Members and Friends of Ohio DEC,
The Ohio Division for Early Childhood is going to try something different with our quarterly newsletters! The previous program used to develop our newsletters has been blocked or marked as SPAM by some third party email accounts such as Gmail. Consequently, Ohio DEC has been noticing the number of subscribers opening our newsletter declining.
However, the good news is that we have Blogger to utilize more! We are wanting our numbers to increase on the blog and want you, the readers, to keep coming back to check for updates and new information that may not be available on Facebook or Twitter. The purpose of this general updates newsletter is to provide you with special announcements, conference reviews and pictures, as well as highlight programs and resources!
On behalf of the ODEC Board and Leadership Team,
Sara Marker, Ohio DEC President and Alleiah Keeley, Ohio DEC President-Elect
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The Ohio Division for Early Childhood is a state subdivision of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
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Announcements
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Welcome to the Board
Beth Gardner, Secretary
Speech Language Pathologist
Caitlin Spear, PD/Training Chair
Post Doctoral Researcher
Colleen Tullis, Co-Children's Action Network Chair
Developmental Specialist
Farewell and Best of Luck!
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| Image Credit: Kristie Pretti-Frontczak (Originally posted on the ODEC Facebook 11-14-2014) |
Our past-president, Michelle Gatmaitan will be leaving us in January as she has relocated to California and will now represent DEC as the Early Intervention Special Interest Groups (SIG) co-leader! Although we are sad that Michelle will be leaving our state and board, we are very excited for her and wish her the very best in California and with her new position with DEC! She has been an amazing teacher, mentor, advocate, and executive board member! Congratulations, Michelle! We will miss you dearly!
Please take some time to become acquainted with the Early Intervention SIG group on their Facebook and Twitter pages!
Join Our Team!
Interested in becoming more involved in Ohio DEC?
Current Volunteer Opportunities
- President-Elect* (Accepting nominations until February 1, 2016)
- Student Connections Chair*
- Family Connections Co-Chair*
- Social Media Liaison
- Blogger
- Website Manager
If you are interested in one of these positions, please send us an email at ohio.dec@gmail.com or complete this Google form.
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The DEC Executive Board elections are now open until December 1st!
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Recent Events
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The 32nd Annual International DEC Conference 2016 Louisville, Kentucky
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| Image Credit: DEC (2015) |
DEC 2016 Conference Highlights
Alleiah Keeley
ODEC President-Elect
The Ohio DEC Leadership board had a blast at this year’s conference in Louisville, Kentucky! We were so fortunate to have so many of our board members attend. For starters, it was so inspiring to be celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Public Law 99-457, a landmark legislation that provided services under IDEA to children with disabilities from birth, creating Part H (now Part C) and strengthening and supporting preschool services, in the same location that DEC Members were informed of its’ passing in the Fall of 1986.
During the Opening Knowledge Keynote, presented by Vicki Stayton, Ph.D., we were reminded on how far we’ve come in advocating for young children and their families. Dr. Stayton inspired the audience by stating that we have come so far, yet have so much work to do.
The Implementation Keynote was presented by Jennifer Grisham-Brown, Ed.D, titled “But that’s how I’ve always done it!”: Re-thinking Our Instructional Habits and Making Small Changes that will Impact Children and Families. Dr. Grisham-Brown reminded the audience on the importance of commitment, passion and relationship-building in delivering high quality instructional practices, while highlighting her work on inclusive programming in Guatemala.
Phil S. Strain, Ph.D. closed the conference with the closing keynote on Evaluation. Dr. Strain reminded the audience on the importance of practice-based research, like what was done in The Good Ole Days, and how this leads to more research-based practices.
Between the keynote presentations we attended together and when we went our separate ways to the numerous break-out sessions, we all agree, this was an extremely inspiring and rejuvenating three days. As we go back to where we came, we bring back passion and knowledge that we continue to implement in our practice. We sincerely hope that all individuals that are passionate about young children and their families can experience a DEC Conference. Next year’s conference will be October 4-6 in Portland, Oregon. We hope to see you there!
DEC State Subdivision Leadership Meeting
Several Ohio DEC board members were able to attend the DEC State Subdivision meeting. Ohio was complimented for large presence at this meeting! It was a great opportunity to meet active DEC members from other states. We were able to participate in round tables to discuss strategies for advocacy, membership, professional development and conference planning.
Ohio DEC Meet & Greet
Since Kentucky was a short drive for us Ohioans, we were able to have a special Ohio meeting. Ohio DEC was one of a few subdivisions who organized a meeting at the national conference for our local members. This was an informal gathering with the purpose to get to the know the faces of Ohio DEC board and active members in attendance! What a great time we had getting to know each other while eating lunch and enjoying cookies! Thank you to those of you who were able to stop by and say hello!
VOICES DEC Council
Mariana Mereoiu
ODEC Membership Chair
Mariana participated in the planning and attended the VOICES DEC Council for Diversity Panel titled "Jockeying with Trends: Equitable and Just Practices for All Children and Families”. The panelists Rashida Banerjee, Vivian Correa , Jennifer Hurley, Talina Jones and Megan Vihn discussed trends in assessment, family practices, representation in special education, and expulsion of young children. Participants also had opportunities to reflect on the role of race, ethnicity, and culture in their decisions and interactions with families and on ways help develop action steps for promoting equitable and just practices
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Program Highlight
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Bachelor of Science
Early Childhood and Special Education
Beverly Ochieng-Sande
Shawnee State University (SSU), a regional state university for southern Ohio, is a student-focused public university offering a highly personalized, affordable, and accessible education dedicated to the exploration of emerging technologies and emerging ideas.
