October 2009

Help & Hope: Providing Positive Behavior Support to Difficult to Engage Families

The Florida Center for Inclusive Communities of the University of South Florida is pleased to announce an exciting training opportunity for professionals in behavior analysis, positive behavior support, family support, and developmental disabilities.

Help & Hope: Providing Positive Behavior Support to Difficult to Engage Families

November 4, 2009
Training Information Website: http://flfcic.fmhi.usf.edu/HH/HelpHope.htm

“Play to Learn: Teaching Play Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders”

The   Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) at the University of South Florida will present “Play to Learn: Teaching Play Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders” from 6:30 p.m.  to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10. The workshop is hosted by MF Therapy Group of Naples and will be held at their Naples location, 5691 Naples Blvd., southwest of Pine Ridge Road. To pre-register for the workshop call CARD at (239) 590-7771 or send an e-mail to cphilbro@fgcu.edu.

Emotional and behavioral development paves the way to achievement

According to a new report from MDRC, evidence suggests that improving young children’s healthy emotional and behavioral development is both an important outcome in its own right and can also be a pathway to improved academic achievement. In survey after survey, the authors write, teachers consistently emphasize their need for professional development and other supports to help them address children’s behavioral issues. The report offers a preview of promising findings from Foundations of Learning (FOL), a demonstration and random assignment evaluation in Newark and Chicago of an intervention that trains preschool teachers to better support children’s behavior and emotional development. The model combined teacher training in effective classroom management with weekly classroom consultation, with mentors coaching teachers in workshop strategies and providing individualized support to the highest-risk children. The report found that program interventions improved teacher ability to effectively support children’s behavior and emotional development; increased instructional time and created a positive climate for learning in classrooms; reduced conflict and acting-out behaviors by children; and improved children’s ability to focus their attention, curb their impulsivity, and show greater engagement in the classroom.
See the report: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/527/full.pdf

General Mills Foundation: Champions for Healthy Kids

The General Mills Foundation Champions for Healthy Kids grant program encourages communities in the United States to improve the eating and physical activity patterns of young people, ages 2-20. Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations and agencies working with communities that demonstrate the greatest need and likelihood of sustainable impact on young people’s nutrition and activity levels through innovative programs. Maximum award: $10,000. Eligibility: 501(c)3, community-based groups. Deadline: January 15, 2010.
http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/commitment/champions.aspx

COPAA is accepting nominations for the Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy on behalf of children with disabilities

The award is given to an individual or group of individuals who have made a particularly exceptional and outstanding contribution to COPAA’s primary

mission: obtaining high-quality educational services for children with disabilities.  Any individual or group is eligible for the award, including special education attorney and advocates.  COPAA recognizes there are different ways to advocate for children with disabilities, including advocacy efforts to obtain FAPE and other important rights for children, activities in court, teaching effective advocacy, policy advocacy, exceptional service to COPAA and other activities. Applications must include clearly documented evidence of the honoree’s exemplary activities.

The nomination must explain in specific detail the nominee’s particularly outstanding contributions on behalf of children with disabilities.

Nominations must be made by a COPAA member with knowledge of the nominee’s activities. It is not necessary for the nominee to be a COPAA Member.  The Diane Lipton Award winner will be recognized at COPAA’s annual conference with presentation of a plaque during the Saturday Awards Luncheon, and, at the discretion of the Board, the recipient will receive complimentary attendance at the main conference, airfare and hotel.  The recipient will be asked to deliver an acceptance speech at the Awards Luncheon.

Nominations may be submitted to awards@copaa.org and must be received by December 1, 2009.  The Awards Committee will make a recommendation to the Board thereafter.  The Board will decide on the recipient at the January 2010 Board meeting.

DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack.

At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

Website:  http://www.donorschoose.org

College Board: Bob Costas Grants

Bob Costas Grants support exceptional teachers who through their innovative teaching methods motivate their students to write. Winning teachers are awarded grants to enhance successful projects currently under way. Projects can be carried out in school (public or nonpublic), through an after-school writing workshop, or during a summer program. Maximum award: $2,000. Eligibility: Teachers from all academic disciplines grades 6-12. Deadline: November 20, 2006. http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k-12

NSTA: Sylvia Shugrue Award for Elementary School Teachers

The National Science Teachers Association Sylvia Shugrue Award honors a teacher who has established (or is establishing) an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based lesson plan. The lesson plan must fully reference sources of information and any relevant National Science Education Standards and benchmarks found in The Atlas of Science Literacy. Maximum award: $1,000, as well as up to $500 to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education, March 18-21, 2010, in Philadelphia; the recipient of the award will be honored during the Awards Banquet at the NSTA Conference. Eligibility: full-time elementary school teachers (grades K-6) with a minimum of three years of experience. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2009.
http://www.nsta.org/main/pdfs/awards/Shugrue.pdf

Are you seeking Board Certification in Behavior Analysis?

Florida Tech’s Behavioral Science and Technology department will again offer:

BEHP 5000—Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis. This is the first course of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® pre-approved course sequence.

BEHP 5001-Behavioral Assessment and Program Evaluation - the second course of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® pre-approved course sequence.

BEHP 5002-Behavior Change Procedures and Ethical Considerations – the third course of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® pre-approved course sequence.

These courses are offered every three months starting in October, January, April, and July.  Each is three months long. These classes will be offered completely via distance learning over the internet.  No need to travel.  Participate from the comfort of your home or office.

The courses have now gone mobile………. Course video for the courses is now available in video iPod format through iTunesU.

For information on the two advanced courses BEHP 5003 and BEHP 5004, please

visit the program website at http://aba.fit.edu.

Test yourself for hidden bias

Psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington have developed online tests to measure unconscious bias.
http://www.tolerance.org/activity/test-yourself-hidden-bias

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