Room Title

Community Room Achieving Health Equity through the CLAS StandardsAuditorium Addressing Racial Inequity from the Lens of the CHILD

Community Room EmbraceRace: How One Community is Confronting the Challenge of Raising ‘Color-Brave’ KidsClassroom Room 311 Exploring Racial Equity through Personal Reflection

Community Room Implications of Structural Racism in Early Childhood Settings: An Open Space Technology SessionJer River Roomey Relationships Matter: Supporting Early Childhood Mental Health

Auditorium Panel Conversation

Concurrent Session Locations

VendorsVendors and resource organizations are located in the main lobby from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

A variety of learning materials, books, and toys will be available for purchase.

Charm Medical Supply Discovery ToysCPAC Kaplan Early Learning CompanyCT Birth to Three System - OEC SERC, LibraryCT Commission on Women, Children and Seniors UltiPlay Parks & Playgrounds, Inc.CT DEC/CEC United Way of Connecticut/2-1-1CT Department of Public Health University of Connecticut, UConn KIDSCT Head Start Association

Together We Will is an annual conference focusing on children ages birth to 5, especially those with developmental delays. It is a collaborative effort among: CT Department of Children and Families w CT Department of Public Health w CT Department of Social Services w CT Division for Early Childhood w CT Head Start Association w CT Office of Early Childhood w CT Parent Advocacy Center w CT State Department of Education w State Education Resource Center

Address Racial Equity in Early ChildhoodFriday, April 21, 2017

Goodwin College, East Hartford, CT

24th

Annual

Early Childhood Conference

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Together We Will

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

9:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Please take a moment to tweet

#tww24

AgendaRegistration/Breakfast/Exhibitors

Welcome/Opening Remarks: Linda Goodman, OEC; Ingrid M. Canady, SERC; and Jerry Reisman, Ph.D., Head Start Office

Performance by A.I. Prince Technical High School Performers

Keynote: Walter Gilliam, Ph.D., Yale University Child Study Center and Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy

Break/Networking/Exhibitors

A.M. Concurrent Sessions

Lunch (provided)/Networking/Exhibitors

P.M. Concurrent Sessions

Break/Networking/Exhibitors

P.M. Panel Conversation & Door Prizes

Together We Will: Use a Framework for Social Emotional SuccessWednesday, March 25, 2015, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, CT

Together We Will: Use a Framework for Social Emotional SuccessWednesday, March 25, 2015, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, CT

Concurrent Sessions

Achieving Health Equity through the CLAS StandardsMichele Stewart-Copes, M.S., MSW

CEO, SEET Consultants, LLC

This session will present strategies for racial and health equity in early childhood education through the utilization and implementation of the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards. The presenter will share current efforts of organizations implementing the CLAS standards by conducting organizational assessments and subsequent activities to meet children’s needs.

Addressing Racial Inequity from the Lens of the CHILDChin R. Reyes, Ph.D.

Associate Research Scientist, Yale University Child Study CenterPostdoctoral Associate, Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and

Social Policy

In this session, the presenter will discuss a new classroom observation tool called the Climate of Healthy Interactions for Learning and Development (CHILD). The CHILD provides a lens for fostering a classroom climate characterized by the equitable treatment of children from various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, a developmentally appropriate and child-centered pedagogy, and a genuine interest in fostering children’s psychosocial well-being and holistic development.

EmbraceRace: How One Community is Confronting the Challenge of Raising ‘Color-Brave’ Kids

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Ph.D.Co-Founder, EmbraceRace

In this session, participants will hear from one of the co-founders of EmbraceRace, an emerging community of support for parents, educators, and other caregivers working to nurture racially inclusive and egalitarian attitudes in young children. Participants will learn about the development of racial attitudes in young children, some of the structural obstacles to the emergence of healthy attitudes in children, and how the EmbraceRace community is engaging some of those obstacles.

Exploring Racial Equity through Personal ReflectionWendy Waithe Simmons, Ph.D.

Director of Development, Community Affairs and Equity,State Education Resource Center (SERC)

High-quality early childhood education relies on the relationships that we build with children and their families to promote children’s learning and overall development. Many educators have been encouraged to “see all children as the same and treat all children the same.” However, we are learning more about the dangers of being colorblind; individuals enter into relationships with their own biases, both implicit and explicit. In this session, through personal reflection and small group conversations, participants will explore key foundational concepts such as structural and systemic racism, learn about the value of racial consciousness to mediate the effects of implicit bias, practice engaging in racial equity dialogue, and examine practices that promote the anti-bias education of young children.

Implications of Structural Racism in Early Childhood Settings:

An Open Space Technology Session Ingrid M. Canady, M.S.

Executive Director, SERC

Open Space Technology involves a powerful and effective dialogue in which participants offer their personal perspectives around a central theme of strategic importance. In this interactive Open Space Technology session, participants will have the opportunity to share their personal perspectives about the implications of structural racism in early childhood settings. Through the facilitated dialogue, participants will explore the complexities of the topic and will be encouraged to collectively develop action steps to create individual, system, and structural change.

Relationships Matter: Supporting Early Childhood Mental HealthCaroline Finley, LCSW, Assistant Program Manager and

Mary Diamond, M.S., Consultant Early Childhood Consultation Partnership, Advanced Behavioral Health, Inc.

The growing trend of suspension and expulsions of young children is impacting their opportunities for developing needed readiness and social skills. When skilled professionals value positive relationships and responsive learning environments, more children are successful. Connecticut’s evidence-based Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP) is recognized both locally and nationally as a resource for effective provider practices to respond to challenging behaviors, in a manner which engages effective partnerships with families and helps children remain in their setting. This presentation will demonstrate how ECCP program services support early childhood professionals and strengthen relationships, practices and supports for children with behavioral and mental health needs.

Walter Gilliam, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology,

Yale University Child Study CenterDirector, Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy

Keynote Address

“Preschool Expulsions and Suspensions, Implicit Bias, and What We Need to Do in the Search for Racial and Gender Equity”

In his keynote, Dr. Gilliam will discuss the latest findings on expulsion and suspension practices in early education settings, gender and racial disproportionality, and potential causes for these disparities, including the role of implicit bias. The presentation will also cover how early educators understand implicit bias and how preschool expulsions and suspensions are framed within the contexts of social justice and civil rights.

A Conversation on Why Racial Equity in the Lives of Young Children is a Moral Imperative for Connecticut

Facilitator: Walter Gilliam, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University Child Study Center

Director, Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy

Dr. Walter Gilliam, our keynote speaker, will moderate a panel discussion on the importance of racial equity in early childhood. The conference presenters will share insights from the work of their respective organizations about how they support children and families of color and the professionals who serve them. Participants will gain an awareness of the impact of racism and implicit bias from the child and families perspective, and learn about how early childhood professionals can build culturally relevant, reciprocal, strength-based relationships with children and families and work toward identifying and changing inequitable practices.

Panel Conversation