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Past Institutes:
2008

2008
Evidence-Based Practices and Recommended Practices

June 23-24, 2008
St. John's University
Collegeville, MN

Agenda (pdf)
Conference Description
Opening Keynote
Sessions
Closing Keynote

Conference Description

Opening Keynote Presentation
Evidence-Based Practice and Recommended Practices

Pat Wesley
Project Director, Partnerships for Inclusion, Carrboro, NC

Pat Wesley has worked in the field of early intervention for 30 years. She started by directing an inclusive preschool program in Chatham County--one of the first developmental day programs in the state to enroll typically developing children. She has been at the FPG Child Development Institute for the past 17 years and has spent most of those directing Partnerships for Inclusion. Pat enjoys working with the PFI team and getting to know people across North Carolina. In her spare time, she collaborates with colleagues to publish articles and curricula about early childhood inclusion. Partnerships for Inclusion provides services in all 100 North Carolina counties. From offices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Greenville, Asheville and Wilmington, PFI staff travel the state providing technical assistance supporting early childhood inclusion.

Virginia Buysse, Ph.D.
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Virginia Buysse, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute and research associate professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among her many accomplishments, she is recognized as helping to shape the special education field with her 1993 article entitled Behavioral and Developmental Outcomes in Young Children with Disabilities in Integrated and Segregated Settings: A Review of Comparative Studies. Buysse's research focuses on early childhood inclusion, friendship and social-emotional development, language and literacy learning among Latino children, models of professional development, models of collaboration and change such as consultation and communities of practice, and program evaluation. She serves as Co-Principal Investigator on Recognition & Response, an early intervening system for children in pre-k who may be at risk for learning disabilities. She also serves as Principal Investor on Nuestros Niños, a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education to examine the effects of professional development on teaching practices and language and literacy outcomes of Latino children enrolled in public pre-k programs. She currently serves as chair of the DEC Research Committee and vice president elect of the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children. Buysse has authored numerous journal articles and books, including the recently released Evidence-Based Practice in the Early Childhood Field published by Zero To Three.

Video presentation

Please be sure you have Flash installed on your computer (free application) in order to view this presentation, and view full screen to see video and slides. This presentation has been divided into four parts for easier viewing. A new window will open. After viewing, close that window to return to this page and continue.

• Part 1 (Length: 22:30)

• Part 2 (Length: 23:46)

• Part 3 (Length: 17:09)

• Part 4 (Length: 14:06)

• Buysse, V., Wesley, P. W., Snyder, P., & Winton, P. (2006).  Evidence-based practice: What does it really mean? Young Exceptional Children, 9, 2-11. (Available in the archive at http://yec.sagepub.com/)

• Dunst, C., Trivette, C. & Cutspec, P. (2006) An evidence-based approach to documenting the characteristics and consequences of early intervention practices. Centerscope, 1(2), 4-10.

Course Topics

Session 1: Consultation in Early Childhood

This two-day course provided a framework for collaborative consultation to early care and education providers to enhance the overall program quality, the quality of care for infants and toddlers, the social-emotional development of young children, or to include a child with special needs. Intended for those who provide consultation in early childhood programs, are interested in learning an effective approach to creating change, and improving your skills as a consultant.

Participant Objectives

• Reflect on the principles of how to be a catalyst for lasting change

• Review the definition of consultation and key features of a collaborative approach in consultation

• Consider the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to be an effective consultant

• Practice communication skills essential to effective consultation

• Identify 8 consultation stages, their key goals, tasks, and related challenges, and

• Explore ethical considerations in consultation.

Pat Wesley
Project Director, Partnerships for Inclusion, Carrboro, NC

Pat Wesley has worked in the field of early intervention for 30 years. She started by directing an inclusive preschool program in Chatham County--one of the first developmental day programs in the state to enroll typically developing children. She has been at the FPG Child Development Institute for the past 17 years and has spent most of those directing Partnerships for Inclusion. Pat enjoys working with the PFI team and getting to know people across North Carolina. In her spare time, she collaborates with colleagues to publish articles and curricula about early childhood inclusion. Partnerships for Inclusion provides services in all 100 North Carolina counties. From offices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Greenville, Asheville and Wilmington, PFI staff travel the state providing technical assistance supporting early childhood inclusion.

