Professional Development Opportunities Supporting Children with Disabilities: Virtual Conferences and Webinars (2024)

• Date: Every Thursday in March 2023 (2, 9, 16, 23 , & 30) from 12 pm to 4 pm
• Location: Virtual
• Information: For more about the institute and how to apply, see the Institute Flyer (PDF)

Attendance at this institute is the first step in attaining the Beginning Together Inclusion Facilitator Certification. Local teams of early childhood educators and special education are encouraged to apply.

• Location: Marriott Hotel - Santa Clara, CA
• Dates: April 21-23, 2023
• Theme: Visions for the Future: Coming Together to Advance the ECE Profession

• Location: Virtual
• Dates: September 12-15, 2022

The ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference is 4 days of virtual, experiential learning to create multidisciplinary connections and turn concepts into action.

• Location: Chicago, IL
• Dates: September 27-30, 2022
• Theme: Integrating Research and Practice in Early Childhood Intervention

• Dates: TBA
• Information: https://inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc.edu/

August 11, 2022 | 3:00 pm–4:00 pm ET

Starting a new school year is a key time to be intentional and proactive in creating a supportive, inclusive environment that can prevent challenging behaviors in preschool-aged children. In this webinar, we're discussing ways in which the physical arrangement of the learning environment can help children’s understanding of behavior expectations. Learn how to set up schedules and transitions in ways that are developmentally appropriate and predictable. Discover strategies that support building positive relationships with children and families.

This webinar is offered withEnglish and Spanish captioning.

August 23, 2022 | 3:00 pm–4:00 pm ET

The goal for all children, including those with disabilities, is to be successful learners. In Head Start and Early Head Start programs, children with disabilities and their families have a team of people working with them, empowering families to be advocates, and coordinating programming and partnerships to provide each child with a pathway for learning success. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) service providers, such as school district or early intervention, are important partners in this process. Join us for this webinar to discuss strategies to build, support, and maintain collaborative relationships with IDEA partners.

This webinar will haveEnglish and Spanish captioning.

ECTA

ECTA Center hosts regular webinars with a variety of partners.

August 23, 2022 | 1:00 PM EST

This event is virtual and free.

• October 20, 2021 Part 1: How to Design Your TK Classroom to Support Dual Language Learners
• November 3, 2021 Part 2: Effective Classroom Practices for Equitably Serving Preschool-Age Dual Language Learners
• November 10, 2021 Part 3: Dialogue with Early Learning and TK teachers: Learning how to transform challenges into opportunities

Please join us for a 3-part webinar series focused on supporting and affirming the needs and assets of preschool-aged Dual Language Learners, who represent a large and growing population of young children in California. This series, intended for teachers and administrators, will provide participants with practical strategies and takeaways to apply to their own contexts. The series will also feature expert practitioners from the field, who will share their experiences and key resources.

“This (free) five-part series will be offered live as well as recorded and available on the DEC website for future viewing.”

“Various experts in the field of early childhood special education and early intervention will discuss how to disrupt the pervasive inequities of our systems. Topics will include troubling notions of "at risk," challenging biases about families in home based services, suspension, and expulsion in early childhood settings, counteracting racism and ableism in early childhood systems, and engaging in systems change in pursuit of equity. Sessions will be offered live as well as recorded and available on the DEC website for future viewing.”

The June 7, 2021 webinar is with Dr. Rosemarie Allen. Dr. Allen takes a gentle approach to educating us about bias, race, and microaggressions in early childhood. She uses her personal experience to enlighten us and then provides actionable recommendations on what we can do to be anti-racist.

Transition From Early Start is a free self-paced online course focused on the transition of services for children with disabilities out of Early Start, early intervention, at age three. This course features 10 modules that focus on state and federal regulations governing the transition process, strategies for supporting families throughout their child’s transition, and the roles and responsibilities of Early Start Service Coordinators, local education agency (LEA) staff, family support personnel and parents. Modules are between 8 and 25 minutes long and takes approximately 2 hours to complete the entire course. No pre-registration is required.

Just login or sign up at CPEI Online. Check out other free online courses while you are there!

• Presented by: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH)

The Equity Chat Series is designed to provide a forum to further dialogue on equity topics in order to support more equitable systems and strengthen culturally responsive IECMHC practices to reduce disparities and improve child outcomes. Recorded webinars and handouts are posted on this site. Below are the titles of the first three webinars in the series:

• Equity Chat on Systemic Racism and the Consultative Stance
• Equity Chat on the IECMHC Equity Toolkit
• The Revised IECMHC Competencies: Examining the Role of the Consultant in Advancing Equity in IECMHC

• Date: March 19, 2021
• Length: 54 minutes

The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children is designed to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities within community programs. In states where there is a focus on increasing the use of high-quality inclusion practices, the implementation and scale-up of the Pyramid Model offers an effective approach. Join us for a webinar featuring new products and resources focused on increasing the use of inclusive practices in Pyramid Model programs to better support children diagnosed with disabilities or needing individualized supports. Learn about important research, statewide implementation potential and an assessment used to support inclusive practices in the classroom.

