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Haring Center

Author: Paul Keyes

Partnership Between UW Haring Center and Cultivate Learning Increases Access to Early Achievers Program Despite Pandemic Difficulties

The UW Haring Center for Inclusive Education, in partnership with Cultivate Learning, achieved a significant increase in participation for Early Achievers internship opportunities this school year despite challenges presented by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020-21 school year, the total number of registrants for the Early Achievers Individualized Internships was 134. Just this fall, there was a total of 173 registrants, surpassing the total number of registrants from last school year, and more are expected to participate this winter and spring. With increased access due to online flexibility, as well as course availability in Spanish, more professionals are participating in the Early Achievers internships than ever before.

“We are excited to offer increased support for coaches and teachers across the state of Washington!” said Julie Lockhart, partner manager for the Haring Center. “Expulsion of students with challenging behaviors is a significant issue in early childhood education and our hope is that through equipping coaches and teachers with tools to support all learners in their classrooms, we can make a real difference in the lives of preschool children.”

The Early Achievers internship opportunities began in the fall of 2014 through a collaboration between the UW Haring Center, UW’s Cultivate Learning and the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF, previously named the Washington Department of Early Learning) with the goal of universal kindergarten readiness in Washington state. Early Achievers aims to improve the quality of Washington’s early learning and care programs by instituting a statewide quality recognition and improvement system (QRIS) and provides a variety of supports to teachers and providers, including professional development, coaching, internships, scholarships and resources to support each child’s learning and development. Since the QRIS inception in 2010, Cultivate Learning has been an implementation partner with Washington state holding several roles within the system that involve data collection to inform program quality ratings and coaching, creation of professional development opportunities to support early learning best practices, community engaged research and evaluation and training and consultation to Washington coaches.

The main source of support to early learning and care staff through Early Achievers is ongoing coaching, with Early Achievers coaches going out in the field and working directly with teachers and providers on the use of best practices in early learning. To support this coaching, the Haring Center provides Early Achievers Individualization Internships for working with children with disabilities. These Individualization Internships are now offered virtually in both English and Spanish to Early Achievers coaches and classroom teachers and include half-day internships and mini extensions.

Half-day internships are two half-day remote internships that focus on deepening knowledge in several areas related to individualizing instruction, anti-bias education, supporting social-emotional learning and addressing challenging behavior for young children with disabilities and those who learn and behave differently. “This training was excellent,” said a coach who participated in the half-day internship. “I loved the format: PowerPoint, objectives, and then viewing videos. Very practical, real-world examples.”

Mini extensions are one-hour sessions, offered twice monthly, that build on knowledge learned during the internships and provide an opportunity for coaches to come together to discuss challenges they are experiencing and receive ongoing support from the Haring Center team. The mini extensions also focus on a variety of topics including social-emotional learning, trauma informed care, parent and family partnerships, inclusive large groups, anti-bias education, positive behavior support and strategies to support multi-lingual learners and children with autism spectrum disorder. These mini extensions are also responsive to the needs of coaches and teachers, so other topics are covered as requested.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Cultivate Learning has worked as a critical partner to re-envision Early Achievers into a virtual system and transitioned the QRIS to a quality recognition and improvement system. In this revised system, programs upload videos and other documentation of practice that provides data to support quality improvement and coaching. Like the Haring Center’s trainings, these supports have moved to a virtual modality which includes training, coaching, and annual institutes, all of which have seen increased attendance and participation. “The unique partnership between Cultivate Learning and the Haring Center was developed with an intentional focus on both Early Achievers coaches and classroom educators to access information from experts on supporting inclusive learning environments,” said Juliet Taylor, deputy director for Cultivate Learning.

This September, the Haring Center also provided mini-Back to School professional development sessions to support coaches as they collaborated with teachers to welcome back learners and families in classrooms and programs this year. Training topics included managing the classroom, supporting and preventing challenging behavior, zoning to maximize learning and creating an inclusive community through family partnerships. This series was also available to Early Achievers coaches and teachers in both English and Spanish.

Thank you to the Haring Center and Cultivate Learning staff who provide training, coaching and consultation for Early Achievers coaches and teachers and to our partners at DCYF who continue to make Early Achievers possible. By making this important program more accessible, more professionals can participate and make real, tangible change in inclusive early education practices in Washington state and beyond.

Leading the Field: Haring Center Faculty Respond to Change in Applied Behavior Analysis Practice

How a Simple Change in the BCBA Code of Ethics Could Completely Change the Field

Dr. Nancy Rosenberg (left), Dr. Ilene Schwartz (right)

Two Haring Center Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) have taken issue with the newest version of the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts. Center faculty Dr. Ilene Schwartz and Dr. Nancy Rosenberg have published a new paper in the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice to voice their response to the changes.

