can do.NAEYC, 2009

SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library

Organized around 10 principles Every individual is rooted in culture The cultural groups in the communities and

families of each program are the primary sources for culturally relevant programming

Questions to support reflection, planning, and policy development

Multicultural Principles for Head Start Programs Serving Children Ages Birth To Five

Multifaceted Resources for Language & Literacy

National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness

http://nichcy.org/

Friends at School

Are your professional development efforts growing the capacity of early childhood professionals to support young children who are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse?

Research suggests that both preservice and inservice EC teacher preparation has failed to prepare educators who can effectively teach children for whom English is a new language or second dialect, children of color, and children from economically marginalized communities (Ray, Bowman, & Robbins, 2006)

What do we know about effective PD?

One thing we can say with certainty about professional development is that workshops are not effective if building skills or dispositions is the desired outcome

(Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005)

. . . and yet

A national survey recently indicated that workshops were the primary method for delivering training and technical assistance

(Bruder, Mogro-Wilson, Stayton, & Dietrich, 2009)

While training workshops are consistently the PD method of preference in early childhood, short-term, one-time trainings have little or no impact on quality improvements

(Zollitsch & Dean, 2010)

Recent findings

Recent research syntheses on adult learning strategies and teacher development provide some empirical basis for designing effective professional development

(Trivette, 2005; Trivette, Dunst, Hamby, & O’Herin, 2009; Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009)

Based on these findings, effective professional development . . . Is intensive and ongoing, with multiple,

sequenced, active learning experiences Is grounded in specific practice-focused content Builds on the learner’s current level of understanding Includes large doses of learner self- assessment of his/her learning against a set of standards, criteria, or expert feedback Is aligned with instructional goals, learning standards, and curriculum materials

 OUTCOMES

PD Methods % of participants who could demonstrate

KNOWLEDGE

% of participants who could demonstrate

SKILL

% of participants who could USE NEW

SKILL IN THE CLASSROOM

Theory and Discussion 10% 5% 0%

Training with Demonstration 30% 20% 0%

Training with Practice and

Feedback60% 60% 5%

Training with Onsite Coaching 95% 95% 95%

(Joyce & Showers, 2002)

Impact of Different PD Methods

Recommendations

For preparing early childhood professionals

Provide professional preparation and development in the areas of culture, language, and diversity

Recruit and support educators who are trained in languages other than English.

Recruit educators who reflect the children and families you serve.

NAEYC, 2009

What is Professional Development?

NPDCI Definition of Professional Development

“Professional development is facilitated teaching and learning experiences that are transactional and designed to support the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions as well as the application of this knowledge in practice…..

Definition (continued)

The key components of professional development include:

a) characteristics and contexts of the learners (i.e., the “who” );

b) content (i.e., the “what” of professional development); and

c) organization and facilitation of learning experiences (i.e., the “how”).”

Framework for Providing Culturally Responsive Services (Bradshaw, 2013)

Bradshaw, W. (2013). A framework for providing culturally responsive early intervention services. Young Exceptional Children, 16(1), 3-15.

Applying the Framework