Early Childhood Networked Improvement Community

Bringing together EC leaders, educators, and applied researchers to drive change in EC.

Priorities/Cohorts

1. Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

  • Strengthen adult modeling, co-regulation, and resilience-building practices.
  • Embed SEL into daily routines, rituals, and relationships in ways that honor children’s cultural contexts.
  • Build and sustain educator capacity for long-term SEL practices and mental health prevention and promotion.

2. Systems Leadership

  • Promote evidence-based, culturally responsive SEL strategies in early childhood.
  • Apply Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) models and data reflection tools.
  • Use data for reflection, learning, and continuous improvement.
  • Embed findings into improvement planning.
  • Strengthen tiered systems of mental health and behavioral supports (MTSS).
  • Navigate system constraints to expand equitable access and dismantle structural barriers.

3. Family and Community Engagement

  • Advance relationship-based, culturally humble engagement practices.
  • Foster authentic co-creation with families as partners in children’s development.
  • Implement responsive communication and trust-building strategies that reduce family engagement fatigue.
  • Honor family voices and community strengths in program design and decision-making.

4. Language and Literacy

  • Support early communication, vocabulary, and literacy growth in culturally sustaining ways.
  • Provide frameworks for dual language learners and multilingual families.
  • Incorporate literacy-rich routines and materials that reflect diverse identities.
  • Engage families in language learning and adapt strategies for children with varied communication needs.

5. Inclusion and Intervention

  • Use authentic assessment and naturalistic, strength-based approaches.
  • Apply Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) in inclusive classroom contexts.
  • Promote classroom adaptations and inclusive practices that reduce unnecessary labeling or referrals.
  • Strengthen team-based planning and shared ownership for supporting children with complex needs.
  • Build systems that partner with families and EI/IEP services without pathologizing difference.

Leadership

Dr. Tracy Larson, Co-founder

Dr. Karl Jancart, Co-founder