Special Education Professional Development Standards & Practices
Virginia Professional Development Links
- Leadership in Effective And Developmentally Appropriate Services in ECSE (LEADS)
– This website supports the Virginia Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) leaders responsible for administrative oversight of local ECSE programs. The primary focus is to provide consistent information statewide to improve the collection, reporting, and use of ECSE indicator data; and connect, support, and empower local leaders to build capacity and p rovide high-quality programs and services throughout the state for young children ages 2-5 years with IEPs. - VDOE’s Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centers (TTACs) – The seven TTACs support professionals who teach students with disabilities across the eight Regions in the commonwealth of Virginia.
- VDOE’s TTAC Online – Resources, events and online training to support the education of individuals with disabilities.
- VDOE’s TTAC Events – Events related to educating individuals with disabilities across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence (VCU-ACE) – The VCU-ACE improves services and supports for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by promoting the implementation of research-based practices in schools and the community through training, technical assistance, research and collaboration.
- Virginia Cross Sector Professional Development Team (VCPD) – The VCPD promotes planning, implementation, and evaluation of professional development with the intent to ensure coordination of all early childhood PD in Virginia.
- Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development – This site provides information, resources and a broad range of professional development efforts specifically designed for early interventionists, students, families, faculty and all committed to learning of young children.
- Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus (VPI+) – The mission of VPI+ is to transform Virginia's existing preschool program into a national exemplar. VPI+ is working to increase preschool enrollment across the commonwealth, and to develop a state-wide infrastructure of supports that include curriculum, professional development and assessment. The VPI+ web pages provide a library of early childhood video clips and professional development resources.
Professional Standards
- Virginia’s Competencies of Early Childhood Professionals (PDF) - This document provides the core body of knowledge and skills professionals need in order to support optimal growth and learning of children from birth to kindergarten.
- Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Knowledge and Skill Sets - The CEC Knowledge and Skill Sets delineate the essential knowledge and skills that beginning special education professionals must possess to be ready to begin their practice in specific areas. There are Knowledge and Skill Sets on Early Childhood Special Education/Early Intervention.
- Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division of Early Childhood (DEC), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Personnel Standards Alignment - This website provide a crosswalk of these organizations’ standards for personnel serving infants and young children and their families.
Recommended Practices
- Division for Early Childhood, Enhancing Services for Young Children with Disabilities Recommended Practices - Guidance for practitioners and families about the most effective ways to improve the learning outcomes and promote the development of young children, birth through age five, who have or are at-risk for developmental delays or disabilities. Practices, in addition to other beneficial resources to implement the practices, are provided here.
- National Professional Development Center in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Evidence-Based Practices - The NPDC in ASD provides a list of interventions researchers have shown to be effective for students of various ages with ASD. The page contains the list of practices as well as research briefs, describing how to implement the practice.
Family Support
- Parent Organizer with Educational Resources (POWER)
- Formed Families Forward
- New Path – The ARC of Virginia
- Beach Center on Disabilities
- Family Connect: For Parents of Children with Visual Impairments
- Medical Home Plus Virginia
- ChildCare Aware of America – Child Care Resource
- ChildCare Aware of Virginia
- Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC)
- Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health
- Syndromes Without A Name (SWAN) e
- MATRIX Parent Network & Resource Center Blog