Virginia Buysse, Ph.D.
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Virginia Buysse, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute and research associate professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among her many accomplishments, she is recognized as helping to shape the special education field with her 1993 article entitled Behavioral and Developmental Outcomes in Young Children with Disabilities in Integrated and Segregated Settings: A Review of Comparative Studies. Buysse's research focuses on early childhood inclusion, friendship and social-emotional development, language and literacy learning among Latino children, models of professional development, models of collaboration and change such as consultation and communities of practice, and program evaluation. She serves as Co-Principal Investigator on Recognition & Response, an early intervening system for children in pre-k who may be at risk for learning disabilities. She also serves as Principal Investor on Nuestros Niños, a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education to examine the effects of professional development on teaching practices and language and literacy outcomes of Latino children enrolled in public pre-k programs. She currently serves as chair of the DEC Research Committee and vice president elect of the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children. Buysse has authored numerous journal articles and books, including the recently released Evidence-Based Practice in the Early Childhood Field published by Zero To Three.

Buysse, V., & Wesley, P. W. (2004). A framework for understanding the consultation process: Step by step. Young Exceptional Children, 7, 2-9. (Available in the archive at http://yec.sagepub.com/)

Sadler, F. (2001). The itinerant teacher hits the road. Teaching Exceptional Children 34(1), 60-66. (Available in the archive at http://tec.sagepub.com/)

Wesley, P. (2002). Early intervention consultants in the classroom: Simple steps for building strong collaboration. Young Children, 57(4), 30-34.

Wesley, P. W., & Buysse, V. (2006). Ethics and evidence in consultation. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 26, 131–141. (Available in the archive at http://tec.sagepub.com/)

Session 2: Appropriate Services for Young English Language Learners: Language, Culture, and Practice

Most of us have worked with children who speak a language other than English at home. There are many questions in the field, however, regarding best practices in classroom practice, home visiting screening, and assessment with this population of children and their families. This presentation is designed to answer practical questions about providing services that will best support young English language learners. During this workshop background research was presented to provide a well-rounded picture of bilingual development and the relationship of native language support to long-term academic outcomes. The presenter then led participants through a series of activities to support them in improving their current practices with culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Lillian Duran earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU). Last year she reestablished the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) licensure program at MSU. Lillian has worked for 10 years as an ECSE teacher both in Prince George's County, Maryland and in rural Minnesota. She became interested in early second language acquisition when she and her family moved from the Washington D.C. area to New Ulm where she worked as an ECSE Lead Teacher for the River Bend Education District for three years in many communities with high Latino populations such as Gaylord, St. James, Madelia, Arlington, and Sleepy Eye. She then worked for two years with Mankato Public Schools as a birth to three home visitor with a growing population of immigrants from Somalia and the Sudan.

Video presentation

Please be sure you have Flash installed on your computer (free application) in order to view this presentation, and view full screen to see video and slides. This presentation has been divided into four parts for easier viewing. A new window will open. After viewing, close that window to return to this page and continue.

• Part 1 (13 minutes, 40 seconds)

• Part 2 (14 minutes, 35 seconds)

• Part 3 (23 minutes, 57 seconds)

• Part 4 (24 minutes, 12 seconds)

Handout

ELL Session Slides Handout (pdf, 20 pages, corresponds with video presentation)

• (No author) Crossing the Language Divide (2007).  FPG Snapshot, No. 49.  Retrieved May 28, 2008 from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap49.pdf.

• Cheatham, G. A., Santos, R.M., & Ro, Y. E. (2007). Home language acquisition and retention for young children with special needs. Young Exceptional Children, 11 (1), 27-39. (Available in the archive at http://yec.sagepub.com/)

• Espinosa, L.M. (2008). Challenging Common Myths About Young English Language Learners.  FCD Policy Briefs, vol. 8.  Retrieved May 28, 2008 from http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/MythsOfTeachingELLsEspinosa.pdf.

