Division for Early Childhood 2024 Conference

Through inclusive play interventions with peers, young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience significant gains in gross motor, social and emotional, and communication skills. This session will provide an overview of Special Olympics Young Athletes programming and highlight ways technology and digital media are being implemented to support families. Presenters will share an overview of the Young Athletes mobile app, a tool designed to provide families with personalized activities for their child, health education resources, and community connection opportunities. The session will include preliminary evaluation data about the utility and feasibility of the app based on an ongoing pilot with families in 5 countries, including the United States.

Explore ways to use IDEA preschool data to tackle significant disproportionality in early childhood education. In this interactive session, presenters help participants navigate the process, with an emphasis on high-quality data and intentional analysis, including special considerations for preschool that empower educators to foster equity and excellence for all students.

EI professionals, childcare providers and community programs can create welcoming and inclusive interactions for all infants, toddlers, and families. We will consider the ways we can support children of all abilities at home, at childcare, and in the community, to promote access and participation for all.

What is the difference between evaluation and ongoing assessment? Which tools should we use? How do we ensure that practitioners are assessing with fidelity? This session will outline how one state Part C Program addressed these questions through the investigation of assessment tools and creation of Professional Development opportunities to support practice.