Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

1. Pacific TA Meeting:Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs Service Delivery and Teaming Presented by Ann Bailey, Grace Kelley and Anne Lucas

2. Service Delivery Discussion • Current trends and approaches in use for providing Early Intervention and Preschool services around the country • Common underlying themes to these approaches • Some agreed upon implementation practices • The roles and functions of a team during the Early Childhood processes • Team responsibilities for providing ongoing services Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

3. Statutes and Regulations • Statutes and regulations tell us more information about: • What services are provided under the law • General purpose of early intervention and preschool special education • Who can/must provide the services • The States’ responsibility of oversight and monitoring • Ways in which services are paid Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

4. What do we want for children? • Health • Positive Social-emotional skills • Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills • Continuity Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

5. Mission of Part C • Part C early intervention builds upon and provides supports and resources to assist family members and caregivers to enhance children’s learning and development through everyday learning opportunities Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

6. Mission of Section 619 • IDEA Preschool Services (Part B Section 619) are designated to provide Free Appropriate Public Education for all eligible children, ages 3 to 5 with disabilities within an inclusive environment. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

7. Mission for Section 619 IDEA Preschool Services (Part B Section 619) are designated to provide Free Appropriate Public Education for all eligible children, ages 3 to 5 with disabilities within an inclusive environment.

8. Key Principles for Both Part C and 619 • Infants, toddlers and children learn best through everyday experiences and interactions with familiar people in familiar contexts. • All families, with the necessary supports and resources, can enhance their children’s learning and development. • The primary role of both the service provider in early intervention and the Part B Preschool staff is to work with and support family members and caregivers in children’s lives. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

9. More Key Principles • Both the early intervention and preschool special education process, from initial contacts through transition, must be dynamic and individualized to reflect the child’s and family members’ preferences, learning styles and cultural beliefs. • IFSP/IEP outcomes must be functional and based on needs and identified priorities. • Interventions must be based on explicit principles, validated practices, best available research, and relevant laws and regulations. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

10. General Role of All Early Childhood Service Providers • Consulting with parents, other service providers and representatives of community agencies • Training parents and others regarding the provision of early childhood special education services • Participating in the multidisciplinary team assessment of the child (and family in Part C) and in the development of integrated goals and outcomes for the IFSP/IEP Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

11. Early Intervention Services • Designed to meet the developmental needs of each eligible child • Designed to meet the needs of the family related to enhancing the child’s development • Are selected in collaboration with parents • Are provided under public supervision by qualified personnel • In conformity with the individual family service plan Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

12. Early Intervention Services • Meet the standards of the state and federal regulations • To the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the child, are provided in “natural environments” including the home and community settings in which children without disabilities participate • At no cost unless federal or state law provides for a system of payments by families, including sliding fees Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

13. Preschool Special Education • Designed to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21, that is in inclusive settings, as appropriate • FAPE for children beginning at age 3…must ensure that the obligation to make FAPE available to each eligible child residing in the State begins no later than the child’s third birthday Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

14. What All Children Need All children, including those without disabilities, children with disabilities, children living in poverty, etc. deserve to have a differentiation of services and instruction to meet their needs Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

15. The service delivery approach impacts: • State (regional) structures necessary to support the approach • The way the EI and preschool services are organized at the program or regional level • Teaming practices and team composition • What “it” looks and feels like/ doesn’t look like • Providers knowledge or training • Beliefs, values and demonstrated competencies Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

16. Team-Based Service Delivery Models • Multi-disciplinary • Interdisciplinary • Trans-disciplinary • Primary Service Provider • Primary Coach • Consultation Services • Collaborative Team Model • Trans-agency Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

17. Defining the Models • Coaching: “an interactive process of observation and reflection in which the coach promotes a parent’s or other care provider’s ability to support a child’s participation in everyday experiences and interactions with family members and peers across settings” • Primary Coach Approach to Teaming: “…assigns one member of a team as the primary coach, where he or she receives coaching from other team members, and uses coaching with parents and other primary caregivers to support and strengthen their confidence and competence in promoting child learning and development.” Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

