Theme 2: Social Equity and Innovation

Presentations in this theme should address various areas related to social equity and innovative practices to ensure that classroom settings and professional settings are high-quality environments. Although not immediately felt in most cases, social injustice impacts are significant in all life facets, including early learning environments. Often, implicit bias and systemic racism begin in the leadership tier and trickle down to the staff, children, and families. These issues are often left unchecked and cause deep wounds in an organization. These sessions should provide support for programs in early learning environments with understanding and identifying issues of bias and inequity and support for how to begin the conversation about the implications of social injustice among children, families, and communities. The presentations should provide innovative practices to assist programs with building a framework around diversity, equity, and inclusion. This theme also includes organizational leadership concepts (i.e., fiscal management in early learning, governance, recordkeeping, and ongoing monitoring) that assist with program service delivery of all performance standards and ongoing quality improvement and delivering high-quality services

  • Inclusive education (Part C & Part B)
  • Equity, participation, and opportunity
  • Minorities and majorities: how these are changing
  • Monitoring for bias and inequity
  • Equity in early learning settings
  • Establishing and achieving program goals
  • Implementing program performance standards
  • Strategic planning

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