ECTA
Center
eNotes
A News Service from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
Current and past issues of eNotes can be viewed and searched online at http://www.ectacenter.org/enotes/enotes.asp
ECTA
Center
eNotes
On December 2, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education published the final amendments to the regulations for implementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in the Federal Register. FERPA is meant to protect the privacy of education records while allowing for the effective use of data. The Federal Register notice can be accessed at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2011/12/02/2011-30683/family-educational-rights-and-privacy
The Tots 'n Tech Research Institute (TnT) recently launched a new Website that includes a wealth of up-to-date information about adaptations and assistive technology (AT) for infants and toddlers. The Web site features a new Help Desk resource, which is designed to make it easy to find adaptations or AT solutions for everyday situations. Information is presented through various media and can be searched by starting with a functional skill, such as communication/socialization or getting around. The new Help Desk will continually be updated and TnT would appreciate your input.
The National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI) recently published Research Synthesis Points on Quality Inclusive Practices (2011), which provides brief descriptions and supporting references for evidence-based and promising practices that support early childhood inclusion. It is organized into three major sections corresponding to the defining features of high quality early childhood inclusion as described in the Joint Position Statement on Early Childhood Inclusion of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The synthesis can be accessed online at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/news/highlight_detail.cfm?ID=971
In the United States, Black children start school behind their White peers on standardized reading and mathematics tests, and racial disparities in achievement increase during each subsequent year of primary and secondary education. The FPG Child Development Institute has released a new Snapshot that provides a brief summary of findings from a study investigating factors that contribute to this achievement gap and the policy implications to address them. Explaining the Black-White Achievement Gap in the Context of Family, Neighborhood, and School (FPG Snapshot #64, December 2011) is available online at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/resources/snapshot-64
Full citation: Burchinal, M., McCartney, K., Steinberg, L., Crosnoe, R., Friedman S.L., McLoyd, V., Pianta, R., & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2011). Examining the Black-White achievement gap among low-income children using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child Development, 82(5), 1404-1420.
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families recently published a new brief, which shows that although the number of children in poverty increased almost 19 percent from 2008-2010, the number of children without health insurance decreased 14 percent, from 6.9 million in 2008 to 5.9 million in 2010. The brief reports that Massachusetts had the lowest percentage of uninsured children (1.5 percent), while Nevada had the highest (17.4 percent). To learn more, see Despite Economic Challenges, Progress Continues: Children's Health Insurance Coverage in the United States from 2008-2010 (November 2011) at http://ccf.georgetown.edu/ccf-resources/despite-economic-challenges-progress-continues-childrens-health-insurance-coverage-in-the-united-states-from-2008-2010/
The Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) has released two new CELLpops for use by preschool classroom teachers. The CELLpops are interactive web versions of CELL mini-posters that practitioners can use in their classrooms to promote children's early literacy learning. Transitions and Waiting can be used to provide fun and easy ways to incorporate early literacy learning into transitions between classroom activities. Group or Circle Time incorporates early literacy learning into group time in the classroom. The CELLpops and mini posters are available at http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/ta_cell_pop1.php
CELL is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs Research to Practice Division and is a major initiative of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute.
The Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood hosted its annual conference on November 17-19, 2011. Handouts from the conference are now available online. To find the handouts you are looking for browse through the conference program, where you will find descriptions of all the sessions, as well as a listing by presenter. Then go to the conference handouts page and click on the time slot of the session you are looking for.
Child Trends recently announced the release of the following briefs on supporting child development through family-provider relationships. The briefs were funded through a contract with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.