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…

“I am always looking to continue my learning around the idea of inclusion — trying to define what that looks like and how I can be a part of fostering that in my school community,” says Andrea Bergan, a family support worker at John Rogers Elementary in Northeast Seattle. Bergan was among more than 175 educators from across Washington state who attended the 2021 Summer Inclusion Institute held on June 22-24 and organized by the UW Haring Center for Inclusive…

The UW College of Education (CoE) 2020 graduating class entered the teaching workforce during a tumultuous time. “As a first-year teacher, you’re learning the job, but you’re learning a different job,” says Lik Qi Lim, who received her Master of Early Childhood Special Education from CoE last May. Em Dandridge, who also graduated with a Master of Early Childhood Special Education during the pandemic, explains the newly minted educators were starting jobs that looked like nothing anyone knew. Dandridge started…

Watch the Livestream of the 2021 Haring Center Virtual Auction.

“We know that signs of autism emerge reliably between 18 months and two years,” says Ashley Penney (PhD ‘16), BCBA and research scientist at the UW Autism Center. “But most kids aren’t diagnosed until they’re about four and a half years old.” Annette Estes (PhD ‘98), who directs the Autism Center, explains that the gap is even greater for children who are Black, Hispanic, eligible for Medicaid or living in rural areas. “A large number of kids on the autism…

“This is our gym space,” says Chris Matsumoto, Haring Center assistant director and Experimental Education Unit (EEU) principal, standing in front of a pile of mats and trampolines. “And our cafeteria.” He explains how every day at lunchtime, EEU staff push all the gym equipment to the side, set up tables for lunch, and then take down the tables and set it all back up again for afternoon gym. The lack of space is one of the many reasons the…

Haring Center researchers work with teachers, families and communities to advance inclusive education worldwide. In doing so, many serve as faculty at the UW College of Education and train the next generation of early childhood and special education experts. This year, two doctoral students working closely with Haring Center researchers received competitive national fellowships to advance their research in educational equity and inclusion. Gounah Choi, a third year doctoral candidate in special education, began her two-year fellowship with the National…

Challenging behaviors in young children often occur at home during daily routines and activities, according to Angel Fettig, Haring Center researcher and UW College of Education associate professor. A family may be working with a professional interventionist to address these behaviors, but that professional is unlikely to be there in the moment to observe the behavior and create a support plan. With funding from the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, Fettig partnered with Erin Barton at Vanderbilt University…

“Washington State strives to better meet the needs of all learners and families, but we need to develop the infrastructure to support early childhood special education,” says Ariane Gauvreau (PhD ‘15), senior director for professional development and training at the Haring Center. The state is seeking to do just that. One of the ways they plan to do so is with a new partnership that will redesign a framework called the Pyramid Model to center disability, race and equity. The…

Plexiglass barriers. A classroom with two students. Physical therapy through a computer screen. This is just another day at the Haring Center’s Experimental Education Unit (EEU), which is offering a hybrid learning model this school year. Preschool and Kindergarten students come to the EEU two days a week, either Mondays and Tuesdays or Thursdays and Fridays. Learners who qualify for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program can attend all four in-person instruction days. All Preschool and Kindergarten families have…