Ohio
State Highlights 04/01/09 to 01/31/10
The Ohio State Leadership Team currently has 21 members. The Ohio team has the following two major goal areas:
- Create and implement a cross-systems professional development plan; and
- Sustain local level implementation.
Recent highlights of the Ohio State Leadership Team:
- The team held a Training of Trainers event in March 2009. The team trained on four modules of the SpecialQuest materials and obtained state endorsement and credentialing for these modules. As a result, teams of trainers from across the 16 regions of the state moved forward with their action plans and implemented four trainings using the SpecialQuest approach and materials by December 31, 2009. Each regional team was co-lead by a State Support Team member (preschool and special education) and a representative from the Childcare Resource and Referral Network. The State Leadership Team has continued to provide support for the regional training teams via conference call networking and periodic survey distribution, collection and analysis on the implementation of training activities.
- Four sessions from the SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library were approved as curricula for professional development credit from the Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, Ohio Department of Health and Step Up to Quality. The training sessions are: Creating Bright Futures, When Concerns Arise, Enhancing Staff Comfort and Confidence, and An Inclusion Story, any of which can serve as the content for one of the four trainings offered by the regional teams. Trainings on the four approved SpecialQuest modules are posted on the Ohio Professional Development Network training registry: http://www.ohpdnetwork.org/?wid=31
- Much of the work of the State Leadership Team from April–September 2009 was spent planning for how best to support the regional training teams. Shortly following the March 2009 Training of Trainers event, the State Leadership Team drafted a Tips for Trainers document that contains many of the salient points detailed in the SpecialQuest Facilitator’s Guide: http://www.specialquest.org/resources/training/index.html
- During Summer 2009, the State Leadership Team began using an e-mail distribution list of the co-leads in each region. Resources shared included a template for a SpecialQuest Certificate of Completion, a standard SpecialQuest evaluation form to be completed by participants and a standard evaluation form to be completed by trainers. The State Leadership Team also conducted a survey of each of the region co-leads to gauge their progress, identify successes and challenges as well as identify additional supports that might be helpful. The State Leadership Team analyzed the results at their October 2009 meeting.
- In July 2009, three of the State Leadership Team members and one representative from the Childcare Resource and Referral Network went to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to participate in the SpecialQuest Intensive and the National Inclusion Institute.
- The three Ohio SpecialQuest Ambassadors are very strong members and leaders within the State Leadership Team. They have provided monthly training to the Ohio Head Start Association and participated in the design, development and implementation of the Ohio State Training of Trainers event in March 2009.
- SpecialQuest Ambassadors who are also members of the SpecialQuest Community Teams have provided leadership and professional development in their own communities. They have also provided mentorship and support for emerging family leaders who are working in their communities, served on regional training teams and as members of the State Leadership Team and have shared the family perspective on inclusive services for young children with disabilities served in Early Head Start and Early intervention – or in Head Start and early childhood special education. The modeling of family-professional collaboration and family leadership has been an important element in both the State and Community Teams’ work.
- The team sent a survey to the higher education community to gather information from two- and four-year institutions regarding licensure, areas of specialization, and knowledge of available services in the state. The survey also included questions about the familiarity with SpecialQuest, and if they have an interest in learning about SpecialQuest. This was the first attempt at connecting with higher education institutions.
- The State Leadership Team is planning an Institutions of Higher Education Symposium to include one day on Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) and one day on SpecialQuest.
The SpecialQuest State Leadership Team Communities in Ohio are Mahoning Youngstown Area CAP in Youngstown, and WSOS CAC, Inc. in Fremont. The communities receive quarterly site visits from the SpecialQuest Coaches.
Recent highlights of Mahoning Youngstown Area CAP:
- The team is providing community, regional and statewide trainings on inclusion using the SpecialQuest approach and materials.
- The team has provided support and mentorship for family leaders who participate in community, regional and statewide planning, professional and policy development.
Recent highlights of WSOS CAC:
- There is a vested interest and commitment among team members to sustain SpecialQuest. At the 2009 Community Perceptions of Inclusive Practices (CPIP) meeting, there were 26 people in attendance, including parents.
- The team is providing for trainings at the community, regional, and state levels using the SpecialQuest approach and materials.
- The team has developed strong family leaders through their mentorship and support.
State Summary 10/01/08 to 03/31/09
The Ohio State Leadership Team now benefits from the support of Co-Liaisons from the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness and the Head Start State Collaboration Office. These two individuals work well together and ensure that all details pertaining to the work of the State Leadership Team are covered.
