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The EI Curriculum Workgroup is comprised of members with extensive experience developing and delivering early intervention training whose focus is to utilize existing online resources to build an online universal core curriculum of quality early intervention practices. This workgroup formed out of a community of practice known as the Early Intervention-Early Childhood Professional Development Community of Practice (EI-EC PD CoP) whose common interest is around online learning and professional development opportunities for early interventionists.  For more information about the EI-EC PD CoP please visit their workspace by clicking here.

 

EI Curriculum Contributors & Workgroup Members

 

Contributors: A special thanks goes out to the organizations that have contributed personnel time and resources towards the development of a universal core curriculum of quality early intervention practices.  Contributing organizations over the years include:

  • Delaware Health and Social Services Birth to 3 Early Intervention System
  • Department of Defense (DOD) Educational and Development Intervention Service (EDIS) 
  • Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center 
  • Early Intervention Training Program (EITP) at the University of Illinois 
  • Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Early Intervention Training Center 
  • Montana Milestones/Part C Early Intervention Program Community Services Bureau/DDP
  • Pennsylvania’s Early Intervention Technical Assistance System 
  • Texas Part C Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Services
  • Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development (VEIPD)
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders

Beth Friedman provides Technical Assistance and Professional Development in the state of Pennsylvania as part of Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA). In this role she provides local program support and training to several Part B and Part C programs. Her work also includes statewide initiatives. Beth started in Part C Early Intervention in 2008 as a local Program Service Coordination Supervisor after working in the mental health system and in domestic violence centers and shelters. She is a member of DEC’s Service Coordination (SC) Committee and participates in several national SC Leader groups.

Cori Hill, Virginia Early Intervention Training Specialist, works at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is the project director for the Integrated Training Collaborative which provides coordination and oversight for Virginia’s Comprehensive System of Personnel Development for early interventionists. Cori has worked in the field of early intervention since 1992 as an infant program director, special instructor and service coordinator. As the EI Training Specialist, she provides personnel training and develops curriculum for early intervention providers.  Cori is also an adjunct faculty member at James Madison University where she teaches and supervises graduate early childhood special education and inclusive early childhood education students. Cori is a founding member of the EI Curriculum Workgroup.

Rachel Moyer-Trimyer has worked in the early childhood intervention field since 1998. Currently, she teaches the Introduction to Early Childhood Intervention at the University of Texas at Austin. Rachel previously served as the IDEA Part C Specialist at the Texas Part C (Early Childhood Intervention - ECI) State Office. In this role she developed and provided training and technical assistance, participated in the rule development process and represented the Texas Part C program on several national workgroups. Before working at the state office, Rachel provided direct services as a certified teacher/Early Intervention Specialist and Service Coordinator. Rachel is a founding member of the EI Curriculum Workgroup.

Sarah Nichols is a Professional Development Specialist for the Early Intervention Training Program at the University of Illinois and an early intervention consultant who has been working for the Early Intervention Training Program in Illinois since 2002.  Sarah began her career in early intervention as a service coordinator in 2000 where she spent seven years partnering with families as they navigated the Illinois Early Intervention System.  As a Professional Development Specialist, Sarah assists in the development and instructional design of online learning opportunities, facilitates state and national Communities of Practice (CoP), and develops and manages online workspaces for early interventionists, training consultants, and members of the Early Intervention-Early Childhood Professional Development Community of Practice (EI-EC PD CoP).  Sarah is also an active member of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), former co-leader of the DEC Professional Development Special Interest Group (SIG), member of the DEC Personnel Preparation Committee (PPC) and Professional Development Strand Leader of the PPC.  Sarah is a founding member and facilitator of the EI Curriculum Workgroup.

Naomi Younggren is the Part C/Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) Coordinator for the Department of Defense Army Educational and Developmental Intervention Services (EDIS) Early Intervention Programs, an adjunct early childhood faculty member with Central Texas College-Europe Campus, and an independent Early Childhood Consultant focusing on early intervention and preschool processes and best practices.  Naomi’s 30 years of experience in early childhood special education include being a direct provider working with children with disabilities and their families in early intervention and preschool programs, providing technical assistance, authoring early intervention handbooks and training materials, and serving in a program development and leadership capacity.  Naomi is a founding member of the EI Curriculum Workgroup.

 

 

Former EI Curriculum Contributors & Workgroup Members

 
Lynda Pletcher was a Technical Assistance Specialist with The Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center formerly NECTAC Funded by the US Department of Education where she worked for 11 years until she retired in 2016. Lynda was a founding member of the EI Curriculum Workgroup.  Her work with the ECTA Center included providing technical assistance to states’ 0-5 early childhood special education systems, leading state strategic planning, addressing service delivery approaches for Part C agencies, review and revision of federal and state policies, change and implementation of evidence based practices at the provider level. Lynda’s 42 years of experience in the field of early childhood and early childhood special education also included teaching in Head Start and child care centers, teaching in the public school systems (kindergarten and 3rd grade), early intervention home visitor, grant administration, training coordinator, agency director, teaching at the university level and a state director of IDEA Part C Program. She has been a frequent national presenter on a wide range of topics pertinent to early childhood and the systems to support evidence based practices.
 

Carol Ann Schumann was a founding member of the EI Curriculum Workgroup and a contributing member while she was the Training Administrator for Delaware’s Birth to Three Early Intervention System within the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services.  Within the State’s Birth to Three System, she coordinated the comprehensive system of personnel development, facilitates training and technical assistance, and is a leader for statewide initiatives around inclusion, parent leadership and family support.

 

 

Johanna Higgins (Taylor) is an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders.  She coordinates the master’s online Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Program. Johanna obtained her master’s and doctoral degrees in Early Intervention from the University of Pittsburgh with a specialization in autism and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Over the past two decades, Johanna has worked in schools, homes, and communities with all ages of learners with autism and developmental disorders. Her research focuses on parent training and the parent-implemented naturalistic-behavioral interventions to support children with autism. Johanna joined the EI Curriculum Workgroup in 2018.

 

 

 

Emily Webb has worked in the early intervention field since 2008. Emily presently works as the Training Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Early Intervention Training Center.  As the Training Coordinator, Emily develops and oversees the professional development for EI providers in Massachusetts.  She also provides EI programs with individualized support to assist programs in improving quality of services.  Emily believes strongly in family-centered services, providing support to caregivers to ensure the high quality services for each children and families in Massachusetts. She is experienced in conducting training and has led workshops and in-services on early childhood development, functional assessments, PIWI philosophy and fidelity of administration of the Battelle Developmental Inventory 2. Prior to working for the Department of Public Health, Emily worked as a Developmental Specialist and Service Coordinator at a Massachusetts early intervention program.  In addition, she has experience in working as the role of Training Coordinator and Early Intervention Assistant Program Director where she provided supervision, support, and professional development to a team of EI providers.

 

Carol Ann Schumann is the Training Administrator for Delaware’s Birth to Three Early Intervention System within the Delaware  Department of Health and Social Services where she has worked since 2003.  Within the State’s Birth to Three System, she coordinates the comprehensive system of personnel development, facilitates training and technical assistance, and is a leader for statewide initiatives around inclusion, parent leadership and family support.

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Lynda Cook Pletcher, M.Ed.
Lynda's career includes 42 years of working with young children and families in early childhood and early intervention and the EI Curriculum Workgroup is grateful that she is willing to continue to share her wealth of knowledge and experience in her retirement