Project CREATE: Preparing Culturally Responsive Early Educators in Teacher Education

There is a critical need for highly qualified professionals, including those from traditionally underrepresented groups, to serve infants, toddlers, and young children with disabilities and their families from diverse backgrounds?especially dual language learners and those living in poverty. The purpose of this project is to support a newly modified Early Childhood Special Education Preliminary Credential Program at California State University, Northridge, an urban, Hispanic-Serving Institute (HSI), and to prepare culturally responsive early childhood special educators/early interventionists who will be eligible for the California Education Specialist Credential in Early Childhood Special Education. Project CREATE will be a two-year cohorted program, with a cohort of 10 scholars each year. Over the course of the five-year funding cycle, a total of 30 professionals will be prepared to work with high-need infants, toddlers, and young children and their families from diverse backgrounds. Graduates of the project will be well prepared for positions that serve infants, toddlers, and young children with disabilities and their families in a variety of settings. Grant funds will support students who will commit to providing 4 years of teaching service in high-need districts or serve young children enrolled in the high-need districts. The percent of total annual funding designated for student support does not go below the 65% total budget requirement over the 5-year funding cycle. Special recruitment efforts will target students who represent traditionally underrepresented populations. Built on the current ECSE Preliminary Credential Program, a pipeline program will be developed to recruit undergraduate students in the Department of Child and Adolescent Development at CSUN. Along with the current ECSE Preliminary Credential Program curriculum, Project CREATE will focus on the following competencies: 1) meeting the needs of young learners who are living with low income and economically marginalization, who are dual language learners, and with disabilities or developmental delays and their families; 2) providing culturally reflective evidence-based practices in early academic and social-emotional development for all children in person and through distance learning technologies; 3) collaborating across disciplines (including with general education teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, and families) in the development, implementation, and monitoring of IFSPs/IEPs for young children with disabilities and their families; and 4) participating in leadership activities and advocating for young children with disabilities and their families. These focus competencies, grounded in evidence-based practices, will be threaded throughout the curriculum. Quality inclusive field placements in early childhood special education and early intervention programs will be tied to coursework throughout the program. These settings include children and families from high-poverty and from diverse cultural and linguistical backgrounds. To ensure success, project scholars will be paired with a mentor teacher who is from a similar background once they enter the project. The mentor teachers will provide ongoing culturally responsive coaching and mentoring to the project scholars. In addition, Diversity Discussion Forums will target the most up-to-date culturally responsive evidence-based practices in these focus areas. The Diversity Discussion Forums will be open for project scholars, mentor teachers, community early care teachers and providers, and families.