The State Leadership Team has continued to meet quarterly with their SpecialQuest Birth–Five Coordinator and Coaches. The team has also taken the initiative to meet independently on a monthly basis in order to effectively plan and implement the activities identified on their three action plans:
- Lay the foundation for State Leadership Team's collaboration and implementation through the use of probing questions;
- Create and implement cross-systems professional development plan; and
- Sustain local level implementation.
In November 2008, the Ohio State Leadership Team conducted a state-level community mapping activity to assess the relationships between state agencies and their professional development work on inclusion. Topics included agency roles and responsibilities; agency professional development efforts related to inclusionary practices; opportunities for coordination and/or collaboration on how to infuse the SpecialQuest approach and materials; and cross-sector relationships to professional credentialing/requirements.
The State Leadership Team is also committed to providing a clear, consistent message to state agency partners about their work with SpecialQuest Birth–Five. The team has drafted a webpage that contains information on the team's membership, vision and activities underway. This information will be posted/linked to all state agency partner web pages and updated on a routine basis.
The three SpecialQuest Ambassadors for Ohio continue to be very involved in state-level work. In October 2008, they began offering trainings on the SpecialQuest materials at monthly Ohio Head Start Association, Inc. (OHSAI) meetings. While this work is separate from that of the State Leadership Team, all three Ambassadors also serve on the State Leadership Team and have shared feedback on how these sessions are implemented and received. This information is very helpful to the State Leadership Team as they move forward with planning and implementing state and regional trainings on the SpecialQuest approach and materials.
The first such Training of Trainers event organized by the State Leadership Team was held in Columbus on March 19–20, 2009 at a bi-monthly meeting of the State Support Teams (previously known as the Special Education Resource Centers) and was targeted for cross-agency professional development providers statewide, including representatives from Resource and Referral agencies, Head Start Disability Coordinators, Help Me Grow (Part C, Early Intervention) and the Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD). Ambassadors and other State Leadership Team members conducted the training. The content consisted of sessions from the SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library as well as time for groups to meet by region and plan together about joint professional development opportunities on early childhood inclusion.
The two SpecialQuest Graduate Team Communities, Mahoning-Youngstown and WSOS (Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa, and Seneca Counties), Inc., have continued to meet quarterly with their SpecialQuest Coaches. Activities include reviewing alignment of community action plans with results from the Community Perceptions of Inclusive Practices conducted in the Spring/Summer of 2008 and early stages of planning for regional trainings using the SpecialQuest approach and materials.
State Summary 04/01/08 to 9/30/08
The Ohio State Leadership Team is composed of 20 members with strong representation of all required membership roles (Head Start, Child Care, Family Leaders, Part C, Part B/619, and Institutions of Higher Education). In addition, they have representation from the Governor's Early Childhood Cabinet, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start, and three SpecialQuest Ambassadors. This team is cohesive and to date, has chosen to work as a large group.
The Ohio State Leadership Team is currently working on three action plans:
- Lay the foundation for State Leadership Team's collaboration and implementation through the use of probing questions.
- Create and implement cross-systems professional development plan.
- Sustain local level implementation.
Efforts planned and underway include: conducting the community mapping activity in order to assess relationships, connections, and strategies (both at the state and local levels); surveying State Leadership Team members on current professional development efforts offered to their providers and identifying opportunities for collaboration; and obtaining on-going feedback from trainings being offered by SpecialQuest Ambassadors (using the SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library) between October 2008 and June 2009 to participants at the Ohio Head Start Association, Inc. (OHSAI) meetings. The State Leadership Team members are viewing the OHSAI trainings as a pilot, and plan to learn from those experiences as they move forward and consider replication across all communities within the state.
The invitation to all three Ohio SpecialQuest Ambassadors to join the State Leadership Team was a significant addition. The participation of the SpecialQuest Ambassadors on the State Leadership Team has helped to coordinate and solidify the SpecialQuest Birth–Five efforts underway within the state.
The two SpecialQuest State Leadership Team Communities are Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Program (MY-CAP), located in northeastern Ohio, and the WSOS Community Action, Inc., in Fremont. These two communities are working to expand the SpecialQuest approach birth-five and complete the Community Perceptions of Inclusive Practices annually. The communities receive quarterly site visits from the SpecialQuest Coaches and are represented on the State Leadership Team.