Description of the video:
Welcome to the informational webinar on the Train the Trainer on Early Language Support, or TELS professional development. The TELS PD is supported by an early years initiative grant awarded to the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County by Early Learning Indiana. The Early Childhood Center at Indiana University's Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, IIDC, will be supporting the TELS professional development by offering training and coaching to participating program practitioners. The Early Childhood Center is one of seven centers at the IIDC that collectively cover the lifespan. Part of our work at ECC includes translating research to practice, or, in other words, we support organizations to implement evidence-based practices in the real world. The ultimate goal of the TELSPD is to increase the language and social communication skills of infants and toddlers. To achieve this long-term goal, the TELS PD aims to increase the language support skills of infant and toddler practitioners and families by providing training and coaching on evidence-based language support practices. Focusing on our youngest learners is important because research has found that early language and social communication skills often predict later child outcomes. In fact, one of the biggest predictors of school success is children's skill level at the time of school entry. Therefore, the sooner we provide high-quality early-language communication support, the more likely children are to have the skills they need to be successful in school and beyond. The TELSPD will use the practices identified in the classroom assessment scoring systems infant and toddler assessments because the class is a reliable and validated tool for measuring the quality of adult child interactions in diverse settings and its practices align with the science of reading, support the goals of Indiana's priorities for early literacy, and foster children's oral language skills by equipping infant and toddler practitioners with the skills they need to support children's early language development. The infant class assessment is designed to evaluate the quality of adult child interactions with children birth to 15 months. It is comprised of one domain known as responsive caregiving. Within that domain, the class evaluates four dimensions, relational climate, teacher sensitivity, facilitated exploration, and early language support. The TELS training and coaching will target the second two dimensions focused on supporting infants' language and social communication skills. National class data reveals that most programs score well in relational climate and teacher sensitivity. Relational climate reflects the connections, emotions, and respect conveyed by teachers, as well as the infant's responses to these interaction and teacher sensitivity. Teacher sensitivity encompasses teachers' awareness of and responsiveness to infants' verbal and non-verbal cues, including availability to provide comfort, skill in resolving distress, and timeliness and contingency of responses. The TELS PD will focus on the infant class second two dimensions, which include facilitated exploration and early language support. Facilitated exploration considers teachers' facilitation of experiences and interactions in routine care and playtime to support infants' engagement and development. An early language support captures the amount and quality of teachers' use of language stimulation and language facilitation techniques to encourage infants' early language development. The toddler class assessment is designed to evaluate the quality of adult child interactions with children 15 to 36 months. It is comprised of two domains, emotional and behavior support and engaged support for learning. The class evaluates eight dimensions including positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, regard for child perspectives, behavior guidance, facilitation of learning and development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. The TELS training and coaching will target the three dimensions of the engaged support for learning domain, focused on supporting toddlers' language and social communication skills. Again, national class data shows that programs score fairly well in the emotional and behavior support domain. This domain's dimensions include positive climate, which reflects the connection between the teacher and children and the warmth, respect, and enjoyment communicated by verbal and nonverbal interactions. Negative climate, which reflects the level of expressed negativity, such as anger, hostility, or aggression demonstrated by teachers and or children. Teacher sensitivity, which encompasses the teacher's awareness and responsiveness to children's individual needs, and emotional functioning and availability to provide comfort, reassurance, and encouragement, regard for child perspectives that accounts for the degree to which teachers' interactions with children and classroom activities, emphasize children's interest, motivations, and points of view, and encourage child responsibility and independence, and behavior guidance that involves the teacher's ability to promote behavioral self-regulation by using proactive approaches, providing clear behavioral expectations, and preventing and redirecting problem behavior. The TELS PD will focus on the toddler class second domain. Engage support for learning that includes three dimensions. First is facilitation of learning and development, which considers how well teachers facilitate activities to support children's learning and understanding. Next is quality of feedback, which assesses the degree to which teachers' responses to what children say and or do, promotes learning and understanding and expands children's participation. The third dimension is language modeling that entails the quality and amount of the teacher's use of language stimulation and language facilitation techniques to encourage children's language development. The TELS PD has the capacity to support 20 practitioners in year one, year two, and year three. The TELS PD will support up to 10 program trainers, one per program beginning in year two. The evidence-based practice-based coaching or PBC model will be used to deliver coaching because it is an evidence-based coaching model with evidence of its effectiveness, particularly in early childhood settings. PBC is a practitioner-led, partnership-based cyclical process for achieving sustainable practice change. Practitioners will receive coaching on the class practices from early childhood center staff in year one. Trainers will receive coaching from early childhood center staff in year two, while practitioners will receive coaching from program trainers in year two, with early childhood center staff support. In year three, program trainers will coach. practitioners with consultation support from the early childhood center. Two trainings, one on the class infant and toddler early language and social communication support practices, and one on practice-based coaching will occur at a convenient location in Bloomington. Coaching will be provided on site and virtually using a platform such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The TELSPD will be provided for three years. Let's take a closer look at what happens during each grant year. The graphic provides the sequence of activities in year one of the Tells PD. The first step is for selected programs to identify which infant and toddler practitioners will participate in the Tells PD. The second step is for identified practitioners and program directors to attend two trainings, one on the early language support practices and one on practice-based coaching. The three step will be for ECC staff to conduct the pre-class observations. The fourth step is for practitioners to engage in up to six PBC coaching cycles. The fifth step is for ECC staff to conduct post-class observations, and the final. Sixth step in year one is for the ECC to facilitate a family literacy event for the families of children in the participating practitioners' classrooms. The graphic provides the sequence of activities in year two of the TELS PD. The first step is for selected programs to identify a year one participating practitioner or an existing PD staff person to become its early language support coach and practitioners to include in the year two cohort. The second and third steps are for the program trainers to collaborate with ECC staff members to provide the two initial trainings and conduct the pre-class observations. The fourth step is for program trainers and year two practitioners to engage in up to six PBC coaching cycles. The fifth step is for the trainers and ECC staff to conduct post-class observations. And the final, sixth step in year two is for the program trainers to collaborate with ECC staff to host a family literacy event for the families of children in the participating practitioners' classrooms. The graphic provides the sequence of activities in year three of the TELS PD. The first step is for selected programs to identify a year three participating practitioners. The second and third steps are for the program trainers to provide the two initial trainings and conduct the pre-class observations. The fourth step is for program trainers to provide year three practitioners up to six PBC coaching cycles. The fifth step is for the trainers to conduct post-class observations. And the final, sixth step in year three is for the program trainers to host a family literacy event for the families of children in the participating practitioners' classrooms. The TELSPD is an amazing opportunity to provide infant and toddler practitioners with effective professional development to increase their early language support practices. Beyond the intrinsic value of increasing their early language support skills, participating teachers will be provided stipends for attending trainings and engaging in coaching cycles. Furthermore, families that attend the literacy events will be provided an early literacy kit to take home to use with their children. If you would like to take advantage of the TELS PD opportunity, please complete the TELSPD application by scanning the QR code on the SOTCIPT. screen. Following the TELS PD application link or visiting the Train the Trainer on Early Language Support, TELS Professional Development webpage on the Early Childhood Center's website. Thank you for taking the time to learn about the Train the Trainer on Early Language Support Professional Development Opportunity. If you have additional questions, please contact Lynn Hall by emailing her at Hall-May-I-U-E-DU or calling 812-855-3982.
