The U.S. Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences (IES) has released proposed priorities to guide future research in education and is seeking feedback from the public. Among other things, the proposed priorities include future research that emphasizes school readiness and developmental outcomes for infants, toddlers, and young children. Comments are being accepted until September 7, 2010. learn more

The National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University's Center for Child and Human Development has developed a new tool for assessing organizational cultural and linguistic competence, designed specifically for family organizations concerned with children with behavioral-emotional disorders, special health care needs, and disabilities. Click here to download the PDF format of The Cultural and Linguistic Competence Family Organization Assessment Instrument (2010).

Involving parents and other caregivers in early childhood programs can enhance children's learning, promote effective parenting and build lasting partnerships between families and the education system. A new report from Pre-K Now identifies policies that can enhance family engagement in state pre-k programs and highlights examples from states that are doing good with this.  Access the report.

A new issue of the International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE) is now available online. Of special interest is the fourth article, written by Dr. L. Lynn Stansberry-Brusnahan and Dr. Lana L. Collet-Klingenberg, which highlights evidence-based practices for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and discusses guidelines and recommendations from the National Resource Council and the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Full-text Article and Entire Journal.

• key programs, funding opportunities, resources and publications, technical assistance, and interagency work
• early learning in the Administration's proposal for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
•  investments in early learning across Departments

CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge has released an 8-minute video entitled Foundations of Transition for Young Children, which focuses on what teachers and families need to know to help young children transition smoothly from one early childhood program or service to another, the legal requirements to support transition and the characteristics of effective transition practices.

Introducing the Inclusion Institute Presentation Finder where you may search by presenter, title, topics, key words or date to find presentations and handouts from over 181 presentations from the Inclusion Institutes held since 2006.

The National Center on Response to Intervention has released the Instruction Tools Chart! This chart represents the results of the first annual review of instructional programs by the Center's Technical Review Committee (TRC).  The chart provides ratings on the quality of studies demonstrating efficacy for instructional programs used within an RTI context. Additional information on how to implement the programs can be found on the chart as well.  The National Center on RTI publishes this tools chart to assist educators and families in becoming informed consumers who can select instructional programs that best meet their individual needs. Please note that the Center does not endorse or recommend the programs included in the chart.  The Center's TRC will review instructional programs annually, with the next call for programs being issued in late fall 2010.

The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) has posted practice descriptions of evidence-based academic interventions for secondary students with disabilities. These five practice descriptions can be found on their homepage under "What's New" and under their Evidence-Based Practice resources tab. The practice

descriptions were developed from the research conducted by the What Works in Transition Research Synthesis Project and the full reports housed at the National Post-School Outcomes Center's website.  NSTTAC welcomes your feedback on this new resource.

Children's Health Watch has released a new brief entitled Healthy Families in Hard Times: Solutions for Multiple Family Hardships (June 2010), which looks at the impact of hardship on very young children. The brief finds that very young children in families who experience a combination of food, housing, and energy insecurity are more likely to be at risk of developmental delay and more likely to experience health problems than children in families with no hardships. The brief provides recommendations for improving the lives of these children through strengthening and coordinating the current programs they are eligible for.

LearningPort is a national professional development library conceived by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and developed by the IDEA Partnership. The intent of the library is to support the use of ARRA funds for the provision of professional development in school districts. The library provides educators with easy access to an array of resources that can be used or customized to meet their needs including learning modules, tool kits, archived webinars, and video resources.

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund looks at mental health systems of care for children aged birth to age 5 in four states: CO, IN, MA and RI. The study provides state profiles, examples of major initiatives, and descriptions of exemplary practices that illustrate ways in which states can improve services and policies. It concludes by underscoring the value of developing a national vision of infant and early childhood mental health systems of care, in which child and family needs are identified and treated as early as possible. learn more

Many states are adopting "common core" standards in math and language arts. The new standards were developed by a Gates-funded, consultant-driven process that will lead to revised state curriculum models and eventually new tests. States have been adopting the common standards rapidly in an effort to improve their chances of getting federal "Race to The Top" grants.  Click here for The Fordham Institute's report on the standards.  Click here for a more substantive critique of the standards, which notes that "Without addressing both the in-school and out-of-school influences on test scores, common core standards are not likely to improve the quality and equity of America's public schools".

To assist states and local school districts with professional development efforts in the area of secondary transition, NSTTAC has created presenter guides on (a) Indicator 13, (b) Self-Determination, and (c) Transition Assessment. These guides include ready-made power points, scripted notes (included in the power point), and all necessary materials needed to complete the activities included in the presentation. Each topic includes a 3-hour presentation and a 1 hour presentation. The guides may also be combined to create full day trainings.