• Kohnert, K. Yim, D., Nett, Kan, P. & Duran, L. (2005). Intervention with linguistically diverse preschool children: A focus on developing home language (s). Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in the Schools, 36, 251-267. (Available in the archive at http://lshss.asha.org/)

Early childhood special educators have long been motivated by the desire to provide high-quality service delivery for young children with disabilities and their families. Essential to successful service delivery is the blending of cross-disciplinary practices that are grounded in evidence-based practices. While not always the preferred service delivery model, national associations such as the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) and the American Speech and Language Association (ASHA) do recommend an inclusive setting as the preferred learning environment within which evidence-based practices be delivered. Yet many practitioners do prefer a "pull-out" model where speech and language direct service occurs outside of a young child's natural learning environment.

This was a highly interactive session where participants stretched their professional imaginations to conceptualize an authentic learning environment for young children with disabilities where speech and language IEP goals and objectives were embedded in the ECSE classroom teaching process. Recommended for teams of early childhood special educators and speech language pathologists to attend together.

Jane Minnema completed her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in Educational Psychology with a major in special education and minor in program evaluation.  Beginning her career as a Speech-Language Pathologist, Jane became an Early Childhood Special Educator when PL 94-142 created center-based programming for preschool age children with disabilities where she remained in practice until 1994.  After five years of working as a policy analyst at the University of Minnesota, Jane entered preservice training in the Early Childhood Special Education program at Saint Cloud State University, Saint Cloud, MN.  Her current research is focused on various aspects of culturally and linguistically diverse parents of children with disabilities. 

Recommended Readings

• McWilliam, R. A. (1996). How to provide integrated therapy. In McWilliam, R. A. (Eds.), Rethinking pull-out services in early intervention: A professional resource (pp. 147-184). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

• Meadan,H,, Ostrosky, M. & Halle, J. (2006). Using communication breakdowns to encourage language. Young Exceptional Children, 9(3): 2-9. (Available in the archive at http://yec.sagepub.com/)

• Kaiser, A. & Delaney, E. (2001).  Responsive conversations: Creating opportunities for naturalistic language teaching. In S. Sandall & M. Ostrosky (Eds.) Teaching Strategies: What to do to support young children’s development (pp. 13-24). Denver: Division for Early Childhood. 

Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) is a problem-solving process that helps us understand why children behave the way they do; it is a positive approach to addressing challenging behavior that has been demonstrated to be effective in schools, community programs and home settings. PBS includes a variety of effective strategies that prevent challenging behaviors and involves teaching children new behaviors and/or skills to replace challenging behavior. 

For many early childhood professionals, this approach involves shifting how we look at and think about children’s challenging behavior.  This was an engaging and interactive extended training opportunity to learn about PBS and gain skills and tools to help professionals and the families they serve to support the behavioral needs of the young children in their programs.

Session Objectives

• Participants understand the theoretical foundation and research supporting the use of Positive Behavioral Support with young children.

• Using the Teaching Pyramid as a guiding framework, participants learn positive and preventative strategies for supporting the social/emotional and behavioral needs of the children they serve.

Kellie Krick Oborn, M.Ed. is a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology/Special Education at the University of Minnesota. She is currently on leave from St. Paul Public Schools where she taught for nine years in both self-contained and inclusive early childhood special education settings. Her professional interests include positive behavioral support, behavioral family intervention, early childhood inclusion and special education teacher preparation. She is currently supervising student teachers for the University of Minnesota Early Childhood/Early Childhood Special Education licensure program. In addition, she works as a graduate research assistant for the St. Paul Schools School Readiness & Early Childhood Special Education Unconditional Care: Parents as Partners in Early Childhood Positive Behavior Support Project.

Ruth Paisley has worked with young children and their families for over 25 years.  She has served children and families teaching in classroom, birth to three home-based, and community-based inclusive settings.  Currently, she is the lead teacher for the St. Paul Public Schools ECSE Program.  Her particular interests are in developing supports for children and families in inclusive settings and program supports for promoting healthy social-emotional development.

