Carlos Pérez Valle: A Policy Review of Pre-service Curricular Standards in the U.S. and Canada for Culturally Responsive Practices in Speech-Language Pathology
In the U.S. and Canada, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are professionals who evaluate, diagnose,and treat communication and swallowing disorders in people across the lifespan (ASHA, 2023; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022; Holt, 2022; Lagacé et al., n.d.). Referred to as SLPs hereinafter, their work includes assessing and treating a gamut of speech, language, and swallowing disorders, in addition to cognitive and/or social impairments associated with communication. Examples of communication impairments include expressive and/or receptive language disorder, speech sounds disorders, and communication challenges associated with Down’s Syndrome, autism, and learning disabilities.
Amanda LaTasha: Supporting Equitable Technology Practices in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Review and Recommendations for Policy, Training, and Technical Assistance
The Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government requires federal agencies to take a comprehensive approach to advancing equity, addressing the conditions of calling attention to those who have been historically marginalized, under-resourced, and adversely impacted by poverty. While federal agencies, like the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services, have developed plans or data analysis to understand how their programs have historically or currently reinforced inequity or supported equity, there is not a comprehensive understanding of how early childhood policies and training and technical assistance have currently or historically supported equitable educational technology practices. This brief addresses this gap by analyzing how Head Start and Child Care law, regulation, guidance, and training and technical assistance (T/TA) reference technology and if they support equitable practices for children and practitioners, and identifying areas of improvement.
Brandy M. Locchetta: 12 Myths about IDEA for Preschoolers with Disabilities - Recommendations for Policy and Practice
Prior to the signing of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) on November 29, 1975, children with disabilities were most likely to be found in institutions or in altogether separate settings within school buildings, when they were allowed to attend at all. This monumental day in 1975 came on the heels of decades of advocacy by families and a flurry of small legislative wins for children with disabilities in the 1950s and 60s. EHA required that children with disabilities were provided with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It wasn’t until reauthorization in 1986 (PL 99-457) that Part B, section 619 was instated; acknowledging the critical nature of the early years of development and providing access to FAPE in the least restrictive environment for preschool children 3-5 years old. EHA became known as IDEA in 1990 as a part of the second reauthorization. Two additional reauthorizations in 1997 and most recently in 2004, have further solidified the legal right e for infants and toddlers to receive early intervention and children and youth 3-21 years old with disabilities to receive FAPE alongside their non-disabled peers in inclusive environments.
Diana Abarca: Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Effective early care and education for infants and toddlers with disabilities is critical and closely tied to their future success and quality of life. While the United States offers a systematic process to provide Early Intervention for families of children with disabilities through Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is riddled with deficiencies that disproportionately affect families of color more so than White families. Historical and contemporary forms of systemic racism are heavily present within Part C services and poorly influence the access, experiences, and outcomes of families of color related to their young children’s early learning and development. Actionable steps must be taken within Early Intervention services to enhance young children’s and families’ access, experiences, and outcomes.
Ashley Watts: (Re)Conceptualizing Current Measurements of Accessibility for Black Children & Families
There is the goal of providing a comprehensive analysis of accessibility to quality early care and educational programs for Black children and families on a national scale. While access has been defined through the indicators discussed in this resource determined through pre-existing research, following measures for conceptualization, such efforts remain exclusive to Black children & families. And finally, with this resource, we aim to reconceptualize the pre-determined indicators that were measured that do not include Black children and families, to provide recommendations on what policymakers should do to intentionally acknowledge the current challenges that we face and remedy this ongoing issue.
Ozden Pinar-Irmak: Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families’ Access to Early Learning: Current Challenges in Head Start/Early Head Start Access and Policy Recommendations
This policy brief describes many of the most common systemic challenges that immigrant and refugee families face in accessing HS/EHS, examines current policies and practices that support immigrant families’ access to early learning at the federal and state level, reviews collaboration between Head Start and refugee resettlement agencies, and provides policy recommendations to help improve access to HS/EHS among immigrant families.
Dr. Briana Bostic: Enhancing the Provision of Early Care and Education in the Time of COVID-19
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, families, particularly those who are economically vulnerable and from historically marginalized backgrounds, have had their resources strained. Some families have endured becoming impoverished, likely due to reduced working hours and prolonged unemployment, threatening their access to food, healthcare, housing, and utilities. Simultaneously, early childhood programs are now facing declining enrollment due to their lowered enrollment capacity and limited service hours, which trends with national patterns for declining student enrollment.
Catherine Gonzalez: Transforming Pre-K Learning Spaces: Five Reasons Dual Language Learning Matters for the Academic and Socioemotional Development of Latino Children
Early childhood serves as the starting point for the development of essential skills, abilities, and knowledge allowing individuals to navigate the world in all its facets (Britto et al., 2017). Consequently, this stage of development has become a priority area of research for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. Given that children spend the majority of their early years in schools or other educational settings, it is imperative to optimize these spaces for a growing, diverse population of children in the United States.
Dr. Darielle Blevins: Reflecting on Racism and Bias in Early Childhood Settings: Critical Reflective Practice Guide for Coaches and Teachers
Black girls should be sacred, worthy, and loved, but as the above incident indicates, they are often treated in ways that are contradictory to these ideas. Unfortunately, this unfair treatment of Black girls also happens in educational settings. Take for example the story of 6-year-old Madisyn Moore who was handcuffed and placed under the stairs to “teach her a lesson” after she took candy from her teacher’s desk (Roussi, 2016). Often these drastic responses to Black girls are rooted in unconscious beliefs about race, gender, and childhood that lead to harmful assumptions about Black girls.
Meredith Powers: Measuring Equity - A Compendium of Early and Middle Childhood Culturally-Responsive-Practice Measurement Tools
We selected three measures in each section (i.e., Observation Measures, Teacher-Report Measures, and Group-Specific Measures) to highlight for further research and practice considerations. It should be noted that the one-page profile on the nine spotlighted measures considers both the strengths and areas of need for future tools designed to measure culturally responsive practice, and other proxies of equitable education. These profiles were derived from peer-reviewed articles, often validating the psychometric properties of newly developed measures. The spotlighted measures may not be reflective of the most recent measure versions and readers are encouraged to reach out directly to the corresponding authors for more information.
Dr. William White: Literature Review on Access to Gifted Education for Black Students
Dr. William White wrote a literature review on access to gifted education for black students focusing on funding structures, overpopulation vs. underpopulation, black teachers vs. white teachers, interest convergence, universal screening and much more.