Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development Center

Virginia Specific Information

Early Childhood Inclusion: What it Looks Like and Doesn’t Look Like
VA Cross-Sector Professional Development (VCPD) Team

This document describes high-quality inclusive practices for all children in birth-to- five programs so that all early childhood education and care providers, administrators, and policymakers can continuously improve their practices. This document is organized according to the three defining features of inclusion--access, participation, and supports. The descriptions provided in this document can act as a blueprint for identifying the key components of high-quality inclusive programs. It does not include every detail possible but serves as a tool for reflection and planning for change.

Virginia Guidelines for Preschool Inclusion (external website)
Virginia Department of Education

This guidance document is designed to assist Virginia’s school divisions and early childhood communities in identifying, developing, and sustaining inclusive opportunities within high-quality early childhood programs for children with disabilities.

Handouts and Documents

The Evidence for Inclusion (external website)
Resources within Reason, Division for Early Childhood

This document features resources to help professionals share definitions, research findings, and access essential examples of the evidence for inclusion.

How Racism Can Affect Child Development (external website)
Harvard Center for the Developing Child

This infographic explains in basic terms how racism in particular gets “under the skin” and affects learning, behavior, and lifelong health.

Inclusion Means Everyone Infographic
Family Inclusion Infographic
VA Cross-Sector Professional Development Team

These infographics provide information about inclusion in VA, its importance, and benefits when children are included. The Family Inclusion Infographic includes strategies for families and quotes from family members.

Our Youngest Learners: Increasing Equity in Early Intervention
The Education Trust, ZERO TO THREE, and the National Center for Learning Disabilities

Early intervention is the key to setting children with delays and disabilities on a path to long-term success. Yet children of color face barriers to accessing these services. There are several strategies states can use to address systemic racial inequities in the health and education systems in which early intervention services take place. This report identifies the strengths of state approaches and opportunities for increasing equity in providing early intervention services.

Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs (external website)
US Dept. of Health and Human Services | US Dept. of Education

The purpose of this policy statement is to set a vision and provide recommendations to States, local educational agencies (LEAs), schools, and public and private early childhood programs, from the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments), for increasing the inclusion of infants, toddlers, and preschool children with disabilities in high-quality early childhood programs. It is the Departments’ position that all young children with disabilities should have access to inclusive high-quality early childhood programs, where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting high expectations.

Priority Issues Agenda (external website)
Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children

The DEC Priority Issues Agenda encourages all early childhood organizations and professionals to commit to: 1) achieving high-quality inclusion, 2) acknowledging and addressing bias, 3) responding appropriately to child behavior, 4) creating and maintaining strong family partnerships, 5) adequately equipping a highly effective workforce, and 6) providing high-quality environments, interactions, instruction, and supports. The documents on this page provide more detailed information about what each commitment means.

Research Synthesis on Quality Inclusive Practices (external website)
National Professional Development Center on Inclusion

This document provides brief descriptions and supporting references for the evidence-based and promising practices that support early childhood inclusion based on the collaborative work of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). These practices are organized into three sections: access, participation, and supports.

Journal Articles

Four Practices (+ one) for Creating Equity in Virtual Visits (external website)
OneOp

This blog post describes five practices and strategies to help early intervention (EI) practitioners engage families in a virtual space while keeping equity in mind.

eLearning, Presentations, and Webinars

eLearning

Foundations of Inclusion (external website)
CONNECT Modules and Division for Early Childhood (DEC)

This course is intended to introduce you to the basics of inclusion and the rights and supports for children and teachers in early childhood education, and to help you understand the topics covered in the Project CONNECT Course series.

Weaving Inclusion into Everyday Activities (external website)
CONNECT Course

This 5-hour course explains the practice of embedding interventions to help children participate in a variety of early learning opportunities and environments promoting high quality inclusion.

Webinars

Creating Equity During Family Visits (external website)
OneOp

This first session in the 4-part Going Virtual series engages participants in reflective thinking around how their own beliefs and experiences shape their expectations for interactions with families and behaviors in virtual settings. Discussion includes strategies to work with families in ways that build caregivers’ capacities while honoring family identity and culture.

In Pursuit of Equity (external website)
Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children
Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA)

This webinar series hosts various experts in the field of early childhood special education and early intervention to discuss disrupting the pervasive inequities of these systems. Topics will include troubling notions of "at risk," challenging biases about families in home based services, suspension and expulsion in early childhood settings, counteracting racism and ableism in early childhood systems, and engaging in systems change in pursuit of equity. Webinars in this series can be accessed for free by registering on the site.

Tools

Implicit Association Test (IAT) (external website)
Project Implicit

This tool measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. It measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., black people, gay people) and evaluations (e.g., good, bad) or stereotypes (e.g., athletic, clumsy).

