SPDG Day May 8, 2014

People First Language Kathie Snow. (n.d.) A few words about People First Language. Disability is Natural. Retrieved August 1, 2012 from sh09.pdf “People First Language puts the person before the disability and describes what a person has, not who a person is.”

Early Childhood Initiatives

Why Early Childhood Programs Are Important Research suggests that children who participate in high quality early childhood programs are more likely to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. – Low income and at-risk children benefit the most from high quality early childhood programs. Short-Term Benefits: – Better performance in school (academic and social) – Lower retention rates – Fewer referrals to special education Long-Term Benefits: – Higher graduation rates – Increased learning potential – Increased participation in the labor force

The Early Childhood Education Act, known as Act 3, was passed during the 2012 legislative session. Act 3 creates a statewide Early Childhood Care and Education Network to ensure children ages birth to five are ready for kindergarten. Act 3 will be fully implemented statewide by fall of The work of Act 3 involves: Setting high expectations across publicly-funded programs; Establishing an accountability system or Kindergarten Readiness System with letter grades that recognizes programs for preparing children for school; Aligning public funding with performance to support high quality programs; Providing clear information to empower parents to make informed choices; and Supporting early childhood professionals to succeed.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved the new Birth to Five Early Learning and Development Standards in April, and they should be used by all early childhood programs beginning this school year.

Preschool Screener

Developing Skills Checklist (DSC) Developing Skills Checklist (DSC) evaluates the skills that children develop from Prekindergarten through the end of Kindergarten. It reliably measures the skills and concepts that help you determine appropriate instruction for individual children as well as for groups. It covers language, visual, auditory, mathematical concepts and operations, memory, print and writing, social and emotional, and fine and gross motor skills.

Oral Language Mondo Test of Oral Language This assessment measures a student’s receptive language. The language structures in this assessment are vital for students to understand if they are to understand classroom instructions, discussions, and stories. In general, students whose first language is English should be able to repeat all 15 sentences correctly in every detail by the age of six. TELD 3 The TELD-3 is an effective screener which helps to identify children who are experiencing language delays or difficulties and may be candidates for early intervention. In addition to an overall Spoken Language score, the TELD-3 yields scores for Receptive Language and Expressive Language.

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Building Capacity When you leave today, what will you do with this information? How will you share it with others in your district? When will you share it? (Timeline) Note: If you are on the district leadership team, this information will be useful in completing your district’s LASPDG 5 Year Plan

The contents of this PowerPoint presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H323A However those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.