Webinar Series
1
Supporting the Inclusion
of Young Children with
Disabilities
Session 1: Opportunities,
Initiatives and Key
Resources
October 28th 2014
Debbie Cate
Shelley deFosset
Barbara J. Smith
Kathy Whaley
Objectives
Share information about:
 National initiatives supporting inclusion,
 National educational environments data,
 National survey results on preschool
inclusion, and
 Resources and materials supporting
inclusion, including future webinars.
National Initiatives and Opportunities
in Support of Inclusion
Federal Public Awareness Campaign with a
Position Paper on Inclusion
DEC Special Initiative on Inclusion
RTT-ELC and Pre-School Development
Grants
ECTA/ ELC TA Partnership
The Inclusion Forum provided an opportunity
for discussion and problem solving:
• State practices integrating
IDEA programs into
TQRIS/QRIS
• Strengthening agency
partnerships for a coordinated
approach to serving children
with disabilities
Priorities Selected by Participants
• Defining and measuring quality indicators for
Part B/619 and Part C
• Incorporating incentives for school-based early
childhood programs in TQRIS/QRIS
• Incorporating incentives for other early childhood
programs in TQRIS/QRIS
Priorities, continued
• Providing professional development and technical
assistance to support inclusive practice
• Developing cross-sector professional development
to ensure staff are adequately prepared
• Using data to inform decisions (at all levels) about
professional development, resources,
administration, policies, and program practices.
SPP APR Indicator 6 Measurement:
A. Percent of children aged 3 - 5 with IEPs attending a
regular early childhood program and receiving the
majority of special education and related services in
the regular early childhood program.
B. Percent of children aged 3 - 5 with IEPs attending a
separate special education class, separate school or
residential facility.
Indicator Results 2012-2013
Data reported for IDEA
2012 Educational Environments
2012-13: Percent of Children Attending:
Regular EC
Program
Special
Education
42%
And receiving the majority of
special education in the program
26%
Special education class,
separate school, or residential facility
6A: Percent of children with IEPs attending a
regular early childhood program (RECP) and
receiving the majority of services in the program
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
Each diamond represents a state or territory, SPP/APR SY 2012-2013
Indicator 6B: Percent of children with IEPs
attending a special education program
Each diamond represents a state or territory, SPP/APR SY 2012-2013
B6 Data Reporting Tools
Tools from the IDEA Data
Center:
Excerpts from the Technical
Guide –
Children with Disabilities
(IDEA)
Early Childhood File
Specifications
https://www.ideadata.org/tools-products
Source: EDFacts, File CO89
B6 Data
Reporting
Tools
Decision Tree
and Measurement Table
[email protected]
Preschool Inclusion
Survey
(Barton & Smith, 2014)
The last national look at challenges
and solutions was conducted almost
25 years ago (Smith, Salisbury & Rose, 1992)
The Facts
 Inclusion benefits all children
 Children can be effectively educated in
inclusive programs using specialized
instruction
 Families of all children generally have
positive views of inclusion
 Inclusion is not more expensive
 Children do not need to be “ready”
The Facts
 Research is clear: it’s effective
 IDEA is clear: it’s preferred
 The profession is clear:
DEC/NAEYC position statement
And Yet
In 27 years
inclusion has
increased only 5.7%
And many children
continue to be educated
in separate settings.
Source: OSEP annual reports: 1987 (1984-85 data); 2014 (2012 data)
The Survey
• Preschool inclusion definition:
when children (age 3 – 5) with Individual
Education Programs (IEP) receive their
special education and related services in
settings with at least 50% of peers without
IEPs
• January 2014
• Electronic survey to 619 Coordinators; asked
that they send to others
• Asked what are the challenges and solutions
The Survey Respondents
238 people responded from 32 states and 1 territory
The Survey: Roles
Roles
N
%
School District Special Education
Preschool Coordinator or Child Find
Coordinator
50
21.0%
School District Special Education Director
49
20.6%
School District Early Childhood
Administrator
38
13.81%
State Section 619/IDEA Preschool
Coordinator
35
14.7%
Head Start Administrator
ECSE/Sped Teacher/Consultant
State Special Education Director
School Principal
School Psychologist
24
17
10
7
3
10.1%
7.1%
4.2%
2.9%
1.3%
Overall Challenges
• Attitudes & Beliefs
• Fiscal & contracting
• Approval of non-public
school setting
• Curricula/methods
• Transportation
• Personnel qualifications
• Conflicting policies
• Program quality
Survey Results: Challenges
• Attitudes & Beliefs
• Fiscal & contracting
• Approval of non-public
school setting
• Curricula/methods
• Transportation
• Personnel qualifications
• Conflicting policies
• Program quality
30%
19%
16%
15%
15%
11%
10%
10%
3 Categories of
Challenges
 Attitudes & Beliefs
 Policies/Procedures
 Resources
Attitude & Belief Challenges
• Lack of Communication/collaboration
• Lack of awareness/understanding
• “Someone will lose” Beliefs
• Staff preparedness
• Turf issues
• Lack of respect
• Other
Attitude & Belief Challenges
• Lack of Communication/collaboration (20%)
• “Someone will lose” Beliefs (20%)
• Staff preparedness (17%)
• Lack of awareness/understanding (16%)
• Turf issues (14%)
• Lack of respect (12%)
• Other (1%)
Policy/Procedures Challenges
• 19 of 70 maybe policy
• Most local, then state, then federal
• Categories of policy/procedure challenges:
 Ensuring quality (standards, curricula,
practices) in inclusive settings
 Ensuring personnel meet standards and are
effective
 Fiscal policies/procedures (contracting; $
streams)
 Transportation policies/procedures
Resource Challenges
 Community programs
full; no available slots
 Lack of resources for
transportation for
typically developing
children
 Lack of resources for
itinerate services
Solutions
Attitude & Belief Solutions/Strategies
Two categories
Collaboration across regular EC and ECSE
personnel; between district and community
programs
Building awareness/support
A/B: Build Awareness/Support
 Educate local administrators
 Provide user-friendly materials on benefits &
laws
 Provide models of high quality inclusion where
teachers, parents and administrators can visit
 Provide opportunities for practitioners,
administrators and families to explore concerns,
benefits and possible solutions
A/B: Collaborate
 Establish trans-disciplinary teams
 Establish interagency inclusion team
 Provide awareness materials and opportunities
for administrators
 Provide joint PD for district and community
personnel
 Ensure support to community programs for ECSE
and behavior support
 Build culture of collaborative problem solving
Policy/Procedure Solutions/Strategies
 Ensure state funded pre-k, at-risk & Title I
programs are inclusive
 Require co-teaching (EC & ECSE) practica for
certification
 Provide training and coaching to community
programs & itinerate ECSE services
 Provide state training and T/A to district and
community EC programs
 Create MOU’s and contracts with community
programs that address quality
Policy/Procedure Solutions/Strategies
 Provide paras to community sites
 Create tuition based access to district EC programs
for nondisabled children
 Reimburse parents for transportation
 Create a state-level inclusion team for “barrier
busting” that responds to local concerns
 State dissemination to districts of creative ways to
provide inclusion; examples; incentives
 Braid funding streams
Resource Solutions/Strategies
 Inclusive services do not cost more than
segregated
 Braid resources
 Collaborate
 Redistribute
(itinerate/consultative vs. segregated)
 Public awareness of the benefits=$$
Resources
New
LRE
Resources
http://ectacenter.org/topics/inclusion/default.asp
Hope to
see you
there!
http://inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc.edu/
Thank you for your attention!
Resources related to this webinar and other presentations
are available at the following URL:
http://ectacenter.org/webinars.asp