Supporting Inclusion of Young Children with Disabilities - Webinar Series

1. Webinar Series1Supporting the Inclusion of Young Children with DisabilitiesSession 1: Opportunities, Initiatives and Key ResourcesOctober 28th 2014 Debbie Cate Shelley deFosset Barbara J. Smith Kathy Whaley

2. 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.

3. 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

4. State practices integrating IDEA programs into TQRIS/QRIS • Strengthening agency partnerships for a coordinated approach to serving children with disabilities The Inclusion Forum provided an opportunityfor discussion and problem solving:

5. 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

6. 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.

7. SPP APR Indicator 6 Measurement: • 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. • Percent of children aged 3 - 5 with IEPs attending a separate special education class, separate school or residential facility.

8. Indicator Results 2012-2013 Data reported for IDEA 2012 Educational Environments

9. 2012-13: Percent of Children Attending: Regular EC Program Special Education 42% 26% Special education class, separate school, or residential facility And receiving the majority of special education in the program

10. 6A: Percent of children with IEPs attending a regular early childhood program (RECP) and receiving the majority of services in the program Each diamond represents a state or territory, SPP/APR SY 2012-2013

11. Indicator 6B: Percent of children with IEPsattending a special education program Each diamond represents a state or territory, SPP/APR SY 2012-2013

12. 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

13. B6 Data Reporting Tools Decision Tree and Measurement Table debbie.cate@unc.edu

14. The last national look at challenges and solutions was conducted almost 25 years ago(Smith, Salisbury & Rose, 1992) Preschool Inclusion Survey (Barton & Smith, 2014)

15. 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”

16. TheFacts • Research is clear: it’s effective • IDEA is clear: it’s preferred • The profession is clear: DEC/NAEYC position statement

17. 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)

18. 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

19. The Survey Respondents 238 people responded - from 32 states and 1 territory

20. The Survey: Roles

21. Overall Challenges • Attitudes & Beliefs • Fiscal & contracting • Approval of non-public school setting • Curricula/methods • Transportation • Personnel qualifications • Conflicting policies • Program quality

22. Survey Results: Challenges • Attitudes & Beliefs 30% • Fiscal & contracting 19% • Approval of non-public school setting 16% • Curricula/methods 15% • Transportation 15% • Personnel qualifications 11% • Conflicting policies 10% • Program quality 10%

23. 3 Categories of Challenges • Attitudes & Beliefs • Policies/Procedures • Resources

24. Attitude & Belief Challenges • Lack of Communication/collaboration • Lack of awareness/understanding • “Someone will lose” Beliefs • Staff preparedness • Turf issues • Lack of respect • Other

25. 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%)

26. 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

27. Resource Challenges • Community programs full; no available slots • Lack of resources for transportation for typically developing children • Lack of resources for itinerate services

28. Solutions

29. Attitude & Belief Solutions/Strategies Two categories • Collaboration across regular EC and ECSE personnel; between district and community programs • Building awareness/support

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. Resource Solutions/Strategies • Inclusive services do not cost more than segregated • Braid resources • Collaborate • Redistribute (itinerate/consultative vs. segregated) • Public awareness of the benefits=$$

35. Resources

36. New LRE Resources

37. http://ectacenter.org/topics/inclusion/default.asp

38. Hope to see you there! http://inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc.edu/

39. Thank you for your attention! Resources related to this webinar and other presentations are available at the following URL: http://ectacenter.org/webinars.asp