• Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center ENotes - Provides a weekly update of national resources and information pertinent to the administration of EC preschool programs; key articles of interest are shared through the NC PEN listserv; archived articles are also available
• DEC Recommended Practices - Guidance to improve the learning outcomes and promote the development of young children, birth through five years of age, who have or are at-risk for developmental delays or disabilities
• FirstSchool Learning Environments: Supporting Relationships - Discusses ways to improve how children from ages 3 to 8 learn and develop in schools as well as how to connect high-quality Pre-K programs with high quality elementary schools
• NC Professional Teaching Standards - Summarizes standards used for teacher self-assessment, classroom observation, and summary evaluation
• Play in the Early Years - Describes play as an essential element of developmentally appropriate, high-quality early education programs that enhance success in school
• Transition to Kindergarten: Terrific Transitions - Overview of the concept of transition and its importance to school success, including a variety of transition strategies
• What is FirstSchool? - Describes FirstSchool values and  inquiry approach to change
• What to Listen for in a High Quality, Language Rich, Learning Environment - Describes the importance of a rich, oral language environment and the connection to later literacy learning
• What to Look for in a High Quality, Pro-social, Learning Environment - Describes high-quality early learning environments and strategies to promote development of "pro-social" skills
• What to Look for in a High Quality, Literacy Rich, Learning Environment - Describes high-quality literacy rich environments and strategies to promote literacy development
• Results Matter Professional Development Video Library - Colorado Department of Education library developed for use in educational and professional development activities to raise awareness about the importance of high quality early childhood education and to share promising practices

Research and Policy Briefs: Mental Health

• School-Based Mental Health Initiative - North Carolina State Board of Education draft policy regarding mental health (April 2017)
• North Carolina School Mental Health Initiative - Provides recommendations for addressing mental health and substance use at school (2016)

Research and Policy Briefs: Suspension and Expulsion

• Child Care and Development Fund - Describes how the state of North Carolina plans to spend funds given to the state for child care subsidies and systemic child care improvements
• Final Regulations on IDEA Equality - Federal regulations regarding disproportionality and determining significant disproportionality can be found on pages 92463 – 92464 (December 2016)
• Preventing Suspensions and Expulsions in Early Childhood Settings: A Program Leader’s Guide - Provides relevant, specific recommended policies and practices that are actionable and address the underlying root causes and provide effective alternatives.
• Policy Statement on Expulsion and Suspension Policies in Early Childhood - Recommendations from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (ED) for preventing and severely limiting expulsion and suspension practices in early childhood settings
• Early Childhood Suspension and Expulsion - An annotated bibliography covering early childhood suspension and expulsion
• Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health - Examines the associations between social-emotional skills in kindergarten and key young adult outcomes
• Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion - Examines factors associated with expulsion from PreK
• Prekindergarteners Left Behind:  Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Programs - Summarizes the first study ever conducted on the rate of expulsion in prekindergarten programs (Gilliam, 2005)
• Describing the Problem Behavior with Precision – Guidance on how to write a precision problem behavior statement
• Guidance on Developing a Program Plan for Challenging Behaviors – Describes a process for developing a program-wide implementation plan addressing problem behaviors including how the program will respond to problem behavior in the short-term and on an ongoing basis. 
• Webinar: Suspension and Expulsion in Early Childhood - Presentation by Dr. Walter Gilliam discussing the state of suspension and expulsion in early childhood settings (Sept 8, 2016)
• 2013-14 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) - Measures student access to courses, programs, instructional and other staff, and resources that impact education equity and opportunity for students (June, 2016)
• USDE Civil Rights Data Collection snapshot - Reports early-childhood-education-related data such as preschool access and discipline, as well as student retention, in elementary school (March, 2014)

Overview | State and Federal Memos | Q&A | Guiding Practices | IEP Process