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Office of Early Childhood webinar spotlights restorative practices, layered supports for challenging behaviors
Summary
Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood hosted a webinar highlighting restorative practices, MTSS layers of support and family–school collaboration as ways to help young children with challenging behaviors; speakers shared practical tools, a classroom case study and resources for implementation.
Hartford — The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood convened a webinar to address how early childhood programs can respond to challenging behaviors by strengthening relationships, aligning supports across systems and using restorative practices.
Commissioner Beth Bayh, Commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood, opened the session by urging professionals to collaborate so children can "get to the proper setting" and so more programs can accept children with mild to severe behavior needs. "We as professionals all need to work together and collaborate to help children get to the proper setting," Bayh said.
Julia Miller, the 2025 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, described restorative justice practices and framed supports through the "social discipline window," which she said balances accountability and support. "Relationships really are at the heart of teaching and learning," Miller said, urging programs to favor "high support and high accountability" and to do the work "with" students rather than "to" them.
Amanda Pickett, a consultant at the Connecticut State Department of Education, urged a systemic approach to school climate and implementation fidelity. She advised teams to inventory current initiatives and prioritize clarity and impact. "We're doing a list of things a mile long, but not even an inch thick," Pickett said, arguing that slowing down to assess alignment and fidelity can improve outcomes.
Speakers shared practical classroom strategies through a case study of a child identified as AJ (also called Aniel in the transcript). Shannon Steer, education and disabilities manager at Stowe Early Learning, described a coordinated approach that included speech and behavioral therapy, a visual transition binder, emotion‑cards and frequent staff–family communication. Those supports, she said, helped AJ transition successfully into kindergarten with some continuity in teaching strategies.
Panelists emphasized multi‑tiered layers of support (MTSS) and data‑informed decision making. Pickett pointed to tools such as the Initiative Inventory from the National Implementation Research Network to catalog and prioritize existing work. Head Start was noted as an example of an inclusive, data‑driven process for policy creation and program alignment.
Facilitator Eileen Ruiz, a child care licensing supervisor at the Office of Early Childhood, closed the panel with a synthesis of the session’s practical themes: center relationships, ensure representation on decision‑making teams, collect behavioral data with fidelity and align staffing, training and resources so responses to challenging behavior are consistent across classrooms. "It's all about listening, responding, and breathing together," Ruiz said.
The webinar included brief remarks from 3–4‑year‑old children from Stowe Early Learning and Hope Child Development Center, which panelists used to illustrate how children reflect adult tone and the importance of modeling steady emotional responses in classroom settings.
No formal votes or policy actions were taken during the webinar. Organizers said attendees will receive a follow‑up survey and resources mentioned during the session, including links to MTSS materials and the Initiative Inventory.
Speakers listed in the transcript include Commissioner Beth Bayh; Julia Miller, 2025 Connecticut Teacher of the Year; Amanda Pickett, consultant, Connecticut State Department of Education; Eileen Ruiz, licensing supervisor, Office of Early Childhood; Shannon Steer, education and disabilities manager, Stowe Early Learning; Karen Pascale, Head Start collaboration office director; Shameka Drummond, legal officer office supervisor, Office of Early Childhood; and moderators/staff such as Lorna and Diana Reyes.
Next steps: attendees were invited to complete a post‑webinar survey and to take away the practical inventories and classroom strategies discussed to increase the capacity of local programs to serve children who exhibit challenging behaviors.
