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The first few years of a child’s life are some of their most important. Those years, full of learning, exploring, and growing, can shape their future for decades to come. It’s critical, then, that early childhood educators have access to the necessary tools to help children succeed at the early stages of their development, including young children with delays and disabilities.

Christan Coogle, associate professor of in George Mason Ģ��AV’s and principal investigator of the Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC), is hoping to expand and improve the toolboxes of teachers across Virginia to better support students with delays and disabilities.

“There’s an increased need for resources and support in settings in which 2-5 year olds receive their education, particularly related to inclusion of children with delays and disabilities and how to best promote their development through effective interactions and practices,” said Coogle. The number of children with delays and disabilities continues to rise, and birth to five is a “critical window of opportunity” to alter and enhance their developmental trajectory, as well as their everyday interactions with peers, family members, and educators.

Within this window, evidence-based practices—practices with demonstrated effectiveness through rigorous research methods and replication across studies and research teams—are critical. “We know children cannot benefit from evidence-based practices they do not receive. The earlier we can reach children with delays and disabilities and their families, the better outcomes they have,” Coogle explained.

With support from associate director Amber Gant, and coordinators Jacqueline Kilkeary, Alexandra Morris, and Kate Welsh, the TTAC team is bridging the gap between research and practice for educators in the field and building state capacity through differentiated supports which are responsive to school districts’ specific preferences and needs. These include resource banks, professional development sessions, and coming alongside administrators and educators to deliver and facilitate coaching. They have received more than $600,000 in funding from Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) since the program began in 2024-25.

This year, Coogle and her team organized a new method of support. Partnering with early childhood leaders within the VDOE, TTAC delivered three conferences for early childhood educators, hosted in Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, and Roanoke. Attendees  included teachers, therapists, administrators, and representatives from VDOE. “This is an opportunity to come together and hear from one another with a commitment to learning from and growing together and disseminating information to the local communities in which we all serve," said Coogle

All of this comes together to help create more inclusive classrooms—as defined by the Commonwealth of Virginia's guide to inclusion—that are supportive of students across a spectrum of ability and development. Through this project, educators have access to quality support whose efficacy and fidelity are backed by data and whose implementation is supported by policy.

“Having a framework in which state agencies, practitioners, and institutes of higher education partner together to reach a common goal is something unique about Virginia,” Coogle said. “Educators, faculty, and administrators often say, ‘we want to do inclusion, but how do we do inclusion.’ This partnership provides a system of support to increasing knowledge, supporting the transition of knowledge to practice, and delivering evidence-based practices.”

George Mason, Coogle said, is particularly well-positioned to support this work. And this work is part of the university's commitment to advancing 21st-century education for all, as part of the Grand Challenge Initiative.

“That’s one thing I really love about technical assistance work,” said Coogle. “It really is a model of a state agency like VDOE partnering with not only practitioners and educators, but also institutions of higher education to work together to meet a common goal, which is ultimately to increase inclusion and enhance outcomes for young children with disabilities and delays.”