States and Links to Products

2005 Cohort: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Montana

2006 Cohort: Delaware, Idaho, Tennessee, Wisconsin

2007 Cohort: Kansas, Massachusetts, Oregon

2008 Cohort: Maine, Maryland, Oklahoma

2009 Cohort: Kentucky, Michigan, Texas

2010 Cohort: Hawaii, New York, Utah

2011 Cohort: Arkansas, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina

State Products

Arizona's Early Childhood Inclusion Coalition developed a brochure entitled Increasing Early Childhood Inclusion (PDF: 155kb) outlining benefits of inclusion for children, families, communities, and professionals.

The Expanding Inclusive Early Intervention Opportunities Committee developed a brochure - Did you know that ALL Children Benefit from Inclusion of Children with Disabilities (downloaded 3/15/11) (PDF: 166kb) and Delaware MAPS Meaningful Access Participation & Supports (2010) (PDF: 412kb) a toolkit for families of children with disabilities.

The initiative collaborated with the Florida Professional Development workgroup of the Early Learning Partners Initiative to strengthen language on Florida Core Competencies for Early Care and Education Practitioners (2009) (PDF: 529kb)

A cross-agency team of stakeholders has developed an awareness flyer entitled Expanding Opportunities for Inclusion - Children Birth to Five (2010) (PDF: 122kb) . Also available in Spanish (2010) (PDF: 125kb) and Creole (2010) (PDF: 124kb) .

The Idaho Early Learning eGuidelines contains a Guiding Principle that promotes inclusion.

"Children with special needs" was included as one of the key knowledge components for training content in the Ten Core Knowledge Components for Early Care and Education. (2011) (PDF: 123kb)

Inclusion is one of the six Quality Standards in the IdahoSTARS Quality Rating and Improvement System.

Kansas has prepared a Vision Statement (PDF: 104kb) for the implementation of their Expanding Opportunities initiative and worked with the Kansas Early Learning Council to promote consideration for children with special needs and their families in the Kansas Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Plan (KECCS). (posted 3/15/11) (PDF: 1,305kb)

Maine's Expanding Inclusive Opportunities Initiative for Children, Families and Communities website was developed to support its team and to house team documents such as vision statement, meeting agendas and other resources. The site includes an Early Childhood Settings Inclusion Tool Kit as a resource for technical assistance with programs or for individuals searching for assistance. National On-Line Training Resources focused on serving children with special needs and inclusion were compiled. An interagency Early Care and Education Online Training Calendar for personnel was created.

Texas created an ECE Provider Survey - Caring for Young Children with Special Needs (posted 3/15/11) (PDF: 66kb) and a Parent Survey – Young Children with Special Needs in Early Care (posted 3/15/11) (PDF: 48kb) to gain information about perceptions and practices and to identify barriers and facilitators for serving children with disabilities in early childhood programs. The initiative has a brochure entitled Texas Expanding Opportunities (posted 3/15/11) (PDF: 379kb) describing their vision, goals and links to resources.

Community-Based School Readiness Integration Partnerships: Promoting Sustainable Collaborations (posted 3/15/11) (PDF: 33,516kb) - developed to promote partnerships for early education program services among school district, Head Start, and licensed child care providers.