SpecialQuest Early Childhood Inclusion Materials (external website)
Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center

The SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library was designed to strengthen the inclusion of young children with disabilities and their families in programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The Library includes four learning modules. Each module contains a presenter’s guide, training scripts, handouts (in English and Spanish), and videos (in English, and with English and Spanish captioning). The materials can be used in a variety of professional development settings. They will assist service providers and parents in planning together to increase opportunities for inclusion in their communities.

Videos

Brandon's Story, A Mother's Voice (YouTube, video)

Meet Brandon’s mother as she talks about the importance and impact of early intervention on her son’s life. You’ll also hear from Brandon, who is a teenager and talented musician.

Child Model with Down Syndrome Inspires Thousands (external website)
MSNBC

This story and video clip describe the experience of a 6-year old boy who has modeled for Target and Nordstrom. As the story goes, “Ryan Langston has everything a casting director would want in a child model: charisma, a hip haircut and a knockout smile. This 6-year-old also has Down syndrome -- and it is that fact that has daytime talk shows, international newspapers and news networks all wanting to tell Ryan's story.”

Early Childhood in Giles County Public Schools (YouTube)
Virginia Department of Education

This video highlights an inclusive early childhood special education program in Giles County, VA. Team members, such as teachers, a coach, an administrator, speech-language pathologist, and a parent discuss the characteristics and successes of the program.

Early Childhood Inclusion in Augusta County (YouTube)
Virginia Department of Education

This video features a fully inclusive preschool program in the Augusta County school system in Virginia. The requirements and importance of inclusion in early childhood programs are also discussed.

Foundations of Inclusion Birth to Five (YouTube)
CONNECT Modules

This video provides an overview of inclusion legal and policy foundations and inclusion research, as well as a definition, the desired results and defining features of inclusion in early childhood.

Inclusion in Action: Patty's Play Group (YouTube)

Alexandria, VA This video features an inclusive play group in Northern VA that is designed so that toddlers with and without disabilities and their families have fun together.
Thanks!

Inclusion Means Everyone! (YouTube)

This 3 min video describes inclusion as a basic human right. Speakers focus on the importance of all children, from infancy on through adulthood, being fully included in all aspects of family and community life. This video was developed by VA's Integrated Training Collaborative at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at VCU as a project of the VA SpecialQuest Birth-5 Project.

Inclusion: What It Takes to Educate ALL Children Together – Early Childhood Inclusion in Augusta County (YouTube)
VA Department of Education

This video highlights an early childhood special education program in Augusta County, VA that is fully inclusive of children with and without disabilities. Teachers and administrators discuss the characteristics necessary to make it work, such as attitude, leadership, and teamwork.

Inclusion Song - Content Teaching Academy (YouTube)

Early childhood special education teachers who attended the 2012 Content Teaching Academy at James Madison University sing a song about including all children in their classrooms.

Under The Sea (YouTube)
Haley Elementary School

This video of an upper elementary school play includes children of all abilities.

Patrick Henry Hughes (YouTube)

This story spotlights the inspirational life of Patrick Henry Hughes and his extraordinary musical talent. With the assistance of his father, Patrick attends university classes and plays trumpet in the marching band. Patrick was born with visual and motor differences and amazing musical abilities.

Team Lydia Rose: Supporting Inclusion Every Day In Every Way (Vimeo)
Larry Edelman, Desired Results Access Project

This video illustrates how inclusive practices should begin as early possible. The video
has important messages for families who are, or will be, receiving early intervention services, for current and future early intervention practitioners, and for early childhood educators.

Tim Harris Serves Up Food…and Hugs! (external website)

This brief article describes a young man, Tim Harris, who owns a popular restaurant and the high quality customer service he provides. Tim is 26 years old and has Down syndrome.

Why Inclusion Video Series
STEMIE Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education

This 3-part video series provides information about and illustrates high quality inclusion in early education settings. Click the links below for each video:

Websites and Programs

Equity (external website)
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development - Equity

This website includes trainings, reports and position statements, guidance and application documents, technical assistance toolkits and resources, working with tribal communities/nations, and working with special populations.

Including Samuel: A Documentary (external website)

Visit this site to find a variety of resources on inclusion, including video clips, a screening and outreach kit, and other resources. The site is hosted by Dan Habib, a photojournalist and parent of a son with a disability. The Including Samuel Project is a program of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire.

Natural Resources (external website)
Script-NC

Free, monthly, one-way listserv. Each issue features readily available and free resources on a specific topic related to children from birth through Grade 3 and their families.

Virginia Early Intervention
Professional Development Center

Inclusion, Equity, and Social Justice

Click the tabs below to review the resources.

Available Resources