What is Relationship-Based Technical Assistance (TA)?

Hands stacked together in a group high five.

Let’s begin our journey as a Child Care Aware (CCA) Coach by learning the basics about relationship-based technical assistance and its importance to your role as a Coach. You will begin to understand the processes of technical assistance (TA) and how to provide TA as a Coach.

The use of relationship-based technical assistance (TA) can be a highly effective form of professional development. It has been used widely in the field of early childhood to increase the quality of programs and outcomes for young children and families.

Outcome

  • Define relationship-based technical assistance.

Before we get into more specifics and details of TA, take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts when you hear the phrase “relationship-based technical assistance.”

Welcome to Child Care Aware of Kentucky!

Welcome!!

Welcome to your Child Care Aware (CCA) Family! We are excited to have you join our team of amazing people. CCA Coaches come from a variety of backgrounds and are located all around the state from West Paducah to Jenkins (FYI, that is over 400 miles apart, would take 6 ½ hours to drive, and are located in 2 time zones!).

Outline of Kentucky with icons specific to Kentucky inside, horse and jockey, hills, waterfalls, and caves.

This short introductory training will provide you with a brief glimpse into the dynamics of CCA, who to call with questions, and what Technical Assistance (TA) is. During this introductory training, you will learn more about the role of coaches and how they collaborate with other coaches, Content Coordinators, and Regional Child Care Administrators (RCCAs).

Outcomes

  • Describe the 4 Coaching types with Child Care Aware of Kentucky.
  • Identify who to contact with questions or concerns.
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Click to download or print a copy of the handout.

Course Facilitator

If you have any questions while completing this training, please reach out to your Content Coordinator for additional support.

Head shot of Stefani Whaley in front of trees.

Stefani Whaley

Health and Safety

Headshot of Tammy Greene in front of trees.

Tammy Greene

Professional Development

Headshot of Michelle Johnson outside in front of trees.

Michelle Johnson

Quality

Headshot of Christine in front of trees.

Christine Hausman

Training

Technical support is available by using the Contact Us button at the bottom of the page.

Click the first topic below to begin your journey as a CCA Coach.

Navigating Through HDI Learning

Whether you have never taken a training through HDI Learning, or you are looking for a refresher, this section will give you a brief overview of how to navigate through HDI Learning.

Click each arrow below to learn more about each section of HDI Learning.

My Courses Tab

Once you have logged into HDI Learning, in the tap banner is a row of tabs. My Courses will take you to all the courses you have enrolled in, progress report, and completion certificate (if applicable).

You do need to be logged in to see courses you are enrolled in. If you are having trouble accessing a course, double check that you are logged into your HDI Learning account.

Click any course to open the content, or if you have already started the course click “resume” to go back to the last place you stopped.

Banner from HDI Learning with the "my courses" tab circled.

My Account Tab

Once you have logged into HDI Learning, in the tap banner is a row of tabs. My Account will take your account dashboard you can view your recent orders, manage your billing address, and edit your password and account details.

If your name is not displaying correctly on your certificate or your HDI Learning Account, most likely you need to edit your name in account details.

Course Display

This course is divided into lessons and topics. Each lesson will cover a broad content area with the topics supporting the content. At the end of each section is a “mark complete” button. Click this to advance to the next section. If you have already completed a section, you may not see the mark complete button, but rather “next lesson” or “next topic.”

Screenshot of the course display showing lessons and topics for a training.

If you have already completed a section of the training, the circle next to it will be filled in. Typically you are not allowed to access sections of a training if you have not completed the previous sections.

Course Progression

As you complete content on a page, when you come to the bottom of a page there will be different button prompts to help you navigate through the course.

Screenshot of the course display showing lessons and topics for a training.

If you have not previously completed the content you will need to click the “Mark Complete” button to move to the next lesson or topic. If the content also includes a video you may also have to watch the video fully before being able to access the mark complete button.

Screenshot of the course display showing lessons and topics for a training.

If you have already completed content, but are moving through the course again the “Next Lesson” will be visible to allow you to move to the next lesson in the training – if there are no topics associated with the lesson.

Screenshot of the course display showing lessons and topics for a training.

If you have already completed content, but are moving through the course again the “Next Topic” will be visible to allow you to move to the next topic associated with the lesson.

