The Preschool Inclusion Toolbox ─ How to Build and Lead a High-quality Program

Inclusion is clearly linked with better outcomes for young children— but recent reports from the US Department of Education show the practice has grown by just 5% over the past 27 years. This is the how-to book preschool administrators, school district leaders, and child care directors need to step up the progress of early childhood inclusion through big-picture, systems-level change. Shaped by feedback from a nationwide survey of IDEA Part B Coordinators who shared their real-life inclusion challenges, this is your comprehensive toolbox of problem-solving tips, evidence-based practices, and practical checklists and handouts. Youa€?ll learn how to overcome the challenges to a high-quality inclusive program, and youa€?ll create a solid action plan for building and maintaining a successful program where all children learn and grow.

GET THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO:

• solve common challenges to inclusion through new policies and procedures
  
• establish a strong inclusion team to make collaborative decisions
  
• implement an action plan for inclusiona€”and measure its effects
  
• increase access, participation, and supports for children with disabilities
  
• help teachers use evidence-based practices like RTI and differentiated instruction
  
• develop effective teacher professional development practices
  
• make sound decisions about placement for each individual child
  

PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Reproducible planning forms and tools (see sidebar); more than 100 PowerPoint slides (available online) to help structure professional development events; tips and lessons from effective school reform efforts across the country; application and reflection questions for independent study and coursework.

Erin E. Barton, Ph.D., BCBA-D, teaches courses in Early Childhood Special Education on evidence-based assessment and intervention practices for young children with disabilities and their families and single case research design. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has worked with children and families in homes, schools, and clinics. Her research interests include early intervention practices for young children with or ata€“risk for disabilities in natural settings and professional development with early childhood practitioners. She directs research projects related to evidencea€“based practices for young children and professional development systems. Dr. Barton serves on several editorial boards and is an active scholar with over 30 publications in major journals and multiple chapters related to early intervention for young children with disabilities.

Dr. Smith received her master's degree in early childhood special education and doctorate in special education and public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her areas of interest include early childhood special education/early intervention policies, systems and program development; leadership and collaboration; and the scaling up of evidence-based practices.

Dr. Smith has held early childhood and early childhood special education positions for the past thirty five years including early childhood teacher, Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children; Policy Specialist, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC); and Program Specialist, Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education. She has served as a consultant on state and national early childhood policy, expert witness in right to treatment litigation, prepared and delivered legislative testimony to the Congress as well as state legislatures, and has worked with many parent and professional groups in their state policy efforts.

In an effort to help shape quality inclusive early childhood environments for all children, including those with special needs, she has worked closely for many years with NAEYC and other early childhood leadership organizations including serving on the NAEYC Commission to develop the current program accreditation criteria. Dr. Smith has authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 15 books and chapters one of which was the first book for administrators on preschool inclusion: The Administrator's Policy Handbook for Preschool Mainstreaming (1993). She also chaired the most recent effort to establish the DEC Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education to help guide the field in improving services for young children with special needs, their families and those who work with them.

She is currently Co-Principal Investigator of an OSEP funded doctoral program at UCD in early intervention and early childhood special education policy and collaborative leadership, and is involved in the OSEP funded national Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA). She is the recipient of several awards and honors.