Early childhood inclusion: 4 must-dos for every program leader
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An early childhood program leader has many challenging roles to fulfill: understanding the needs of children and their families, managing personnel, and handling finance and budgeting, to name just a few. What's more, school readiness programs now mandate the inclusion of children with disabilities or with developmental delays, placing on administrators the responsibility of building a curriculum where every child makes progress.
The task is formidable for an experienced administrator, but it's especially tough for teachers transitioning into preschool program management. But help is available! Here are four steps any program leader can take to ensure they build a high-quality and inclusive early childhood program.
Implement an evidence-based instructional model
Train teachers for instructional interactions
Ensure compliance with the ADA and other disability laws
Get funding for your inclusive program
Implement an evidence-based instructional model
To meet the needs of children of different abilities, implement a research-based model that includes varied types of support and instruction, has embedded learning opportunities, and can be modified and adapted.
One great example of a tried-and-tested model is the popular Building Blocks approach. With this model, you can help your whole class make progress and build in additional interventions for individual children at different levels of need. The Building Blocks model, outlined in Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs, Second Edition, has four key components:
- A high-quality early childhood program: Students are exposed to engaging interactions, opportunities for learning, developmentally appropriate materials, activities and interactions, and appropriate levels of guidance, among other elements.
- Curriculum modifications: Teachers make changes to ongoing classroom activities and materials to maximize a child's participation. (Download these simple tips for modifying your classroom's book corner so all children can participate.)
- Embedded learning opportunities (ELO): Teachers plan short, systematic instructional interactions to enhance an individual child's learning, and embed them as naturally as possible within an ongoing classroom activity or classroom. (Download this sample ELO for a child having difficulty with transitions.)
- Child-focused instructional strategies: If more explicit instruction is needed, teachers identify learning opportunities matched to a child's individual objectives and provide planned, consistent, systematic instruction to teach specific skills.
Using a reliable, research-based model like Building Blocks, you can easily tweak your program's existing curriculum and ensure that all children participate and make progress toward their goals.
Train teachers for instructional interactions
Once you've chosen an instructional model that can reach all children, it's crucial that your teachers are trained in the basics of planning instruction. This includes training them to embed instruction within their interactions with each child. Research shows that planning and implementing instructional interactions is highly effective and leads to increased learning.
One model of interaction is Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence, or A, B, and C. In this easy-to-use instructional interaction, a teacher implements a planned antecedent—a statement or action intended to elicit a desired target behavior. The student responds with either a correct or incorrect behavior, which in turn leads to a consequence. If the behavior is correct, the consequence is praise from the teacher, as shown in the following example from the Trainer's Guide to Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs:
Antecedent: A teacher lays out a set of crayons, and says to the child, "Let's count the crayons."
Behavior: The child touches and counts the crayons.
Consequence: Praise and acknowledge by saying, "Wow, you counted the crayons!"
If the behavior is incorrect, the consequence is corrective feedback from the teacher:
Antecedent: A teacher places blue, green, and yellow bears and three trays in front of child. While pointing to each tray, teacher says, "Sort the bears. Put the blue bears here, put the green bears here, put the yellow bears here."
Behavior: The child does not sort the bears as requested.
Consequence: The teacher gives corrective feedback: She says, "Let me help," repeats the sorting instructions, and helps the child by guiding his hand with her own.
By implementing planned instructional interactions like this ABC model, teachers can improve student learning and increase the probability that students will repeat desired behaviors in similar situations.
Ensure compliance with the ADA and other disability laws
Besides implementing solid instructional programs and ensuring that teachers are well trained, program leaders have to be knowledgeable about the legal requirements they need to meet. This includes compliance with the American with Disabilities Act and other disability laws. Unless you're well versed in the particulars of these laws, it's possible to inadvertently exclude children with special needs from your programs.
Be sure to check off these critical steps as you work toward an ADA-compliant program:
- Write clear nondiscrimination statements, and ensure that admissions and enrollment policies don't inadvertently screen out children with disabilities. (For a sample ADA-compliant nondiscrimination statement and an inclusive admissions & enrollment policy statement, see this free download from The ABCs of the ADA.)
- Use the same placement procedures for a child with disabilities as you would use for all children.
- Include a clear statement in your policies and procedures manuals about the reasons for and the process of expulsion and termination, and be sure it describes the process for accommodating a child with a disability.
- Ensure that your program includes children with disabilities in all activities, which is required by the ADA. This means making reasonable modifications to your curriculum, schedule, and routines to welcome children with disabilities.
- Check that your program meets physical accessibility requirements. To make sure your play areas are physically accessible, download this checklist.
Get funding for your inclusive program
You may have what seems like the greatest idea in the world for your inclusive early childhood program, but before you pitch it to a potential funder, it's important to understand how to translate your concept into something that the funder will be equally enthusiastic about.
Ask yourself these critical questions before you make a grant proposal:
- Is my idea fundable? Does it fit within the funding agency's vision, goals, and program criteria?
- Who are my potential funding sources? Know a minimum of two sources for external funding before you begin. Pursue both public sources, including federal and state agencies, and private sources, including foundations and corporations.
- What are the essential components of a successful proposal? Reflect on your audience, make your proposal easy to understand, and ensure your budget is well conceived and well explained. (Get started on the first few steps of proposal writing with this free download from The Program Administrator's Guide to Early Childhood Special Education.)
- How does the proposal preparation and submission process work? Know the requirements and get everything in order, including the abstract, proposal narrative, and any other paperwork required by the funding agency.
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Transitioning to program leader doesn't have to be an intimidating experience. Once grounded in the four steps described above, any program leader will find themselves much better equipped to manage a high-quality, inclusive early childhood program that is fully funded, complies with all disability laws, and helps improve outcomes for all young children.
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