Screenshot of the course display showing lessons and topics for a training.

At any point you can choose the “Previous Lesson” button to move to the lesson before.

Help!

If you run into any issues use the contact us button at the bottom of each page.

Questions?

Contact:

Sheryl Matney, Director of Technical Assistance smatney@nacdd.org  or 202-506-5813, extension 107

Other Courses to Consider:

Systems Change

 Advocacy, Public Policy, and Activities: Councils on Developmental Disabilities

Fiscal Basic Training 1

Fiscal Basic Training 2

Fiscal Basic Training 3

Lesson 3: Budget Responsibilities

Carla standing and crossing her arms

Carla: “Council members and staff have a responsibility to maintain the budget. This lesson contains a brief overview of expectations. Additional courses on fiscal responsibilities are available. Select the first topic below to begin.”

Face to Face Visits Documentation

Illustration of a woman with blonde hair in a bun wearing a read jack and black glasses

Per regulation 922 KAR 5:170 and standard operating procedure (SOP) GField-18, Face to Face visits are a requirement for each individual under guardianship. 

Face-to-Face visit is defined as an in-person, on-site meeting with an individual in their residence, workplace, day program, and/or other community location.

FaceTime/video visits do not meet the SOP requirements for face-to-face visits, but can be utilized in addition to the required visits.

In this lesson, we’ll review why face-to-face visits are important, how to prepare for them, and how to effectively document them.

Lesson 5: Shifting Practices

Outcomes of this Lesson

  1. Identify ways to shift practices from direct support to a facilitative role. 
  2. List strategies that can be used to facilitate communication and engagement among peers. 

What’s next? 

Relationships will not automatically happen; they need to be developed and maintained through facilitation by those who work directly with the student, such as the paraprofessional, teachers and/or related service providers1.  

Sonja with her hands upturned, questioningly.

Sonja says “How can we support this community of learners? We have set up the peer support arrangement and oriented Annabelle and her peers. What can we put in place to make sure the arrangement flourishes?”

Lesson 4: Peer Support Arrangements

Outcomes of this Lesson

  1. List the steps to implementing peer support arrangements. 
  2. Create an individual Peer Support Plan for a student. 
  3. Describe how to orient peers to be good communication partners with non-speaking students. 

Every student, whether or not they have a disability, needs support to be successful in school. While teachers and other school staff provide some support, students often turn to their classmates for assistance. Peer Support Arrangements are one way to formalize this support for students with significant disabilities.

Lesson 3: Circles of Friends and Social Supports

Outcomes of this Lesson

  1. Describe each concentric circle in the Circles of Friends. 
  1. Identify at least 2 social support strategies and the circle(s) in which they would be useful. 

Friendships are incredibly important for people with disabilities, just as they are for anyone else. In fact, friendships can play an even more critical role in the lives of individuals with disabilities due to the unique challenges they may face.

Lesson 2: Building Blocks of Inclusion and Belonging

Outcomes of this Lesson

  1. Describe the dimensions of belonging and how they impact inclusion.
  1. Reflecting on your school or classroom, identify any dimension of belonging that needs to be addressed or can be improved.

Introduction

What makes the difference between students with significant disabilities for whom interactions with peers and active engagement in class are prominent and those who lack these social connections and academic engagement? The published literature, including Creating Communities of Belonging for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities3, highlights several important elements that might make a difference. Let’s look at the ten dimensions of belonging.

Marcus and Sonja thought it might be a promising idea to reflect on how belonging and inclusion are experienced by students with a disability in their classrooms.

Marcus and Sonja are seated at a table, discussing belonging

Marcus says, “We should pull together the instructional team, including the SLP, instructional assistants, parent, and other instructional support staff, to consider belongingness using the reflection tool you found online.”

This can help guide their conversation about each of the ten dimensions of belonging by reflecting on:

  • What are we doing well right now in this area?
  • What could we be doing better or differently in this area?

This reflection tool is explored in the second topic.

As you read through the rest of the lesson, think about how your school or a specific general education classroom is doing in each area.

Lesson 1: Call to Action

Outcomes of this Lesson

  1. Define the importance of belonging and friendship for all students. 
  1. Identify the barriers to building relationships for students with complex communication challenges. 