BCBAs are professionals who have specialized expertise in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a widely-used teaching approach for individuals with disabilities. BCBAs oversee educational and behavioral intervention programs for young children in school, home, and clinical settings. The UW College of Education has a certification program in ABA, which Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Rosenberg oversee.

In 2016, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) revised the ethical code it published in 2001. This document dictates how BCBAs should act professionally. The most stunning change to the code was not anything added or subtracted — it was a change in the nature of the code. Prior to 2016, the ethical code was a guideline to help BCBAs navigate various dilemmas. The certification board changed this dynamic of the code from guidelines to a set of enforceable rules which could result in a BCBA losing their license.

“This is a big difference in how our field is approaching our work. There is now fear around the code,” said Rosenberg. “We have to figure out how to obey it and not get in trouble instead of finding the most ethical course of action.”

Since the rules have become black and white, as well as enforceable, BCBAs can now be brought before the board and decertified for not adhering to them. Rosenberg, who teaches BCBA ethics at the University of Washington, says that this change is not practical.

“In my classes we work through specific instances where after debating and considering all the complexities, you should do something different than what the code suggests,” she said.

An example of such behavior is BCBAs are no longer permitted to accept gifts of any kind. This has been a guideline for decades, but now it is a punishable edict. While good intentioned, this rule is not practical for all situations, and can be culturally insensitive. A cup of coffee is considered a gift, and also hospitality in some cultures and could offend a BCBA’s client by not accepting, thereby dissolving trust between the two.

Rosenberg went as far to say there are conflicts in the code where certain case studies make it impossible to comply completely with the code.

That the code went from being guidelines to hard-and-fast rules isn’t the whole issue, it is that there was not any discussion about this change within the field. Had that occurred, there might be fewer potential negative implications and consequences as a result.

What Rosenberg and Schwartz propose a solution: an ethical decision-making process to guide BCBAs through specific ethical dilemmas.

“It’s not about a set of rules that encourages non-thoughtfulness,” Rosenberg said. “It’s about seeking out the highest levels of ethical behavior in all situations while considering all the unique variables.”

For more information on the new paper or BCBA ethics, contact Nancy Rosenberg at nancyr@uw.edu.

Impact Doesn’t Stop Here

Haring Center 2018 Training Impact by the Numbers

At the Haring Center, we know what it means to champion inclusion each and every day. We believe that every child should have meaningful opportunities to learn, to engage with others, and to live in an inclusive community that values all its members. For over 50 years, we’ve pursued this goal through our innovative model of research, education, and training.

An integral part of the Haring Center mission is disseminating the practices that are developed, researched, and demonstrated in the classrooms of the Center’s school, the Experimental Education Unit (EEU), through high quality professional development and training. Once the leading-edge practices our researchers develop are proven to be effective, we train educators across the state of Washington, the US, and the world to implement them so countless more students, schools, and communities beyond the walls of the Haring Center can benefit.

Our team of expert trainers work with educators, leaders, and other professionals to help a variety of organizations implement inclusive education. We create individualized professional development plans to meet the unique needs of our partner programs. The training strategies used in our professional development work are designed to impact maximum change and optimize the use of target teaching strategies in classrooms, which doesn’t always happen with traditional training methods.

“We know that with traditional training strategies, only about 5% of teachers are going to be able to take what they’ve learned and use it in their classrooms on their own”, said Haring Center professional development partner manager Brittney Lee. “The professional development techniques used by Haring Center trainers are based on the science of adult learning and the most current research in teacher training. The goal of using a wide range of training strategies is to ensure that teachers are able to use the inclusive practices as successfully as possible in their classrooms.”

During the 2017-18 school year, our professional development impact was far-reaching. Our team of 18 training specialists worked with 146 different schools and organizations, training 3,100 educational professionals throughout the year. Haring Center staff conducted trainings close to home, in cities across Washington State, and beyond, including in Grand Cayman, Nigeria, and Singapore. In addition to school districts across the state, our partners include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Child Care Aware of Washington, Washington Department of Child, Youth, and Family Services, Seattle Preschool Program, Seattle Opera, and the Woodland Park Zoo.

For more information on Haring Center professional development and training, contact Alison Winfield at avw@uw.edu.

Scheduling Socialization

A Student Study Takes Aim at Improving Peer Interaction for Preschoolers with Autism

A study conducted at the UW Haring Center is examining the use of activity schedules as a strategy to increase in socialization between students with autism.

For her capstone research project Kunthi Hardi, a master’s student in Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of Washington’s College of Education, is using joint activity schedules with positive reinforcement to facilitate socialization between two students with autism.

