Revising the DEC Recommended Practices:

Purpose, Process and OutcomesWRRC Regional Leadership Forum

October 29, 2013Kathy Hebbeler, SRI International

Session Objectives• Provide an overview of the current DEC

Recommended Practices (RPs).

• Outline the process of revising the DEC RPs, including public comment.

• Seek your input about the current draft DEC RPs & ideas for improving their use in the field• Environmental, Instructional, Interactional

Past, Present & Future

• As the professional association for EI/ECSE, The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children provides guidance on EI/ECSE practices related to better outcomes for young children with disabilities and/or delays, their families, and the personnel who serve them.

• 1991: DEC produced the first set of RPs. This set was based on practices generated by focus groups and a field validation.

• 2000: The 1991 set of DEC RPs was updated and revised with a grant from OSEP and included a thorough review of the research literature, new focus groups and a new field validation.

• As the field continues to evolve and new research emerges, it is important to revisit and revise RPs so that they remain current and relevant.

• Need to create an iterative system for ensuring the RPs always represent the best available evidence from research and values/wisdom from the field.

The current Recommended Practices• The RPs were developed in 2005 to

provide guidance on practices related to better outcomes for young children with disabilities, their families, and the personnel who serve them. • 240 Recommended Practices• 5 Direct Service Strands• 2 Indirect Support Strands

The current Recommended Practices: Examples

Direct Services Practices

• A2. Professionals ensure a single point of contact for families throughout the assessment process.

• C16. Children’s behavior is recognized, interpreted in context, and responded to contingently, and opportunities are provided for expansion or elaboration of child behavior by imitating the behavior, waiting for the child’s responses, modeling, and prompting.

The current Recommended Practices: ExamplesChild-focused interventions• C1. Physical space and materials are structured

and adapted to promote engagement, play, interaction, and learning by attending to children’s preferences and interests using novelty, using responsive toys, providing adequate amounts of materials, and using defined spaces.

• C8. A variety of appropriate settings and naturally occurring activities are used to facilitate children’s development and learning.

Use of Current Practices

•How many of you are aware of the current set of Recommended Practices?

•How do you currently use the RPs in your work?

Why are the RPs being updated?

*** The Practices always will need to be updated.***

• New research needs to be reflected• The large number of practices was not workable.• The practices were written at different levels of

specificity.• There was overlap across topic areas.

Updating the RPs

• As the field continues to evolve and new research emerges it is important that the RPs are revisited and revised to remain current and relevant.

• 2012: DEC created a Recommended Practices Commission tasked with updating and revising the Recommended Practices to achieve the goal of informing and improving the quality of services provided to young children with or at risk of disabilities or delays and their families.

• OSEP included a provision to update and use the DEC RPs in the ECTA Center’s work scope.

Experience &

Professional Wisdom

Research

Field Validation

Identifying Recommended Practices

DEC RP Commission Members

Activities Completed1. Topic areas defined2. Parameters/guiding principles established3. Topic leads identified and recruited4. Research-based practices identified• Role of Topic Leads • Role of Commission

1. Identify Topic AreasSeven topic areas for Practitioners• Assessment for Eligibility and Screening• Environmental Features• Family Practices• Interactional Practices• Instructional Practices• Teaming and Collaboration• Transition

Support Practices• Leadership and Administrative Practices

2. Parameters• Population: 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 represent the “essential”, “biggest bang” or highest leverage/impact practices

• Practices represent the breadth of the topic• 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• Practices should build on, but not duplicate, standards for

typical early childhood settings (e.g. DAP)

2. Parameters/Format for the NEW DEC-RPs

• Overall smaller number of practices

• Practitioner and Leadership/Administrative practices

• Provision of evidence base for each practice

3. Recruit Topic Leads• Assessment for Eligibility and Screening• Stephen J. Bagnato & Jane Squires

• Environmental Features• Rena Hallam

• Family Practices• Carol Trivette

• Interactional Practices• Lise Fox & Tweety Yates

3. Recruit Topic Leads• Instructional Practices• Juliann Woods & Ilene Schwartz

• Teaming and Collaboration• M’Lisa Shelden

• Transition• Beth Rous

Dual Language Learners• Amy Santos & Lillian Duran

Visit http://www.decrecpractices.org/members.asp to see list of all Topic Group members.

4. Identify Research-based Practices• Role of the Commission• Liaison to Topic Leads• Review practices generated by Topic Leads

• Role of the Topic Leads• Recruit members for Topic Group• Literature search• Generate “biggest bang” practices from the

research

4. Identify Research-based Practices (Continued)

• Topic leads generated practices.• Commission edited the practices for consistency

and in accordance with the parameters.• Asked the topic teams to categorize the research

for each practice.

• Topic leads generated practices.• Commission edited the practices for consistency

and in accordance with the parameters.• Asked the topic teams to categorize the research

for each practice.Practice:

Strength of EvidenceAge Range

0 1 2 3

B-3 3-5 B-5

4. Identify Research-based Practices (Continued)

A Different Development Process for the Leadership and Administrative Practices

• Research assistant reviewed current DEC indirect support practices and synthesized them into a smaller set.

• A work group (subset of the Commission) worked with this smaller set and tried to develop a set that mapped somewhat to the categories of the ECTA framework which is under development.

• Note: The research base for this set has not been identified and that still needs to be done.

Leadership and Administrative Practices

• Written for state and local administrators• 6 sub-topics areas:• Leadership• Professional Competence• Policies and Procedures• Resources• Professional Development• Monitoring, evaluation, and accountability

• 15 practices across these 6 areas

Current phase of work

• Gathering input on the draft practices from stakeholders.• Facilitated discussions• Interactive website

• Validating the evidence base for the draft practices.• Identifying additional research that supports

each practice.

Next phase of work

• Revise the draft practices based on the stakeholder input and the evidence validation.• Field validation• Disseminate• Develop resources to support implementation• ECTA• DEC

Timeline

Date Activities

January-May 2013 Assist Topic Leads to identify research-based practices

June 2013 Approve field review materials

July 2013 Validate research base

September-November 2013

Provide opportunities for field input and identify any additional values/experience-based practices :• Conferences• Facilitated discussions• Interactive website

December 2013 Compile, analyze, and synthesize all input; conduct gap analysis

January 2013 Conduct field validation of practices

January 2013 Compile and analyze field validation data

February 2013 Produce final list of validated DEC Recommended Practices

Provide your ideas and recommendations to the Commission:

http://www.decrecpractices.org/

Follow the Process!

We want your input!

• On the content and format of the practices• On what kind of resources are needed to

support implementation of the practices• On how you see the practices in the SSIP?

Discussion of the Practices• Identify a recorder and a reporter• Small group review by Topic Area• Groups will be assigned Environment,

Instruction, or Interaction• Read the entire set of RPs and skim the Code of

Ethics• Discuss each practice individually• Answer the questions on feedback form• Report out to the large group

Report Out & Discussion

What recommendations do you have to ensure that the updated practices will inform and improve the quality of services provided to young children with or at risk of disabilities or delays and their families?

How do you see the practices being used as part of the SSIP? What supports to you need for this?

We want your input!

We want your input!Small Group Discussion at your tables:(assign a reporter)

• What would enhance your knowledge about and use of the revised practices?

• What kinds of products would be most helpful to you and enhance application?

• Which are your most preferred formats for products (e.g., web-based, tablet/Smartphone apps, electronic, hard copies, small documents, larger documents, etc.)?

• How do you see the RPs being incorporated into the SSIP?

Report Out & Discussion

What Are Your Questions?

Thank you!