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One key to effective early intervention is writing high-quality IFSPs and IEPs with clear, specific, measurable goals. These goals should 1) directly address the family’s priorities, and 2) help children develop skills that are relevant to their everyday life. In today’s post, excerpted and adapted...

Families receiving home visits from early intervention professionals may be facing many challenges. But no matter what issues are demanding their attention, it’s essential for rich parent–child interactions to continue—and for parents to stay in touch with their child’s developmental needs. In...

“TILLS is the most comprehensive assessment I’ve used in the 20 years I’ve been a school-based speech-language pathologist.”—Sue Torney, M.A., CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist Do you use TILLS? If you’re an SLP, special educator, or reading specialist, you might already use the Test of...

Today’s blog post has been excerpted and adapted from the second edition of Systematic Instruction for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities by Belva C. Collins. All learners, regardless of ability, need to learn content with meaningful applications. When teaching learners with moderate...

Dramatic play is a great way for young children to practice many critical skills: communication, cooperation, motor skills, emerging literacy skills, and more. In today’s post, we’re sharing some universal strategies for making the most of dramatic play in your early childhood program. The tips in...

How can schools support educational equity, academic success, and positive social-emotional development for the increasing number of multilingual students? Our authors have answers—and today’s post is a roundup of some of their most insightful quotes about teaching multilingual learners...

*Today’s post has been adapted from the chapter “Using Standards to Guide Instruction” by Karin K. Hess, in Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction & Assessment, Pre-K–6, Second Edition, edited by Martha C. Hougen & Susan M. Smartt, with invited contributors Today in education, it’s not...

Language is foundational to all areas of human development. Early language learning is vital, as it lays the groundwork for children’s success in the classroom and even in their interpersonal relationships. While we know that language skills in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade predict later...

Assessment and intervention just got better—and easier—than ever! AEPS-3, the new edition of the Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children, is a system trusted by early childhood programs across the country to help every child make real progress. It’s a...

As early childhood learning environments grow more and more diverse, schools and programs are turning more attention to creating equitable learning environments—and dismantling the systemic inequities that perpetuate achievement gaps. In today’s post, discover three essential resources that will...

How can you encourage every young child in your classroom to learn while supporting their social-emotional development? What’s the best way to help kids self-regulate during the day—whether they need help with waking up, calming down, focusing, or soothing anxious feelings? Today we’re excited to...

Reading aloud in class is one of the most important things teachers can do to help their students learn to read—and become fluent readers. As Wayne Wright points out in the book Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners, reading aloud is especially important for multilingual learners as...

How can you promote equity and belonging in your inclusive school community? Try the tips in today’s post, excerpted and adapted from the new book True Inclusion With UDL by Patti Kelly Ralabate. Explore eight key elements of an inclusive, culturally responsive community—and for each one, discover...

Preventing behavior challenges before they start is one of the most important things you can do to support your students’ engagement, wellbeing, and readiness for learning. Excerpted and adapted from the third edition of Paula Kluth’s popular guidebook You’re Going to Love This Kid!, today’s post...

You’ve set up your early childhood classroom routines to engage all children and help them explore and learn. But even sensitive teachers may not be aware of how certain classroom activities and routines can cause stress and social anxiety for some young learners. For a child with anxiety, even an...

IEP meetings can be a source of stress for educators and families—but with advance planning, appropriate followup, and sensitivity to everyone’s needs, these critical meetings can be smooth and productive. Adapted from The Educator’s Handbook for Inclusive School Practices, by Julie Causton &...

If you’re already using Nancy Hennessy’s bestselling Reading Comprehension Blueprint book—or if you’re a K-8 educator looking for ways to strengthen students’ comprehension skills—here’s an exciting new resource to check out. In response to popular demand, literacy consultant Nancy Hennessy has...

High-frequency words—words that occur often in text—are important for your students to learn to read quickly and accurately. But as authors Susan Smartt and Deborah Glaser note, “simply using flashcards and drills alone to teach high-frequency words will not create the automatic accurate retrieval...

Even the youngest learners can be emerging engineers! That’s the premise of the book Engaging Young Engineers, a popular guide that shows early educators how to use fun STEM activities to help children develop the important thinking skills they’ll need to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. Here...

Stress, pressure, and emotional dysregulation can interfere with your students’ ability to focus and learn. Help support students by establishing a safe, calming classroom environment, using simple social-emotional learning strategies like the ones in today’s blog post. Adapted from The...

In a world where more and more students are experiencing the aftereffects of trauma, building trauma-sensitive schools has never been more important. Busy teachers need clear, practical, and actionable advice on how to teach in trauma-sensitive ways—and trauma expert Jen Alexander has some great...

The research is clear: to be successful readers, students need structured literacy instruction that’s grounded in science and focuses on explicit teaching of key concepts, from oral language and listening skills and phonics to fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. But many teachers don’t get the...

How can parents and professionals meet the needs of siblings of children with support needs—and ensure that their unique challenges, emotions, and concerns are addressed? One of the best ways to support siblings is to connect them with their peers, and that’s where Sibshops come in. Today we’ll...

Help lay a foundation for young children’s communication and language skills with the activities and suggestions in today’s post! Adapted from six of our resources on early intervention and development (see the end for credits), this is a great collection of tips for professionals to use and share...