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2009
Evidence-based Practices Revisited

June 15-16, 2009
St. John's University
Collegeville, MN

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Background Reading on Evidence-based Practices

Buysse, V., Wesley, P.W., Snyder, P., & Winton, P. (2006). Evidence-based practice: What does it really mean? Young Exceptional Children, 9, 2-11.

Session Descriptions and Resources

Session 1
Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment 2:
Pulling Together the Pieces

Play-based assessment is a functional, observational approach to assessment of infants and preschoolers. TPBA2 is a comprehensive revision of the well-known TPBA system, including new family involvement materials, vision and hearing screening, a format to bridge assessment and intervention, and procedures for monitoring outcomes. In this presentation, participants were introduced to the revised materials and how to use them for both initial and ongoing assessment. Video clips were used to illustrate the process and enable participants to practice using the materials.

Session 2
Routines-Based Intervention

By definition, routines are part of daily life. They are the meaningful events, common chores, and the work associated with living. Routines are appropriate for embedding intervention because they provide a context in which the family is being a family first and foremost, and a support to their child’s special needs within the activities of their daily life. Routines are not “separate or special.” They occur wherever the family is, whenever the need arises, and however the family chooses to complete them.  Instead of scheduling the family activities around the child’s therapy sessions and at home lessons, in a routines based approach, the family activities become the child’s therapy and practice. This paradigm shift changes many of the roles and common practices early interventionists.  This workshop on routines-based intervention that is also family-guided presented strategies that service providers can use to enhance the family role during the assessment process as a foundation for their active participation in assessment and intervention. Developing routines with the family that are flexible and dynamic was illustrated with video examples. The use of adult learning principles and problem solving practices were discussed and modeled throughout the training to increase the familiarity of the participants’ knowledge and application of these theories to enhance the involvement of very diverse caregivers. Finally, a model of consultation that focuses on the interaction between the caregiver and the child was illustrated for use in routine based assessment and interventions.   

Participants increased knowledge and skills as evidenced by their ability to complete the following:

• List 3 questions for evaluating efficiency and effectiveness of intervention embedded into routines.
• Describe 3 evidence based strategies to facilitate “joining in” to the family’s routines vs. taking over.
• Identify 2 factors that impact caregiver’s ability to generalize strategies throughout the day within routines and activities.
• Identify 4 key adult learning principles important for supporting caregivers to learn to use  routines based intervention with their child.
• Name 5 key principles of family guided routines based intervention to include in a fidelity measure.
• List 3 different instructional strategies for teaching caregivers within routines.

Juliann J. Woods, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a professor and chair in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida State University. She has over 25 years of experience in early intervention and preschool service delivery as both an SLP and an Early Childhood Special Education teacher. Her current research and teaching interests include family guided routines based intervention, early communication and social interaction for young children with ASD, and language and literacy development for children at risk for academic success. She directs or co-directs multiple state and federally funded personnel preparation, research and demonstration projects, and she consults and presents nationally.  Project resources to support the administration of family guided early intervention services in natural environments and are available at http://tactics.fsu.edu and http://fgrbi.fsu.edu.

Resources

• The TaCTICS website contains a wealth of information and materials for downloading regarding routines-based intervention.

Recommended Reading

• Bernheimer, L., & Weismer, T. (2007). "Let me just tell you what I do all day...": The family story at the Center of Intervention Research and Practice. Infants & Young Children, 20(3), 192-201.

• Stremel, K., & Campbell, P. H. (2007). Implementation of early intervention within natural environments. Early Childhood Services: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Effectiveness, 1(2), 83–105.

• Woods, J., & Lindeman, D. (2008). Gathering and giving information with families. Infants and Young Children, 21(4), 272-284.

Session 4: Conducting Routine-based Interventions with Culturally Diverse Families

Routines-Based Interviewing and Intervention (RBI) have become new standards in the field of early intervention. We are recognizing the importance of not only embedding intervention in natural contexts but also within natural routines with primary care providers taking leadership in implementing activities that will enhance and support a child’s development. However, little is known about how this new process and practice works with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families. In many cultures teachers have “expert” status and it is not part of the cultural norm for teachers to actively seek the family’s opinion about best approaches or to actively involve them in educational intervention. Additionally, throughout Minnesota many service providers still do not have access to interpreters on a consistent basis to implement this strategy in the family’s home language. For these reasons, this session explored considerations and adaptations that may be necessary to make this practice culturally responsive and linguistically appropriate with the growing CLD populations in the upper Midwest. Families from the Hmong, Latino, and Somali communities shared information about their cultures and languages and provided their respective perceptions about this new process. All questions were welcome as we engaged in this rich conversation about new directions in the field of early intervention.

