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Click here to register for this webinar What: The first webinar in our new series from OSEP and the National Parent Technical Assistance Center will feature the Doing What Works website, a valuable resource for Parent Centers as well as individual families.  The website provides information about specific programs that have a strong evidence base so parents can participate as informed consumers in the educational decision making process for their child.   The Doing What Works website (http://dww.ed.gov) provides engaging materials on a wide range of topics, including Response to Intervention, Early Childhood Literacy, Reducing Behavior Problems in Elementary Schools, and Preventing High School Dropouts.  Created by the U.S. Department of Education, this resource offers families and educators at all levels concrete strategies, examples, and tools to help use and engage in research-based practices.  Aimed at individuals with varying levels of understanding about a topic, the Doing What Works resources can arm educators and families with valuable resources as they work to improve the education of their children.  This webinar will introduce the website, provide an overview of the different types of resources, and invite questions and offer support for implementation. When: Thursday, February 24, 2011 1:00pm - 2:00pm Mountain

These videos have been produced to help providers better understand ways to use observation, documentation, and assessment to inform practice. You can watch the clips online or download QuickTime versions of the videos for use in educational and professional development activities.

In accordance with the requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),  the state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the state on the targets in the State's Performance Plan. Because baseline data and/or performance targets have not been established for all of the performance indicators, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), has informed states that they are only required to report district performance for students with disabilities on indicators 1-5 and 8-12 this year. These performance indicators address the following: Graduation, Dropout, Assessment, Suspension/Expulsion, Least Restrictive Environment (ages 6-21), Parent Involvement, Disproportionality As A Result Of Inappropriate Identification, Child Find Timelines, and Early Childhood Transition (transition from Part C to Part B). The district's performance data is 2008-2009 data that was submitted by the district to the OPI as a part of its child count, exiting, student discipline collections and/or collected during a compliance monitoring record review. Performance data for performance indicator #8, Parent Involvement, is based on parent survey data. The Parent Involvement Survey was distributed to districts that were compliance monitored in school year 2008-2009. Districts were asked to provide a copy of the survey to all parents of IDEA-eligible students receiving special education and related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The District Public Reports can be found on the OPI Web site at:  http://data.opi.mt.gov/SPEDReporting/ .

The longest study of its kind shows that an early education program for children from low-income families provides benefits that last well into adulthood.

Click here to download the full flyer (PDF) What: Have you been waiting for your children to start school before you complete your GED or prepare for College? Wait NO Longer -- Call 406-523-4033 to enroll in Spring/Summer classes! Education for the whole family begins at Even Start, located at 310 S. Curtis in Missoula, MT. Adult Education GED ESL –English as a Second Language Vocational Training Prepare for College Parent and Child Together Time Activities for Parents and Children to Learn and Play Together Early Childhood Education for Children Ages  0-8 years Physical, Intellectual, Social, Emotional and Language Development Scientifically-based curriculum Parent Education Child Development Language and Literacy School Readiness Community Resources

The report, commissioned by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, offers a number of recommendations for policymakers and educators. They include: high expectations for all learners with accountability measures that indicate how individual students are doing; early-childhood programs that prepare children for reading and identify young children at risk of having reading problems; curricula, instructional practices and tools, and assessments that are science-based and accessible to all students; and teacher training and ongoing professional development that incorporate findings from neuroscience as well as best practices for how to teach reading.

Over the past decade, tremendous progress has been made in ensureing that families have access to hearing screening when a baby is born. Approximately 95% of babies now receive a hearing screen shortly after birth. Now, greater emphasis must be placed on training early childhood education and health care providers.

What:Child Care Resources has had to cancel some CSEFEL classes since they didn't fill with child care providers, so they are opening them up to social service providers and others.  The cost is very reasonable.  The focus will be more on group settings.  Child Care Resources is offering the following courses for Early Childhood educators and child care providers:1. The Pyramid Model (CSEFEL) Preschool Module 1    December 19, 2011    8:30 am - 2:30 pm    Childcare Resources - Missoula    Click here to register/more information!2. The Pyramid Model (CSEFEL) for Preschool Module One     January 23, 2012    8:30 am - 2:30 pm    Childcare Resources - Missoula    Click here to register/more information!3. The Pyramid Model (CSEFEL) for Preschool Module Two    March 5, 2012    8:30 am - 2:30 pm    Childcare Resources - Missoula    Click here to register/more information!Cost is $30 per session.Contact:Lucy Marose lucy@childcareresources.org  or  Jennifer Swartz jennifer@childcareresources.org

Come and get geared up for the new year with strategies to work with ALL students! Workshops will be held in areas of Indian Ed for All, differentiated instruction, DIBELS Administration and Scoring, behavior management, RTI, low incidence disabilities, early childhood, science, technology, legal issues, reading & literacy, social skills, and para-educator training. Register now and an email will be sent when workshops are posted.

We spoke to Uta Frith, author of Autism: A Very Short Introduction and asked her about diagnosis, the perceived links between autism and genius, and how autism is portrayed in culture. Autism was not identified before the 1940s. Weren’t there any autistic people before this? Autism was not a new phenomenon starting in the middle of the 20th century, but it needed people like Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger to point out the striking constellation of poor social communication and stereotypic behaviours for others to see it too. Clinicians used the terms ‘infantile’ or ‘early childhood autism’ and located it among the neglected population of children who were born ‘mentally deficient’. Gradually clinicians became aware that most of this neglected population showed similar problems in varying degrees, and that specialist services were needed to educate children who could not communicate appropriately. They embraced the idea of the autism spectrum. So, just as there has been an increase in the autism spectrum diagnosis, there has been a corresponding decrease in the diagnosis of mental retardation.

It is 8:30 on a crisp September morning, the start of a busy day for preschoolers at the Waisman Center's Early Childhood Program, a nationally renowned laboratory school.