If you were to ask most people to reflect on their school experiences, you might hear about their favorite classes or teachers. Still, you would hear more about how their relationships and activities with friends made school memorable and continued to impact their lives after graduation.  

Supportive and satisfying relationships not only contribute to a sense of belonging and enjoyment but can also enhance students’ engagement in school and create rich contexts for learning within and beyond the classroom. The absence of such relationships and friendships can lead to loneliness, isolation, disengagement, and dissatisfaction with school4. Attention to relationships and academic engagement is at the heart of solid schooling for all students—and this is no less true for students with complex communication challenges.  

Think Spot: School Friendships

Think Spot: Reflecting on your school experience, write down a favorite classroom memory and a favorite memory with your friends outside the classroom.  Do you still have relationships with any of your former pals?  

Click on the first topic below to continue.

Module 2 Decisions, Decisions: Introduction to Module 2

Introduction to Module 2

Welcome to Beyond Fundamentals Putting FET to Work, Module 2 Decisions, Decisions. As you proceed through this module, you will make several important decisions regarding your training session. Each of these preliminary decisions will help you develop a more organized and sequenced training plan.

This module will review each of the areas that trainers must make decisions about when beginning the process of developing a training. Along with the discussion regarding each of these decision areas an example or examples will be provided to help you process the information.

You will have to make decisions about each of these items as part of the process of developing a training plan: 

  • Selecting the training topic 
  • Identifying the length of the training 
  • Determining the level of the training (Core Content Competency) 
  • Identifying the workplace outcome 
  • Determining the skills and knowledge 
  • Prioritizing and sequencing the skills and knowledge 
  • Identifying the training outcomes 
  • Creating the training title 
  • Developing a needs assessment 

Each decision is important and requires your thoughtful attention as you begin to develop your training plan. We will look at each item separately in preparation for completing the assignment at the end of Module 2. This work will give you direction and lay the foundation for your training plan. You can download the Training Plan Worksheet now and complete throughout this Module.

Print Course

General Council Member Training- Part 2

Lesson 2: Council Member Conduct & Staff Partnership

Carla standing and crossing her arms

 Carla: “Being a DD Council member means that you must abide by certain guidelines for conduct. As a DD Council member, it is also important to understand the roles and relationships between DD Council members and staff. In this lesson, we’ll explore DD Council member conduct and member-staff partnerships. Select the first topic below to begin.”

Final Quiz

Carla pointing

Carla: “You have reached the final quiz. You must pass the quiz with a minimum of 80% to successfully complete the course and earn a completion certificate. You may take the quiz multiple times.”

Lesson 1: DD Council Member Responsibilities

In this lesson, we’ll examine the responsibilities of DD Council members, planning (5-Year Plan), and recruiting and mentoring new Council members.

Group of people talking at a table
Carla standing and crossing her arms

Carla: “DD Council members have certain responsibilities and must conduct themselves in a responsible manner. Let’s review some of the DD Council duties and guidelines for conduct. Select the first topic below to begin.”

Start Here- Introduction and Contact Information

Itacc Logo

Welcome! This course provides Council members with an overview of the DD Council Member duties, conduct, and budget responsibilities. 

We will focus on the following:

  • DD Council duties & responsibilities
  • Recruiting & mentoring DD Council members
  • DD Council member conduct
  • Budget Responsibilities

Course Objectives:

Describe the responsibilities of DD Council members

Describe the primary & basic duties of Council members

Explain the member-staff partnership

Identify who prepares the DD Council budget

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The information in this course is for members, staff, and people supporting a Council on Developmental Disabilities. If you need assistance or have questions about the course, please contact HDI Learning by clicking on the “Contact Us” button located below or using the link located at the bottom of each page.

  1. It is required to complete each assessment with at least an 80% passing grade. 
  1. Navigate through the course linearly, making sure to select ‘Mark Complete’ at the bottom of each page.  

Carla: “Hi, I’m Carla. I’m a new General Council Member, and I’m here to learn about DD Council duties, recruiting, conduct, and budget responsibilities. I’ll be working through the course with you to learn more about these topics.”

Final Quiz

You have reached the final quiz for the course. You must earn a minimum of 80% to successfully complete the course and earn a certificate of completion. You may take the quiz as many times as needed. There is no time limit for this quiz. The quiz must be completed in one session, and can not be saved.