Overview of National Trends & Influences

Camille CatlettNational Professional Development

Center on Inclusion FPG Child Development Institute

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Future Graduates

What do they need to look like?

What do they need to know and be able to do?

One in four children under age 3 lives in a family in which one or more of the parents were born in another country. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007)

Projections indicate that by 2030, 41% of the nation’s children will be culturally diverse (Lynch & Hanson, 1993)

One out of every 50 – or approximately 1.5 million – American children go to sleep without a home of their own each year (National Center on

Family Homelessness, 2009)

Disparities in child outcomes between poor, at-risk, and more advantaged children are evident in cognitive, social, behavioral, and health outcomes as early as 9 months and grow larger by 24 months of age.

(Halle, Forry, Hair, Perper, Wandner, Wessel, & Vick, 2009)

The historical kingdoms are merging

Kingdom of Early Childhood

Kingdom of Early Intervention

Collaboration is Essential

• Joan Lombardi - deputy assistant secretary at HHS

• Jacqueline Jones - senior advisor on early learning to Education Secretary Arne Duncan

• Consistent Message - we need to build a cohesive system of early learning and education from birth-to-8

Major Shifts

• From ALL to each and every

• Intentional• Explicit• Individualized

Desired Outcome

• Happy• Healthy• Successful

Children

Early Childhood Inclusion: A Joint

Position Statement of DEC

and NAEYC

New NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation Programs

Significant Changes in the 2009 StandardsThe language all children is revised to read each child or every child to strengthen the integration of inclusion and diversity as threads across all standards. In some cases, the phrase “each child” has been added to a key element of a standard.

These are the children whose

capability our future graduates

will be supporting.

A national study indicated that while 54% of teachers taught students who had limited English proficiency or were culturally diverse and 71% taught students with disabilities, only 17% surveyed felt very well prepared to meet the needs of these students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002)

Current Preparation

A large number of accredited programs have very few hours of coursework and practice devoted to teaching diverse children effectively (Dieker, Voltz, & Epanchin, 2002; Ray, Bowman, & Robbins, 2006)

Working with dual language learners was the least likely to be covered as part of a practicum in any of the levels of degrees offered in national research (Maxwell, Lim, &

Early, 2006)

Current Preparation

Current Preparation

Preservice teachers enter programs with biases and assumptions about children and families with cultures and languages different from their own and a limited understanding of multiculturalism (Kidd, Sánchez, & Thorp, 2002, 2004, 2005; Sleeter, 2001)

It is possible for teachers with cultures different from their students to provide effective instruction when they approach teaching in a way that is responsive to the cultural and linguistic diversity of their students

(Au & Kawakami, 1994)

Consider This

In the past 20 years we have seen dramatic and important changes in who our graduates work with, where our graduates work, and how our graduates work.

Development of the skills necessary to work with increasingly diverse children and families requires meaningful preparation in culturally responsive practices and in knowledge of dual or second language acquisition (Matthews, 2008)

The Need for Change

Interactions between personnel and young children that are reflective of and responsive to culturally sensitive research and practices are more likely to support progress toward children’s mastery of language, literacy, science, and math skills (Au & Jordan, 1981; Boykin, 1986; González et al, 1993; Roseberry, Warren & Conant, 1992; Tharp, 1991, 1992)

The Need for Change

Who will give visibility to and champion the cause of ensuring highly qualified personnel for all young children?

Who will facilitate shared leadership, new collaborative relationships, programs, and paradigms?

How can this leadership be mobilized?

Who is positioned to facilitate dialog, negotiate conflict, or encourage collaborations?

Champions (Washington, 2008)