DEC RECOMMENDED PRACTICES ARE
HERE! NOW…HOW CAN WE ENSURE
THEY ARE USED?
Pam Winton, DEC Recommended Practice Commissioner
Carol Trivette, DEC Board Member
Presentation at 15th National Early Childhood Inclusion Institute
May 13, 2015
LEARNER OBJECTIVES
• Learn about the newly revised DEC Recommended
Practices and understand how they are uniquely
suited for active implementation
• Learn about a draft plan for dissemination and
product development
• Generate ideas for ensuring dissemination and
product development to support the
implementation of the practices across all ECE
sectors and roles
2014 DEC RECOMMENDED
PRACTICES: DEVELOPMENT
• Since 2011, a 13 member Recommended Practices
Commission appointed by DEC has been working
with the support of the ECTA Center to guide the
revisions process.
• The goal of the Recommended Practices is to inform
and improve the quality of services provided to
young children with or at risk of disabilities or delays
and their families.
DEC PRACTICE PARAMETERS
• Population focus: Practitioners and leaders who
work with young children, birth-5 (through
kindergarten), who have or are at risk for
developmental delays and disabilities; not limited to
those eligible for IDEA services (e.g. children with
severe challenging behavior)
• Practices build on, but do not duplicate, standards
for typical early childhood settings (e.g. NAEYC DAP)
MORE PARAMETERS
• Practices are observable
• Practices are written in active voice
• Practices are not disability specific
• Practices can be delivered in all settings
including natural/inclusive environments
HOW DEVELOPED:
ITERATIVE CYCLES
Topic Work
Groups: Revise
practices and
nominated
evidence.
Ongoing
revisions
and
updates
Topic Work
Groups:
Develop
practices and
nominate
evidence.
RP
Commission
Framework,
Parameters,
Definitions
ECTA Support
Commission
reviews
practices and
evidence
nominated.
Provides
feedback.
Ongoing
evidence
validation.
THE PRACTICES: 8 TOPIC AREAS
• Leadership
• Assessment
• Environment
• Family
• Instruction
• Interaction
• Teaming and
Collaboration
• Transition
PRACTICES DOCUMENT
WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM
• http://www.decrecpractices.org/
• http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices
WHAT MAKES 2014 DEC RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
UNIQUELY SUITED TO IMPLEMENTATION
(WITH THANKS TO NIRN AND M. VAN DYKE’S INCLUSION INSTITUTE SESSION TODAY)
Practices Have Definitions in Introduction
Interaction:
Sensitive and responsive interactional practices. They
represent a critical set of strategies for fostering
children’s social-emotional competence,
communication, cognitive development, problemsolving, autonomy, and persistence.
.
Operational Definitions in
Specific Practices
INTERACTION
INT1. Practitioners promote the child’s socialemotional development by observing, interpreting,
and responding contingently to the range of the child’s
emotional expressions
INT2. Practitioners promote the child’s social
development by encouraging the child to initiate or
sustain positive interactions with other children and
adults during routines and activities through
modeling, teaching, feedback, and/or other types of
guided support.
Multiple Practices Provide
Additional Specificity
• INT3. Practitioners promote the child’s communication
development by observing, interpreting, responding contingently,
and providing natural consequences for the child's verbal and nonverbal communication and by using language to label and expand
on the child’s requests, needs, preferences, or interests.
• INT4. Practitioners promote the child’s cognitive development by
observing, interpreting, and responding intentionally to the child's
exploration, play, and social activity by joining in and expanding on
the child's focus, actions, and intent.
• INT5. Practitioners promote the child’s problem-solving behavior
by observing, interpreting, and scaffolding in response to the
child’s growing level of autonomy and self-regulation
Examples Encourage Broad Application
& Provide More Specificity
INTERACTION
• INT1. Practitioners promote the child’s social-emotional development
by observing, interpreting, and responding contingently to the range of
the child’s emotional expressions.
• Examples:
• A home visitor models positive interactions for the parents by
commenting on what a great helper the child is when he joins her in
gathering up the toys they have been using.
• An early interventionist is responsive to the child’s initiations by
“reading” and interpreting her nonverbal cues, anticipating her desires
and waiting for her to give a clear signal of that desire, and then
following her lead in play.
• An early childhood teacher smiles frequently at children, shows genuine
pleasure to be in the company of children, and shows authentic approval
of each child’s accomplishments
WE NEED YOUR HELP
OUR GOAL: To ensure that all ECE
sectors & roles know about and
implement DEC RP now
DEC DISSEMINATION & PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT PLAN DRAFT
• A draft product development and dissemination
plan has been developed by a DEC ad hoc group
• New DEC ad hoc group will continue to develop
(Using YOUR ideas) and implement the plan
• WE invite you to be ambassadors and implementers
of the plan
CONSIDERING TARGET AUDIENCE
• Sectors: Preschool Disabilities/Special Education;
Part C; Head Start; Early Head Start; Infant
Toddler/Home Visiting; Public Pre-K; Child Care;
Family Support; Mental Health, others
• Roles: Practitioners; Administrators; Faculty and PD
Providers (e.g., coaches); Researchers; Family
members; others
CONSIDERING LEVEL OF IMPACT
DESIRED FOR TARGET AUDIENCE
• Awareness level
• Knowledge/Understanding level
• Skills/Implementation (with fidelity) level
Considering Implementation Science
(Van Dyke presentation today)
Implementation
Research:
A Synthesis of
the Literature
Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M. & Wallace, F. (2005).
Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature. Tampa, FL: University of South
Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, The National Implementation
Research Network (FMHI Publication #231).
HTTP://NIRN.FPG.UNC.EDU
Research
to Practice
Gap (NIRN)
RESEARCH
TO PRACTICE
GAP
RESEARCH
GAP
IMPLEMENTATION
PRACTICE
– Implementation gap
• We don’t use innovations with fidelity
• We don’t build capacity to sustain innovations
• We don’t scale innovations to provide benefits to
citizens and society
Active Implementation
MAKING ITFrameworks
HAPPEN
(NIRN)
• INTERVENTIONS
Interventions
• Well defined, effective interventions that are teachable, learnable,
doable, and readily assessable
• STAGES
Stages
• Developmental implementation guidance
• DRIVERS
• Critical program and organizational supports that are needed to
implement and scale-up effective practices
Drivers
• TEAMS
• The group that guides and manages the implementation and
scale-up process
Teams
• IMPROVEMENT CYCLES
• The processes that support teams and organizations efficiently
to solve problems and get better
©Copyright Dean Fixsen and Karen Blase
Improvement Cycles
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
Divide into sector-related groups of 6-8
people:
 Preschool special education
 Early intervention
 Early care & education (Head Start, EHS,
child care, pre-k)
Identify a note-taker and facilitator
Briefly introduce yourself and your role
(practitioner, administrator, PD provider,
family member) within your sector
SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A
REPRESENTATIVE OF YOUR
SECTOR AND ROLE
 How relevant are the DEC RP for your sector and your role?
 What specific dissemination strategies and products would
enhance your awareness and knowledge of the practices?
Be as specific as you can (e.g., article in xx,yy,zz newsletter)
 What products and PD strategies would affect your ability
to implement the practices with fidelity?
 What can you do to be an ambassador of the DEC RP?
Think about the “Drivers” of implementation (e.g.,
leadership, organization, and personnel)
REFERENCES
2014 DEC Recommended Practices
http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices
Fixsen, D., Blase, K., Metz, A., & Van Dyke, M.
(2013). Statewide implementation of evidencebased programs. Exceptional Children (Special
Issue), 79(2), 213-230.
THANK YOU