Gina Paton has been an ECSE teacher in St. Paul for eight years. She has taught children in ECSE classroom and co-taught ECSE/School Readiness classroom settings. She has an interest in emergent literacy, is certified as a Non-violent Crisis Intervention trainer, and is a member of the SPPS ECSE B-team.

Video presentation

Please be sure you have Flash installed on your computer (free application) in order to view this presentation, and view full screen to see video and slides. This presentation has been divided into five parts for easier viewing. A new window will open. After viewing, close that window to return to this page and continue.

• Part 1 (12 minutes, 30 seconds)

• Part 2 (12 minutes, 5 seconds)

• Part 3 (9 minutes, 21 seconds)

• Part 4 (9 minutes, 59 seconds)

• Part 5 (27 minutes, 26 seconds)

Presentation Handout (pdf, 13 pages, corresponds with video presentation)

Multiple Resources on Positive Behavior Support
The St. Paul Public Schools Early Kindergarten and Early Childhood Special Education Programs developed these materials (in whole or in part) with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education, using federal funds, CFDA 84.027A, Special Education - Grants to States.

• Carr, E.G. et al. (2002). Positive Behavior Support: Evolution of an Applied Science. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4 (1), 4-16, 20. (Available in the archive at http://pbi.sagepub.com/)

• Fox, L., Dunlap, G., Hemmeter, M., Joseph, G. & Strain, P. (2003). The teaching pyramid: A model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children. Young Children, 25(3), 15-23.

• Neilsen, S., Olive, M., Donovan, A., & McEvoy, M. (1999). Challenging behaviors in your classroom?  Don’t react – teach instead! In  S. Sandall & M. Ostrosky (Eds.), Practical strategies for addressing challenging behaviors (pp. 5-15). Denver: Division for Early Childhood.

• Stormont, M., Lewis, T.J., & Beckner, R. (2005). Positive Behavior Support Systems: Applying Key Features in Preschool Settings. Teaching Exceptional Children, 37 (6), 42-29.

• Tyrrell, A., Horn, E., & Freeman, R. (2007). The role of the family in the positive behavior support process. Young Exceptional Children, 10 (1), 12-18. (Available in the archive at http://yec.sagepub.com/)

This course included:

• Definition, incidence, and causes of prematurity

• Admission of infant into NICU, common symptoms, treatment of high-risk infant

• Virtual tour of the NICU

• Glossary of terms

• Top ten list of possible complications

• Outcome and prognosis

• Coping

Marcia Stevens, RN, DNSc, Professor, Accelerated Nursing Program Coordinator, School of Nursing, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Handout

• Premature Infants (pdf, 28 pages)

Recommended Reading

• Als, H. & Gilkerson, L. (1997). The role of relationship-based supportive newborn intensive care in strengthening outcomes of preterm infants.  Seminars in Perinatology, 23 (3), 178-189. (Available in the archive at http://www.sciencedirect.com/)

• Brun, D. A., & Mc Collum, J. A. (2002). Partnerships between mothers and professionals in the NICU: Caregiving, information exchange and relationships. Neonatal Network, 21(7), 15-23.

• Forcada-Guex, Margarita, Pierrehumbert, B., Borghini, Ayala, Moessinger, A, & Muller-Mix, Carole. (2006) Early Dyadic Patterns of Mother-Infant Interactions and Outcomes of Prematurity at 18 months. Pediatrics, 118 (1), 107-114. (Available in the archives at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/)

• LaHood, A., Bryant, CA, (2007), Outpatient care of the premature infant. American Family Physician, 76, 8, 1159-1164. (Available in the archives at http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/journals/afp.html)

• Vandenberg, K. (1997) Basic principles of developmental caregiving. Neonatal Network, 16(7), 69-71.

Closing Keynote Presentation
Love What You Do

Related Resources

• View photos
• Article: Summary of Essential Findings: A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes in Learning, Behavior, and Health for Vulnerable Children
  
  A publication from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

Funding

Minnesota Higher Education Consortium Members
For Further Information
Sponsors

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