Activity schedules are boards with pictures and words representing daily activities of that children can use to visualize what is upcoming, or to present options of activities from which they can choose. These types of supports can be useful to help children with autism, who may need help organizing their time, engaging in complex play themes, or following group directions, be more independent in the classroom. Visual supports of this type can also help provide concrete structure during social exchanges with peers. Often, activity schedules are used to provide support to one child at a time based on their individual learning needs.

“We generally use a lot of activity schedules when teaching students with autism,” said Hardi. “What makes this study different is I combined two students’ schedules and gave them an incentive to keep engaged and play together without teacher facilitation.”

The study used an activity schedule as a support for a pair of students. The activity schedule included three activity segments, and both students were involved in the creation of the schedule. Each child selected a preferred activity such as a game or a craft to put on the schedule, then the final segment was a reward activity that both enjoyed, such as a wagon ride.

“Because of the final ‘reward’ activity, both participants in this study were more likely to participate in the activities they did not choose, as well as take turns, share, comment on all activities and even tidy up,” Hardi said.

Hardi conducted her study at Haring Center’s Experimental Education Unit, where she works as a practicum student in Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism), an extended-day program for preschool-aged children with autism.

She looks to continue her study in aid of helping children with autism build the social skills needed to thrive in their communities. If you’d like to learn more about Hardi’s study, you can reach her at hardi83@uw.edu.

Impacting Early Learning Quality Across Washington

As Early Achievers Program Expands, So Does the UW Haring Center’s Reach

Since 2014, the UW Haring Center and the Washington Department of Early Learning (DEL) have worked together to improve early learning programs across the state.

With the goal of universal kindergarten readiness, the Early Achievers program seeks to optimize the quality of Washington’s early learning and care programs by instituting a statewide quality rating improvement system (QRIS). The program offers a variety of supports to teachers and providers, including coaching, professional development and resources to support each child’s learning and development.

Much of the support to early learning and care staff takes place through ongoing coaching. Early Achievers coaches go out in the field and work directly with teachers and providers on the use of best practices in early learning. To support their coaching work, DEL offers ongoing professional development to Early Achievers coaches. This professional development includes a popular training at the Haring Center, a 2-day ‘Individualization Internship’.

Since beginning this partnership with DEL, the Haring Center has trained approximately 250 Early Achievers coaches through a unique model of professional development designed to increase the use of strategies to support individualized teaching, promote social-emotional development, and reduce challenging behaviors so that all children, regardless of their learning or behavior needs, can participate in high-quality programs. As the Early Achievers program expands, so does the need for the Haring Center’s work with this program.

Over the past four years, the Haring Center has facilitated more than 80 internships for Early Achievers coaches to refine their skills in the area of individualized learning and positive behavior support. These internships are held onsite at the Haring Center on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. The internship utilizes best practices in adult learning to maximize the coaches’ skill development, including theoretical discussions, facilitated observations of Experimental Education Unit (EEU) classrooms,  guided debriefs, and a goal setting process. All activities at the Haring Center internships focus on the ability of coaches to use this knowledge in their work with teachers and providers.

“It’s one thing to know the strategies; it’s another to teach someone else to use them in a classroom,” said Associate Director of Research Jennifer Fung. “We use evidence-based training strategies to teach these professionals to coach others in the use of strategies that support inclusion.”

While much of the training for Early Achievers coaches takes place at the Haring Center, the coach training team also offers continuing support to coaches such as webinars and consultation sessions with Haring Center trainers that utilize live video feeds of EEU classrooms to demonstrate target strategies for teachers and providers who aren’t able to visit the EEU. These user-friendly, targeted training opportunities offered by the Haring Center have to an increased offering of internships each year, as well as positive reviews from Haring Center trainees, such as this one from a current coach:

“Our staff appreciates the clean, organized and extremely relevant nature and presentation of all (Haring Center) material. I can’t say enough about presenters and their knowledge; their respect for us as participants, and ease with which they presented this material.”

As part of the Early Achievers partnership, the Haring Center is also working with DEL and other partner organizations to host a new statewide Early Achievers Institute on equity-focused positive behavior support. The goal of the inaugural 4-day workshop is to build the capacity of Washington State coaches, care providers, administrators, families, family support professionals, and educators who work with children ages 0 to 5 across a variety of settings. The focus of the professional development will be to provide attendees with evidence-based, practical strategies to support social-emotional learning and address challenging behaviors in order to increase equitable access to education and care, reduce expulsion, and increase school readiness for Washington’s children.

Inclusion Everywhere

How the Haring Center Helps Others Create Inclusive Communities


“What can the Haring Center do for us?” is the most common question Haring Center Director of Early Learning and professional development team member Brittney Lee is asked when meeting with school districts, early learning programs and recreational programs.

