Two new web articles from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA)  the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute illustrate how they work to strengthen state systems and increase equitable and inclusive practices.

ECTA sets course on journey to more inclusive classrooms

In 2019, ECTA invited states to participate in a technical assistance (TA) process to help build their capacity to implement, scale up, and sustain high-quality inclusive policies and practices for children age 3–5 with or at-risk for disabilities. The Illinois State Board of Education along with the preschool inclusion initiative Early CHOICES accepted the invitation to receive two years of intensive TA to establish inclusive classrooms.

The Indicators of High-Quality Inclusion and the principles of implementation science guided the partnership between ECTA and Illinois.

Inclusion depends on a shared vision that is upheld by strong collaborative relationships across sectors and a strong commitment, at all levels within an organization, to implement high quality, evidence-based practices. Find out more about this journey, the program impacts, and all of the key takeaways in the full story, A Journey to More Inclusive Classrooms: ECTA's Partnership with Illinois.

ECTA and DaSy TA elevating family voices

FPG’s ECTA and DaSy have collaborated to help state early intervention programs improve the quality and representativeness of their family data and use that data to advance equity.

In a new publication, ECTA and DaSy share two stories from two states—Illinois and New York—that highlight the support that their centers can provide to Part C and Part B 619 programs seeking to improve their system, service implementation, and child and family outcomes.

Over two years, ECTA-DaSy technical assistance (TA) teams supported a cohort of Part C state agencies to improve family outcomes through collaborative and sustainable systemic change focused on ensuring that all families are served and voices are heard.

The TA focused on supporting states to improve the quality of data collected from families participating in early intervention and to use these data to improve services and supports. TA teams provided a combination of cross-state and state-specific activities including:

• self-assessment exercises to identify the changes needed;
• state-specific action plans to provide a road map to system improvement; and
• ongoing data collection to monitor and evaluate progress.

Read the full story, Elevating Family Voices: How ECTA and DaSy Technical Assistance Supports State Innovations for Equitable Family Input, to see the incredible impact the ECTA and DaSy TA teams had in Illinois and New York.