CYFS faculty and staff hosted ‘Getting Ready’ training sessions June 6-9 in Lincoln, Nebraska, for early childhood special education providers, service coordinators and supervisors across the state.
Developed by CYFS faculty and affiliates, Getting Ready is a research-based program that enhances school readiness for children birth to age five. It focuses on strengthening relationships between parents and their children, as well as parents and early childhood professionals.
Getting Ready will serve as a model of quality home visitation for Nebraska’s early childhood special education services, which are provided to infants and toddlers in family’s homes.
“Getting Ready is a way of enhancing the methods used by professionals to engage with families during their home visits,” said Lisa Knoche, director of CYFS’ Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research, who led the training.
More than 120 people attended the June sessions, which included two days of provider training and two days of supervisor training—including a component that taught supervisors how to coach staff using the Getting Ready approach. Attendees were primarily from Nebraska educational service units and school districts.
This training is exciting because we are translating evidence-based research practices into real world settings to positively impact children and families.
Lisa Knoche, director of the Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research
To learn the Getting Ready approach, early childhood special education professionals attended sessions that taught how to collaborate with families and blend developmental objectives with effective parent-child interactions. Sessions featured presentations, video clips and opportunities to interact and reflect.
Professionals will also receive ongoing coaching as they implement the Getting Ready approach over the next year. CYFS faculty and staff will provide initial coaching before transitioning to site-based coaches within Nebraska educational service units and school districts.
CYFS faculty and staff will continue to provide Getting Ready training to Nebraska special education professionals from additional school districts and educational service units over the next two years. The training is funded by the Nebraska Department of Education and is part of the Early Development Network.
“This training is exciting because we are translating evidence-based research practices into real world settings to positively impact children and families,” Knoche said. “It is ultimately the reason why we do this work.”
For more information, visit the Getting Ready website.
