Rationale for Inclusion

1
Rationale for Inclusion

• Legal Mandates
• Head Start
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act

Benefits for children with disabilities Benefits
for normally developing children Benefits for
families Family choice Ethical/value-based
arguments
2
Promoting Inclusion Normalization

• Strong support for preschool inclusion comes
  from four sources
• - legislation - moral arguments
• - rational arguments - research
• Inclusion practices vary as a function of state
  practices child characteristics
• Under current conditions, inclusion sometimes
  competes with other important values
• high-quality services
• specialized services
• family-centered practices

3

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
  Education, Data Analysis System (DANS). (November
  1999) Table AB7. Retrieved September 21, 2000,
  from Data Tables for OSEP State Reported Data
  IDEA Part B Child Count (1998-99) on the World
  Wide Web http//www.ideadata.org/arc_toc.htmlpa
  rtbLRE

4
Percentage of Children 3 Through 5 Served in
Different Educational Environments (97-98 School
Year)

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
  Education, Data Analysis System (DANS). (November
  1999) Table AB3. Retrieved September 21, 2000,
  from Data Tables for OSEP State Reported Data
  IDEA Part B Child Count (1998-99) on the World
  Wide Web http//www.ideadata.org/arc_toc.htmlpa
  rtbLRE

5
Percentage of Infants and Toddlers Served Under
Part C in Different Early Intervention
Settings (as reported on December 1, 1997)

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
  Education, Data Analysis System (DANS). (November
  1999) Table AH7. Retrieved September 21, 2000,
  from Data Tablesfor OSEP State Reported Data
  IDEA Part B Child Count (1998-99) on the World
  Wide Web http//www.ideadata.org/arc_toc.htmlpa
  rtbLRE

6
Comparison of Educational Environments for
Children 3 Through 5 Receiving Special Education
Most Inclusive and Least Inclusive
States(1997-98 School Year)
Separate Facility
Combination of Regular/Pull-out
Combination of Regular/Pull-out
2.9
Separate Classroom
5.46
10.09
Separate Facility 16.74
9.48
Separate Classroom 48.34
Regular Class 82.16
Regular Class 29.83
8 states with the highest percentage of 3 through
5 served in regular settings
8 states with the lowest percentage of 3 through
5 served in regular settings.

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
  Education, Data Analysis System (DANS). (November
  1999) Table AB3. Retrieved September 21, 2000,
  from Data Tables for OSEP State Reported Data
  IDEA Part B Child Count (1998-99) on the World
  Wide Web http//www.ideadata.org/arc_toc.htmlpa
  rtbLRE

7
Summary of Research on Social Outcomes of
Integrated Versus Segregated Settings
Number of Studies
8
Summary of Research on Developmental Outcomesof
Integrated versus Segregated Settings
9
Many children are in preschool programs of
inadequate quality
Only a few children have access to care of the
highest quality
10
Determinants and Outcomes of Quality in
Integrated Preschool
Outcomes for children with disabilities
Contextual Features
Program Features
Family Characteristics
Child Characteristics
Outcomes of Integration
Outcomes for families of children with
disabilities
Outcomes for others
11
Values that Sometimes Compete with Inclusion

• High-quality services
• Specialized services
• Family-centered practices

12
Tension Between Specialization and Normalization
High Specialization
Ideal
Typical
Low Normalization
High Normalization
Typical
Low Specialization
13
Inclusive Settings for Children with
Disabilities Can Pose Special Challenges for
Families

• Most parents desire normalized settings for
  their children.
• Many families feel a tension between
  specialization and normalization.
• Normalization in one setting can lead to
  disruption in other settings.
• Families often try to balance inclusive and
  specialized
• experiences the way this is accomplished varies
  considerably
• across families.
• Inclusion of children does not necessarily lead
  to inclusion of
• parents.

14
Goal
Inclusion of children with disabilities in
normalized settings that are of high quality,
consistent with family preferences capable of
supporting each childs unique learning needs

• We must

• Improve quality of community child care
• revise regulations funding options
• build individual, program community support
  for inclusion
• create structures to support inclusion efforts
• consider inclusion in the broader context of
  normalization

15
Proposed Normalization Goal

• To teach skills and provide supports that
• Enable persons with disabilities and their
  families to live lives that are as normal as
  possible and
• Promote self-determination

16
What would it take to achieve this goal?

• Improve the quality of community child care
• Revise regulations and funding options
• Build individual program and community support
  for inclusion
• Create structures to support inclusive efforts
• Consider inclusion in the broader context of
  normalization

17
What do we know about Quality?

• Long history of effects of parenting style,
  poverty, home environments
• 20 yrs of research showing quality matters
• Higher quality better outcomes
• Quality affects cognitive, language, social
• Effects of quality persist
• Quality matters for all children, but is
  especially important for poor children and
  children of mothers with low education

18
Characteristics of High-Quality Programs

• High staff-child ratio
• Small group size
• Adequate staff education and training
• Low staff turnover
• Curriculum emphasizing active learning
• Emotionally warm and caring relationships among
  teachers and children
• Parent support and involvement

19
How Might Early Intervention Be Different if
Normalization Became the Primary Theme?

• Child assessment might focus on skills needed
• to function or participate in family-identified
  routines and activities.
• Assessment might include a focus on parental
  goals in various domains of family life.
• Children might be taught skills in the
  context/settings in which parents feel they
  are most important.

20
How Might Early Intervention Be Different if
Normalization Became the Primary Theme? (contd)

• Inclusion in regular preschool might become
  part of a larger area of consideration for
  normalized experiences.
• Family support might focus on helping families
  achieve what they feel is a normalized life for
  them.
• Quality of life for families might become a
  critical indicator of the effectiveness of early
  intervention.

21
Some Goals for Early Intervention

• Promote development in key domains
• Build and support childrens social competence
• Promote child engagement, independence
  mastery
• Provide and prepare for normalized life
  experiences
• Support families
• Prevent secondary consequences of disabilities
• Promote quality of life for children and
  families

22
Typical Inclusion Goal
To ensure that children with disabilities
are fully included in regular classes.
23
References

• Bailey, D. B., McWilliam, R. A., Buysse, V.,
  Wesley, P. W. (1998). Inclusion in the context of
  competing values in early childhood education.
  Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13,
  27-47.
• Buysse, V., Bailey, D. B. (1993). Behavioral
  and developmental outcomes in young children
  with disabilities in integrated and segregated
  settings A review of comparative studies.
  Journal of Special Education, 26, 434-461.
• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special
  Education, Data Analysis System (DANS).
  (November 1999) Tables AB3, AB7, AH7. Retrieved
  September 21, 2000, from Data Tables for OSEP
  State Reported Data IDEA Part B Child Count
  (1998-99) on the World Wide Web
  http//www.ideadata.org/arc_toc.htmlpartbLRE