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.

Recommended Reading

• Barrera, I., & Corso, R.M. (2003). Skilled dialogue: Strategies for responding to cultural diversity in early childhood. Baltimore: Brookes.

• Harbin, G.L., McWilliam, R.A., & Gallagher, J.J. (2000). Services for young children with disabilities and their families. In J.P. Shonkoff & S.J. Meisels (Eds.), Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention (2nd Ed.). New York: Cambridge Press.

• McWilliam, R. A. (2003). Giving families a chance to talk so they can plan. AAHBEI News Exchange, 8(3), 1, 4-6. 

• Ohtake, Y., Milagros Santos, R., & Fowler, S. A. (2000). It's a three-way conversation: Families, service providers, and interpreters working together. Young Exceptional Children, 4, 12-18. 

Session 5: Relationship-Based Practice (Reflective Practice)

Reflective practice rests on the notion that it is not possible to work on behalf of human beings, in this case young children and their families, without having powerful feelings aroused in oneself (Pawl, 1990; Fenichel, 1992). Further, in order to provide an optimal social emotional climate for young children, the availability of care for the caregiver is essential. The very nature of these supports provides a respectful, understanding and thoughtful atmosphere where exchanges of information, thoughts, and feelings about the things that arise around one’s work can occur. This sectional shared “lessons-learned” from a multi-site Reflective Practice model that encompasses Head Start, Child Care, and Early Childhood Special Education in the Duluth-Hermantown-Proctor Area. 

Session participants:

1. Explored the underpinnings of children’s mental health as related to recommended practices in working with young children;
2. Examined the benefits of reflective practice for professionals who work with young children;
3. Observed and participated in role-playing activities that simulate reflective practice;
4. Discussed resources essential to and available for the design of reflective practice models in various settings;
5. Examined video case scenarios from environments with young children and the associated application of reflective practice in reaching a shared understanding of and reaction to childhood behavior.

Reflective Supervision Collaborative for Duluth/ Hermantown/Proctor

Mary Ann Marchel is an Associate Professor in the Unified Early Childhood Studies Program.  She has worked with young children of diverse abilities, ages birth through age eight years and their families, in both rural and urban communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Upon completion of her doctorate, Dr. Marchel worked within the University of Wisconsin System as an assistant professor in Early Childhood Special Education teacher education programs.  In her current role, she teaches UECH courses that focus on early childhood special education and courses in the Master of Education Program and the Doctorate of Teaching and Learning. Dr. Marchel’s research interests include interdisciplinary practices in infant mental health, social emotional development in young children, reflective practices in professional development, and the use of assistive technologies to promote inclusion for young children with disabilities.

Marlys Johnson is a Licensed Psychologist with a thirty year history working with young children and their families. With a degree in child psychology and a certification in early childhood education, she began her work in infant and toddler childcare and then as a teacher in a therapeutic toddler classroom in St. Paul. After receiving a graduate degree in Educational Psychology (Counseling), she provided in-home counseling services for high risk families of young children with special needs. Using that experience, she joined the University of Minnesota Early Childhood Continuing Education staff as a trainer for para-professionals working in county social services as in-home support, mentors and advocates for high risk families with young children, including Head Start home visitors. That lead to a 20 year career as an independent Head Start Mental Health Consultant, providing services of reflective supervision, child observation and intervention, staff consultation, training and coaching and direct service to families and children with social emotional concerns. Marlys is currently the community consultant for the Duluth/Hermantown/Proctor Thrive Initiative Reflective Practice Collaborative Project.

Marilyn Larson has worked at state, national and local levels in early childhood education.  As the Executive Director of the Action for Children Commission, she spearheaded the publication Kids Can’t Wait, which served as the basis for many state initiatives, including the Family Service Collaboratives. As a consultant, Marilyn has worked statewide and nationally with communities interested in developing collaborative efforts with all institutions in the community around supporting families and children. She is currently the Supervisor of Early Childhood Programs for Duluth Public Schools, overseeing ECFE, School Readiness and Head Start.

Lynn Henderson is Early Childhood Program Director for the Duluth YWCA. She has 20 years of experience in the Early Childhood field as both Preschool teacher and now Director at the YWCA.  She has served on state MNAEYC board, is past president of the local DAEYC organization, and is a trainer for the State of Minnesota Cultural Dynamics Education Project.

Cindy Ryan is Early Childhood Coordinator for the Proctor/Hermantown schools. Working in the field of early childhood for over twenty years, she has taught as an early childhood/early childhood special educator, and led programs in inclusive settings across the country. Cindy is currently working on her doctorate in education, with a focus in relationship-based practices and social-emotional development of young children.

Deidre Quinlan is the Teen Parent Specialist for the Duluth School District. Deidre is responsible for management of support services to pregnant and parenting teens and their children and is the director of the school-based child care center. She has worked with high-risk young families for 12 years and also provides training for professionals and site-based consultation.

Resources

Zero to Three publishes some booklets on Reflective Practice that can be purchased, including The Power of Questions: Building quality relationships with families and Look, Listen, and Learn: Reflective Supervision and Relationship-Based Work. Visit the Zero to Three website and click on "eStore."

Recommended Reading

• Eggbeer, L., Mann, T. L., & Seibel, N. L. (2007). Reflective Supervision: Past, Present and Future. Zero to Three, 28(2), 5-9. 
• Sheehy, M. (2006). Our Children, Ourselves. Child, 85-89.

Session 6: Positive Behavior Support

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 that helped participants and the families they serve support the behavioral needs of the young children in their programs.

Session Objectives:

1. Participants began to view challenging behavior from a comprehensive Positive Behavior Support framework.
2. Participants learned a process for identifying the function of challenging behavior and how to develop a Positive Behavioral Support Plan.
3. Participants were provided with with a variety of proactive/preventative strategies to draw from in meeting the needs of their students and families.
4. Participants discussed the challenges to implementing PBS program-wide and share ideas/strategies for overcoming barriers.

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.

Gina Paton is an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher for the St. Paul Public Schools. She has taught for nine years in self-contained ECSE classrooms, co-taught with a regular Pre-K teacher, and is now working as an Inclusion Teacher serving ECSE students at Head Start, Community-Based Programs, Home-Based Programs, and Pre-K classrooms. She is part of the St. Paul ECSE B-Team (Behavior Team) that helps to coach teachers and teams in developing and implementing behavior plans in homes and classrooms. She has also co-taught a PBS Parenting Series to St. Paul families and is a Certificate Non-violent Crisis Intervention Trainer. Educational interests include emergent literacy in early childhood classrooms and PBS coaching and trainings in classrooms and homes.

Resources

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.

Recommended Reading

• Bouldware, G., Schwartz, I., & McBride, B. (1999). Addressing Challenging Behaviors at Home: Working With Families to Find Solutions. Young Exceptional Children, 3, 21-27. 
• Carr, E.G. et al. (2002). Positive Behavior Support: Evolution of an Applied Science. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4(1): 4-16, 20. 
• Fox, L., & Clarke, S. Aggression? Using Positive Behavior Support to Address Challenging Behavior. Young Exceptional Children Monograph Series No. 8, 1-15. 
• Stormont, M., Lewis, T.J., and Beckner, R. (2005). Positive behavior support systems: Applying key features in preschool settings. Teaching Exceptional Children, 37 (6), 42-29.  

Breakout Session 7:
Premature Babies--Helping Parents Navigate an Unexpected Journey

This session was designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of early intervention professionals by providing them with information about the effect of premature birth on an infant’s brain, behavior, and development; insights into parents’ experiences in the NICU and first months at home; information about developmental care; and other research-based strategies proven to enhance the child’s development and parent-infant relationship. Principals of infant mental health were interwoven as best practice approach in providing intervention.

Learning Objectives were to:

• Gain an understanding of how a premature birth impacts the infant, the parent, and their early relationship.
• Learn how to offer support and identify key information to share with parents of pre-term babies.
• Identify resources and methods to educate, inform, and support parents of prematurely born children.
• Identify interventions that are designed to help pre-term infants develop their social, cognitive, self-help, gross and fine motor skills, and enhance the parent/baby relationship.

Jolene Pearson M.S. is an Interagency Facilitator and Early Childhood Special Education teacher with Minneapolis Public Schools.  She is a certified Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale examiner, Infant Mental Health Mentor  and is licensed in the fields of Parent Education, Early Childhood Education, and Early Childhood Special Education. Jolene has been an adjunct faculty member and instructor at the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud State University and the University of St. Thomas teaching courses in parent education, infant mental health, and early childhood special education. She has published a curriculum – Parent-Infant Pathways: An educator’s guide to providing information and support to new parents. Jolene has worked with parents and premature infants for over 20 years and collaborated with NICU staff in providing information and support.

Resources

The book Growing Sophia tells the story of one family’s journey through premature birth and is highly recommended for those who work with preemies and their families. It can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Recommended Reading

• Nelson, F. (2006). From Science to Public Policy: Premature Infants. Zero to Three Public Policy Papers, 1-6.
• Olson, J. (2009, April 26). For the lucky parents, there’s a lifetime to worry. Saint Paul Pioneer Press, p. A1.

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