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  14th Biennial Conference
  September 28-30, 2015
  Crowne Plaza in Springfield, IL

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Sharing A Vision:
Educational Partnerships for a Better Tomorrow

The Third Illinois Early Childhood Conference

Sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education,
Great Lakes RAP/Head Start,
Illinois Subdivision for Early Childhood,
Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children,
and other health and social service agencies

Welcome

Dear Conference Participant:

Welcome to the Third Annual Illinois Early Childhood Conference.

This conference represents the combined efforts of the Illinois State Board of Education, Great Lakes Resource Access Project/Head Start, Illinois Subdivision for Early Childhood, Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children, and other health and social service agencies. Each of the co?sponsoring groups previously sponsored separate annual conferences. In order to address mutually shared issues and goals and to promote networking and collaboration among their various early childhood constituents, the groups came together to plan and conduct a single, joint statewide conference. Under the banner "Sharing a Vision", conference planners agreed to focus each year on a particular element of their shared vision for early childhood education in Illinois. This year's conference theme, "Sharing a Vision: Educational Partnerships for a Better Tomorrow" focuses on the promotion of interagency collaboration in Illinois.

The response to the first two conferences has been tremendous: over fifteen hundred participants attended the first conference in 1991, and approximately nineteen hundred attended the second. Conference participants included parents, teachers, psychologists, counselors, social workers, pediatric health care providers, occupational and physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, administrators, policy makers, personnel preparation specialists, and researchers. They represented Head Start, Prekindergarten Programs for Children At Risk of Academic Failure, early childhood special education, community child care, preschool, and prevention and early intervention programs. Nearly two hundred concurrent sessions, poster sessions, and commercial exhibits were available along with presentations by state and nationally prominent early childhood educators.

This year's conference promises to be even bigger and better. Changes have been made based on comments and suggestions from last year, and we are excited about the wonderful conference facilities in downtown Peoria. We hope your conference experience is pleasant and productive, and that you will plan to join us again in 1995.

Sample Topics

• Substance abuse prevention: A systems approach
• It ain't MTV: Home video intervention with teen parents and their children designed to support their relationship
• Interactive language
• The impact of an integrated preschool setting on children without disabilities: Effects on play and social behavior
• Parents and professionals: Working together to understand special education