Her answer is simple:

“We make individualized professional development plans for any organization that wants to create opportunities for inclusion in their program.”

Her response is as broad as the Haring Center’s toolbox for supporting outside organizations to create sustainable, inclusive education programs.

“When I meet with a new client, the first thing we do is define what the desired outcome is for their program” she said. “Some organizations want us to work with individual teachers on very specific skills and some are looking for more comprehensive program design and training to support new inclusive classrooms – we can do both.”

Each professional development plan is created to meet the unique needs of a program, and the training strategies used are designed to impact maximum change.  The professional development techniques used by Haring Center trainers are based on the science of adult learning and the most current research in teacher training. The goal of using a wide range of training strategies is to ensure that teachers are able to use the inclusive practices as successfully as possible in their classrooms, which doesn’t always happen with traditional training methods.

“We know that with traditional training strategies, only about 5% of teachers are going to be able to take what they’ve learned and use it in their classrooms on their own”, said Lee.

The Haring Center uses this individualized approach to professional development with Kids Co., a Seattle-based preschool with multiple locations. Kids Co. contacted the Haring Center with a specific goal: to be more scientific in their approach to childcare. Haring Center trainers provided consultation and workshops to develop a measured approach.

“We didn’t have any tools, didn’t know about data collection and how to do it,” said Susan Brown, President of Kids Co. “What they give is concrete, and the training offered in not only theory, but actual strategies about how to make working with kids and the outcomes better.”

In addition to the use of cutting-edge training practices designed to impact maximum change in the classroom, organizations that work with the Haring Center also benefit from the Center’s extensive knowledge and experience in the field of inclusion. The Haring Center’s professional development team uses their inclusion framework, a comprehensive, research-based framework built on 50 years of experience and research on inclusive education at the Center to guide their work with centers and schools who seek to build inclusive educational programs. The framework breaks down training in inclusive education into three categories that they see as the cornerstones of a sustainable inclusive program: Inclusive Leadership, Community Building and Instructional Practices.

The Haring Center professional development team offers a range of training services, including:

Trainings – A presentation to develop knowledge and awareness of specific skills or concepts. This format includes large-group lecture, small-group discussions and skill demonstration.

Workshops – A more advanced training format that targets skill development with practice, demonstration and evaluation.

Consultation – An ongoing form of training that evaluates current professional development needs and creates a specific strategy to address those.

Coaching – An ongoing form of professional development that uses the practice-based coaching method to ensure that teachers are able to successfully use the skills they’ve learned in their classrooms.

For more information on the Haring Center’s professional development and training services, contact pdutrain@uw.edu.

2018 Haring Center Auction a Record Success

Community Shows Heart of a Champion at Olympics-Themed Event

In keeping with this year’s theme, “The Heart of a Champion”, Haring Center community members and supporters were true champions, helping the 2018 auction raise a record $800,000.  Over 550 guests attended the event at the Haring Center on Saturday May 12th and raised their paddles in support of inclusive education.

Michael Ronan was named this year’s Haring Center “Champion for Inclusion” for his continued work on inclusion at Microsoft, Starbucks, and Ernst & Young, and his roles on the Special Olympics Washington and 2018 Special Olympics USA boards.  He was a key player in bringing the USA Games to Seattle and the University of Washington in July, 2018.  Michael spoke about the importance of early intervention for children with disabilities and the need for employers to create inclusive companies. “Employers have a critical role in supporting different abilities. You will receive more from serving others than what you put in. That’s a good return on investment in anyone’s book.”

Virginia Wade, a former student of the Haring Center’s Experimental Education Unit (EEU), and member of Team Washington at the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games, was the event’s featured speaker. Her speech, “I love being me,” brought down the house. Her inspirational story detailing how she began her journey at the Haring Center and her subsequent academic and athletic accomplishments – many of which doctors said she would not be capable to complete – was the highlight of the night. Virginia is the third EEU alum to speak at the Haring Center auction.

This year marked the 17th annual Haring Center auction. Event proceeds support the Haring Center’s research, training and education services for the Seattle community and beyond.  This special event is an opportunity for supporters of inclusive education and early learning to get together, celebrate and support a local, innovative organization that has a far-reaching footprint in inclusive education. In 2017 alone, the Haring Center trained 2,900 educators, professionals and leaders in inclusive education in seven different countries.

As usual, attendees of this year’s auction went all-out in the spirit of the theme, wearing athletic outfits inspired by ancient Grecian Olympics right up through the most recent winter games at Pyeongchang – all guests and volunteers showed their “Heart of a Champion.”  Thank you all for your support!