The Early Childhood Personnel Center

Component 6.1 Learners, in partnership with families, identify systematic, responsive, and intentional evidence-based practices and use such practices with fidelity to support young children’s learning and development across all developmental and academic content domains

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Know and Understand:

• developmentally appropriate, evidence-based practices,
• functional and socially valid skills,
• systematic instruction, and
• phases of learning.

 Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Are Able To:

• plan interactions, interventions, and instruction with the family and other team members based on children’s strengths, preferences, and interests,
• plan evidence-based, systematic interactions, interventions, and instructional practices,
• intentionally use and monitor interactions, interventions, and instruction to teach functional and socially valid skills,
• implement evidence-based, systematic practices with fidelity, and
• implement the appropriate frequency, intensity, and duration of interactions, interventions, and instruction based on the child’s strengths, needs, and phase of learning acquisition, fluency, generalization, and maintenance.

Component 6.2 Learners engage in reciprocal partnerships with families and other professionals to facilitate responsive adult-child interactions, interventions, and instruction in support of child learning and development.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Know and Understand:

• adult learning strategies as they apply to a variety of roles, such as transdisciplinary team member, consultant, advocate, and coach.

 Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Are Able To:

• use adult learning strategies consistently with families and other professionals (i.e., adult learners), such as active listening, sharing ideas, questioning, and problem-solving,
• focus on the needs of adult learners to support them in facilitating positive outcomes for children,
• provide relevant, immediately useful information that builds on what adults already know,
• engage in triadic and reciprocal partnerships with other adults to facilitate responsive adult-child interactions, model naturalistic interventions, demonstrate evidence-based instructional practices, and
• use adult-learning practices that include active, hands-on experiences paired with real-time practice, positive reinforcement, and individualized and performance-based feedback and support.

Component 6.3 Learners engage in ongoing planning and use flexible and embedded instructional and environmental arrangements and appropriate materials to support the use of interactions, interventions, and instruction addressing developmental and academic content domains, which are adapted to meet the needs of each and every child and their family.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Know and Understand:

• activity-based embedded intervention and instruction,
• cognitive, communication, and social-emotional developmental sequences,
• efficiency of learning,
• evidence-based practices for designing physical, social, and temporal environments, and
• types of groupings for intervention and instruction.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Are Able To:

• plan and implement embedded, evidenced-based interventions and instruction,
• observe, interpret, and plan intervention and instruction that:
  • scaffolds the child’s learning engagement, and expands the child’s communication, cognitive, social, and emotional skills,
  • facilitates more complex play skills, and
  • supports the child’s independence, and
• use intervention and instructional practices that support equitable access and participation for all children,
• select instructional practices that address the efficiency of learning,
• design the physical, social, and temporal environment to optimize outcomes,
• select developmentally appropriate materials directly related to the child’s preferences, interests, strengths, and learning goals/outcomes,
• adapt environments and materials based on the level of support needed to support the child’s independence and engagement,
• use flexible groupings (e.g., dyads, small-group instruction), and
• embed instructive feedback opportunities.

Component 6.4 Learners promote young children’s social and emotional competence and communication, and proactively plan and implement function-based interventions to prevent and address challenging behaviors.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Know and Understand:

• evidence-based practices for teaching social and emotional skills,
• evidence-based practices for teaching communication skills,
• functional behavioral assessment, and
• multi-tiered systems of support. 

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Are Able To:

• partner with families and other professionals to teach social and emotional skills, teach communication skills, and facilitate reciprocal interactions,
• plan, identify, and support proactive, preventive social environments, routines, and activities,
• support children’s use of augmentative and alternative communication and other assistive technology,
• coach other adults to employ evidence-based practices and responsive interactions across routines and activities,
• conduct functional behavioral assessments,
• use functional behavioral assessment data to plan and implement and support others to implement prevention, promotion, and intervention strategies with fidelity, and
• use multi-tiered systems of support, if applicable.

Component 6.5 Learners identify and create multiple opportunities for young children to develop and learn play skills and engage in meaningful play experiences independently and with others across contexts.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Know and Understand:

• development of social and object play skills, and
• generalization of play skills.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Are Able To:

• create multiple opportunities and supports for children to learn play skills, and engage in play independently and with others,
• design the physical, social, and temporal environment to include time for children to engage in child-directed, meaningful play,
• assess, teach using evidence-based practices, and monitor social and object play skills,
• use play as a context for embedding interactions with materials, peers, family members, and others,
• coach other adults to assess, teach, and monitor social and object play skills, and
• teach for generalization of play skills across people, objects, and settings.

Component/Topic 6.6 Learners use responsive interactions, interventions, and instruction with sufficient intensity and types of support across activities, routines, and environments to promote child learning and development and facilitate access, participation, and engagement in natural environments and inclusive settings.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Know and Understand:

• individualized interaction, intervention, and instructional strategies,
• multiple modalities, and
• ecological assessment.

Learners Who Are Competent in this Component Are Able To:

• implement data-driven responsive interactions, interventions, and instruction:
  • with sufficient intensity to promote learning and development,
  • across environments, routines, and activities, and
  • using multiple modalities of engagement, and
• partner with families and other professionals to identify and implement individualized strategies, adaptations, and modifications,
• use authentic and ecological assessment to identify children’s strengths, preferences, needs, and interests to facilitate routines and activities that promote active engagement, and
• use evidence-based coaching practices that facilitate the use of naturalistic instruction in ongoing activities and routines.

Component 6.7 Learners plan for, adapt, and improve approaches to interactions, interventions, and instruction based on multiple sources of data across a range of natural environments and inclusive settings.