The rapid growth of special needs vouchers has been accompanied by the loss of historic civil rights and protections under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We examine three of the largest special needs voucher programs in the United States: those in Florida, Georgia and Ohio.…

This is a technical report of agency actions and legislative recommendations for programs regulated by the state or government-to-government responsibilities that must be met for children aged 3-5. As changes in PreK services affect enrollment in birth-3 and school-age care, impacts on these other programs are vital to alignment work. Partnering…

Preparing all students, including students with disabilities, for life after high school is a critical responsibility for California's education system. Engaging students and their families in discussions regarding careers, employment, and the pre-requisites for postsecondary education, training, and employment must start early and continue…

This article highlights the State-Wide Read Aloud Days of the picturebook "My Shadow is Purple" (Stuart, 2022) held across and beyond the state of Georgia in response to the firing of elementary school teacher Katie Rinderle under Georgia's trio of censorship laws. The goals for this article are to: (1) document and analyze the emergence…

This guidance is designed as a companion resource to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's (OSPI's) "Continuous Learning 2020" (ED606046) publication, issued April 2020, which states: "Continuous learning" means establishing and maintaining connections with students and families to provide learning materials and…

The most recent version of the Build Back Better (BBB) Act includes historic investments in child care and preschool totaling $390 billion. These investments create a child care entitlement for most children from birth through age five and universal pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-olds, which would provide significant increases to access…

Racism exists within communities and within colleges. It is ever-present in the structures that professionals in the California Community Colleges system work within and that students of color must navigate. Striving to achieve equity is not enough and is not possible within the current community college system. Policies, processes, and other…

States and local school districts are required by federal law to educate preschool age children with disabilities in typical early childhood programs alongside children who do not have disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate. This policy brief provides an overview of the law and sets forth a list of policy recommendations that can help…

This paper highlights several current collaborative activities of the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC). There are many specific examples of TA (Technical Assistance) collaborations that take place on a regular basis; the seven examples presented here were selected to represent different types of collaboration. The…