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| Image Credit: DEC (2015) |
The Department of Teacher Education is an NCATE accredited teacher preparation department that prepares students to become learner-centered, inquiring professionals for the classrooms of the 21st century. The teacher preparation program combines a strong foundation in an academic content or teaching area with that of a professional development program, which prepares entry-level teachers for the dynamic responsibilities of contemporary schools.
The education faculty and staff share a commitment to quality programs that will meet the challenges facing educators in the 21st century. Students may choose from among 12 programs and/or certificates at the undergraduate level.
The ECSE program was inspired by a grant proposal that was accepted by the Ohio Dean’s Compact on Exceptional Children in November 2015. In the proposal the principle investigator and co-investigator described our intent to integrate essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions of working with all students, including those with special needs, within the early childhood age groups (infants & toddlers, Pre-K/K, Grades 1-3) with an existing Teacher Education program. The developers chose to integrate the EC and ECIS programs because children who receive early intervention tended to be more successful than those who don’t. They do not fall further and further behind their peers. The program developers believe it is important to train the teachers with whom our students first come into contact so they are able to provide strong foundations that allow all students to succeed.
This program will lead to a dual license, a much-preferred option to a single license. Dual licenses are now quite popular and encouraged by many states.
While seeking to gain support from external partners during the grant proposal writing process, the developers were able to determine that this program would be a valuable one and would help our graduates find employment easily. This information came from a series of needs-based surveys and input from our Advisory Council Members.
It is important to note that the program developers worked with partner schools to develop this program. They also worked with a curriculum development team to create appropriate courses. Furthermore, the program will continue with the tradition of using the Clinical Model, which is a year long student teaching placement to ensure our student get the best field-based experience preparing them to be highly qualified teachers.
The ECSE program will begin Fall of 2017.
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A Resource Highlight
Beth Gardner
ODEC Secretary
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Finding parent friendly resources can be a challenge, especially when we are often pressed for time! Consider using free handouts from
Super Duper Inc. The website is most often known for the products they sell, but they also have a large library of "FREE stuff" on a wide range of topics. When you are looking for a brief overview of language development, decreasing pacifier use, explaining IDEA ,or the process of creating an IEP, it can be a great starting point! They also have many of the more popular topics in English and Spanish. You are able to preview the topics, but in order to view the PDF you will need to create an account with an email address
Another great resource for practitioners and families is The
Hanen Centre website. Many of the workshops they teach and books they have published follow the DEC Recommended Practices for Family Centered Practice and Intervention. The workshops can be costly to attend, however they have free information and useful tips in the "Helpful Info" section of the website. This section includes parent tips for increasing language, social interaction, and play as well as fun activity ideas with low cost to the family, often using materials they may already have at home.
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New DEC Resource!
Available at the DEC Bookstore!
Alleiah Keeley
ODEC President-Elect
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Environment: Promoting Meaningful Access, Participation, and Inclusion is the second edition of the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series. The editors of this monograph open with the important statement “Environment affects children’s health and development and is integral to every interaction a child might have with people, built space, materials, and even time” (Catalino, T., & Meyer, L. E., Eds., 2016). The environment lies at the foundation of child outcomes. This monograph includes ten articles outlining the best available evidence supporting the Environment area of the DEC Recommended Practices from a variety of perspectives, across all natural environments: specifically, school, home and community settings. With the intended audience being practitioners, leaders and families, readers can use this resource to influence and advocate for positive changes to environments, as well as gather multiple strategies to implement the environment practices across settings in which young children grow and learn.
Cataline, T., & Meyer, L. E. (Eds). (2016). Environment: Promoting meaningful access,
participation, and inclusion (DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 2).
Washington, DS: Division for Early Childhood.
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Key Resource Shout Out!
Position Statement on Child Maltreatment
Jennifer R. Ottley
ODEC Treasurer
Assistant Professor
Ohio University
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On September 4, 2016, under the leadership of Drs. Catherine Corr and Carol Trivette, the Division for Early Childhood released their position statement on Child Maltreatment. The
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| Image Credit: DEC (2015) |
importance of this position statement is threefold. First, young children are disproportionately affected by maltreatment (70% of maltreatment fatalities occur in children under the age of three). Second, there is an association between children who experience maltreatment and those who have been identified with having a developmental delay or disability. Third, young children who have experienced maltreatment attend early childhood programs.
The purpose of this position statement is to identify how we can prevent episodes of maltreatment, identify maltreatment in young children when it does occur, and intervene to promote positive outcomes for young children and their families. In 2017, the ODEC newsletters will focus on child maltreatment and what we can do as a field to support children and their families. In preparation for 2017, check out the full Position Statement on Child Maltreatment.
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Please stay tuned for our next research to practice issue focusing on the topic of child maltreatment after the new year!