Family child care and family, friend, and neighbor providers are a critical source of support for working families. The Family Child Care at Its Best program delivershigh-quality, research-based workshops that help home-based caregiversimprove their knowledge, skills, and quality of care for working with mixed-age groups of children. FCCB is now offering two types of training:

• Facilitator Training NEW! Trainers, coaches, and community leaders who provide support to family child care or family, friend, and neighbor providers can learn how to facilitate FCCB workshops and gain access to all necessary curriculum to offer FCCB workshops.
• Direct Service Workshops are offered at no cost to the host agency. Simply complete the request form to choose from the available topics, languages, and date(s) you are looking for. You conduct outreach and registration, and FCCB does the rest!We will provide you with a flyer template, all needed materials, and an instructor to lead your selected workshop.Availability is based on current funding.

Head Start ECLKC

Explore these webinars about inclusion issues related to children with disabilities or suspected delays. Topics include interactions, individualization, effective teaching practices, clarification of the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS), practice-based coaching, and more! Find three series to choose from:

• High-Quality Inclusion Federal Series focuses on clarification of issues with insights from federal staff
• Highly Individualized Practices Series focuses on strategies that education staff can use every day in their classrooms and on home visits
• Disability Services in the Head Start Program Performance Standards Series focuses on the issues that are unique to the Head Start community

This webpage holds high-quality recorded webinars directly focused on resources and professional development related to inclusion. Here is a sample:

• Inclusion Resources to Boost Professional Development
  Find out about best practices in the field of adult learning. Discover a range of resources from the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) and the Head Start Center for Inclusion (HSCI) websites. Learn how to use these resources for professional development and training with Head Start education, disability services, and mental health staff. These resources are useful for programs that operate virtually as well as those returning to in-person programming.
• Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) for Everyone
  Discover ways to support young children with identified disabilities or suspected delays as they acquire science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) skills. Examine effective teaching practices to help them access and explore STEAM materials and concepts. Learn practical strategies to plan the learning environment and embed individualized learning opportunities related to STEAM.

Find the archived session recordings from the following Inclusion Collaborative Conferences:

• 2021 - Inclusioneers EMPOWER
• 2020 - Inclusioneers TRANSFORM
• 2019 - Inclusioneers IMPACT
• Previous years can be found on the Inclusion Collaborative YouTube Channel

The new season of Teacher Time (2020–2021) focuses on inclusion and belonging with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. Learn ways to support child and family inclusion and belonging in the learning environments and through learning materials. Three episodes are dedicated to infant and toddler teachers and family child care providers, and three episodes are for preschool teachers and family child care providers. Watch teachers and family child care providers use effective strategies to ensure all children and families can fully engage in learning opportunities and typical activities and routines across home, educational, and community environments.

These three episodes focus on supporting inclusion and belonging with infants, toddlers, and their families:

• Inclusive Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers
• Learning Materials That Promote Inclusion for Infants and Toddlers
• Supporting Infant and Toddler Families Through Inclusion

• Presented by: Head Start, National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning
• Length: 1 hour

In this hour long webinar, discover myths and facts about and ways to support children with disabilities who are also dual language learners (DLLs). Listen as presenters share high-quality screening practices to determine if a child who is a DLL needs further evaluation. Explore teaching practices for promoting engagement once a child has been identified as having a disability.

• Presented by: Office of Head Start-National Center on Health, Behavioral Health and Safety
• Length: 57 minutes
• Slides
• Resources

• Presented by: Early Choices
• Date: February 2021
• Language: Available in English and Spanish

The Understanding Inclusion series contains 6 topics that explore key ideas about inclusion in early childhood. The series covers a range of topics from defining inclusion to understanding the benefits to advocating for inclusion. This is a series of bite-size videos with embedded resources and activities to help understand, promote, and advocate for inclusion for children birth to age 5. Developed for families with family input, it is just as meaningful and useful for practitioners working with families who have children from birth to 5.

In each module topic, a topic guide is available for reflecting and applying what you learn to your own experience. The guide also has additional resources to explore the topic further.

We hope this series supports you on your journey of inclusion and provides you with resources that you can share and build upon.

• Location: Virtual
• Dates: September 2020