18. Defining the Models • Consultation Services: Not tied to one particular model, butflexible to meet the individual needs of children and families and variation in program structure. • Collaborative Team Model: • Team members work in partnershipand pool resources. • All team members are involved in planning and monitoring goals and procedures, although each team member’s responsibility for the implementation of procedures may vary. • Team members jointly share ownership & responsibility for intervention objectives. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

19. Defining the Models • Trans-disciplinary: • Evolved from multi-disciplinary to interdisciplinary to trans-disciplinary • Professionals share roles and see the child as a whole in the context of the family. • Primary Service Provider (PSP): • Linkedto a Trans-disciplinary model. • PSP works in close collaboration with other team members integrating and synthesizing information shared to deliver efficient and comprehensive support. • Service delivery by one person with supporting services provided through joint visits and consultation. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

20. Defining the Models • Trans-agency: - Provides a process for the primary service provider, the family, and staff from outside agencies serving the family, to come together to develop an across agency service plan for the child and the family. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

21. Defining the District Responsibility • In order to ensure access to general education preschool, a district must work with the broader early learning community • District must ensure FAPE • “Removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aides and service cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

22. Models for “Maximum Extent Appropriate…” • District/School • Itinerant services in an ECE Entitlement grant class • Team teaching with a preschool special education teacher and general preschool teacher in same class-joint responsibility for all children- community based program in school building • Integration of related services in the classroom • Enrollment of nondisabled peers in a preschool special education classroom • Locating in same space or facility but separate instruction based upon disabled or nondisabled • Preschool special education classes in an early learning location with some joint activities • General early learning program located in a building next to preschool special education Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

23. Itinerant ECSE Service • Itinerant Services may be defined as: • Services provided by preschool special education teachers or related services personnel which occur in the setting where the child or the child and parent(s) is located as opposed to providing services at a centralized location. Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

24. Models for “Maximum Extent Appropriate…” • Working with a Community Early Learning Program: • Itinerant services in a child care or Head Start or family child care • Team teaching with a preschool special education teacher and general preschool teacher in same class-joint responsibility for all children • Integration of related services in the classroom • Enrollment of preschool children with disabilities in a child care or Head Start or family child care • Locating in same space or facility but separate instruction based upon disabled or nondisabled • Preschool special education classes in an early learning location with some joint activities • General early learning program located in a building next to preschool special education Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

25. Rethink the Path • Suspecting a disability and considering a referral is essentially evaluating: • The child’s behaviors and skills in comparison to age expectations (nondisabled peers) = CHILD OUTCOMES • The environment in which the behaviors and skills are exhibited=LRE • Thinking that additional supports and services are necessary =IEP Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

26. Federal Movement for Early Learning • Early Childhood Collaboration • Child Care • Head Start • Part C and 619 • Federal Directions • Coordinate Service Delivery • Integrate Infrastructures • Family-centered Approach • Will see more joint funding Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

27. Quality Teams • Have a common purpose • Have Agreed upon Values and Beliefs • Understand each others role and functions • Value and Respect Each Member • Are Willing to Help One Another Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

28. Quality Teams Share and Support: • Common Information • Common Tasks • Frequent and Clear Communication • Each Others’ Learning and Growth • A Focus on Personal and Team Growth Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

32. Collaboration Framework The exchange of information and meaning-networks. Communication is a crucial part of any productive relationship. An informal relationship (often called mutual support) through which parties help each other by providing some of the resources and support needed to reach their independent goals. A deliberate, joint, formalized relationship involving planning and division of roles, sharing of resources, risks and rewards for efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the complementary goals of the parties. Parties with similar interests plan together, negotiate mutual roles and share resources to achieve joint goals. New levels of service achieved.

33. Collaborative Leadership “Collaboration involves parties who see different aspects of a problem. They engage in a process through which they constructively explore their differences and search for (and implement) solutions that go beyond their own limited vision of what is possible.” (Gray, 1989). Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs

34. Team work is like whitewater rafting! • Have a clear sense of where you are headed • Plot your course together • Check for rapids or rough spots before entering the water when possible • Good communication strategies and clear methods to communicate before you start • Define the roles • Use individual strengths Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs