- FPG experts will be presenting at meetings around the world. Visit the FPG website for a complete list of upcoming presentations.
- Visit the FPG websitefor the latest news on FPG projects.
In some cases, extenuating circumstances, such as health condition, increases Internet use among those with lower incomes and educations. A study of mothers of children with genetic disorders found that the Internet served as a major resource in parents’ quests for diagnosis, prognosis, treatments, services, and supports.
Download Snapshot.
FPG Senior Scientist presented the keynote address at the 2008 Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention on Saturday, February 3rd.
Dr. Harbin reflected on how the field of Early Intervention has evolved from a few service programs in the First Chance Network, with very little research, scant funding and virtually no public policy to a recognized field of study with robust federal policies and services in every community. The presentation honored the diverse contributors to this monumental evolution and examined what has been lost, as well as gained, during this incredible process. She discussed how the field and its research could likely benefit from recapturing some of the spirit and culture of the Early Intervention pioneers. Her address was titled, "The Role of Research In Creating The Changing Tapestry of Early Intervention (Reflections of a Mad Woman)."
What is professional development? Guided by the input of researchers, practitioners and families, the FPG’s National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI) has developed a definition and conceptual framework of professional development.
Join NPDCI to discuss what this definition means for your state and how to apply it for planning cross-sector professional development that supports inclusion. The conversation will be enriched by examples of cross-sector professional development approaches in two states.
Materials related to the topic and opportunities for exchange will be available in advance of the webinar. This webinar is being offered in collaboration with NECTAC and the OSEP Preschool LRE community of practice.
Register at
www1.fpg.unc.edu/community/npdci/events/index.cfm
FPG’s National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI) is seeking to partner with four new states with a strong interest in building a statewide, collaborative, cross-sector approach to professional development that supports increased opportunities for inclusion.
The work will address policy needs, resource issues and practice concerns. NPDCI will provide technical assistance to help states align existing personnel standards from general and special early childhood education; assist states in identifying and leveraging existing fiscal, human and material resources to develop an integrated, cross-agency State Plan for professional development for inclusion; and contribute to the evolving knowledge base of effective teaching and intervention practices that support inclusion.
For more information about NPDCI, visit www.fpg.unc.edu/~npdci.
Download the 2008 Application Package.
Early childhood professional development efforts on inclusion are typically fragmented. Teachers have one set of professional development opportunities; early interventionists have another; and so on. As the field attempts to overcome traditional boundaries and provide cross-sector professional development on inclusion, what challenges do systems face?
A new online discussion provides the opportunity to consult with colleagues about what’s working and what’s not. Share your experiences and learn from others at the Development Community of Practice area.
A new book, co-edited by FPG Fellow Rebecca New, examines how children around the world learn and participate in culture. Anthropology and Child Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader illuminates the process through which people become the bearers of their historically and culturally specific identities.
"Anthropology and Child Development challenges deeply-held conventions while provoking invigorating ways of thinking and acting--an indispensable, intellectual compass for globalists, futurists and all who care about children," said Sharon Lynn Kagan, Ed.D., Associate Dean for Policy and Research at Teachers College, Columbia University.
The book includes studies of childhood among hunting-and-gathering, agricultural, and urban-industrial peoples in the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, East Asia, Europe, and North America. Each section has an introduction providing historical and conceptual framework for understanding the significance of the studies and their implications for developmental theory and educational practice.
Rebecca S. New has spent three decades studying the cultural nature of child development and early education, most often in Italy and recently in Head Start programs serving immigrant populations. She also is the editor of the four-volume Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia (2007).
Lynne Kahn, Virginia Buysse, and Pamela Winton from FPG contributed to a new paper entitled Promoting Positive Outcomes for Children with Disabilities: Recommendations for Curriculum, Assessment and Program Evaluation.
Published by the Division for Early Childhood at the Council for Exceptional Children, the paper offers information about issues that are both high-stakes and controversial, such as how to include children with disabilities when decisions about curriculum, assessment,and program evaluation are being made.
It includes three sections: “Curriculum”; “Assessment”; and “Program Evaluation” and is written for early childhood administrators and personnel who work with young children with disabilities, teacher educators, those providing professional development, family members, and state and federal policymakers.
It is available at www.dec-sped.org/pdf/positionpapers/Prmtg_Pos_Outcomes_Companion_Paper.pdf