Building Blocks for Including and Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs

1. Building Blocksfor Including and Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs Susan Sandall, Ph.D. University of Washington ssandall@u.washington.edu

2. Objectives • Describe the Building Blocks framework • Describe the four levels of support • Offer examples of planning forms and methods

3. The Building Blocks model provides a set of educational practices designed to help teachers do a more effective job of including and teaching young children with disabilities and other special needs in early childhood classrooms and settings.

5. Challenges • ECE - lack of specialized training on the skills needed to teach child with special needs • ECSE - difficulty in meeting individualized needs within active, busy preschool classroom • Consulting teacher - lack of effective, easy-to-use methods to share with classroom teachers

6. Using the Building Blocks framework can help all children participate, learn, and thrive in their preschool classrooms. Based on the work of the Early Childhood Research Institute on Inclusion.

7. Building Blocks • Can be used with state standards, guidelines or benchmarks • Can be used with federal outcomes

8. The Building Blocks framework can be used with the curriculum that the teacher already uses. Creative Curriculum High/Scope Project Approach AEPS

9. Child-focused Instructional Strategies Embedded Learning Opportunities Curriculum modifications & adaptations Quality Early Childhood Program

10. The foundation Quality Early Childhood Program

11. Safe • Engaging • Responsive • Culturally and linguistically relevant • Learning opportunities • Positive approaches to guidance • Meaningful involvement of families

12. Quality Early Childhood Program Curriculum Modifications & Adaptations

13. Teachers and other members of the team make modifications to activities, routines, and learning areas in order to include children with special needs and to enhance their participation.

14. Curriculum Modifications & Adaptations • Environmental Arrangement • Materials Modification • Simplify the Activity • Special Equipment • Peer Support • Adult Support • Child Preferences • Invisible Support

15. Curriculum Modifications Study(Sandall et al., 2000) • 13 focus groups • Discussed modifications for curriculum areas, learning centers, routines • >500 modifications • 8 categories • Confirmed by experienced teachers and inclusion experts

16. Environmental Arrangement

17. Materials modification

18. Simplify the activity

19. Special equipment

20. Peer support

21. Adult support

22. Child Preference

23. Invisible support

24. Child-focused Instructional Strategies Embedded Learning Opportunities Curriculum modifications & adaptations Quality Early Childhood Program

25. Complete Learning Trial (CLT) A logically occurring or planned Antecedent is followed by a Behavior that leads to a logically occurring or planned Consequence Embedded Instruction for Early Learning 25

27. Embedded Learning Opportunities Curriculum modifications & adaptations Quality Early Childhood Program

28. Embedded Learning Opportunities • Teachers create short teaching episodes within ongoing classroom activities and routines. • Teaching episodes focus on a child’s individual learning objective.

29. Advantages of ELO • Minimal changes to classroom activities • Motivation to participate and learn should be enhanced • Skills are used in natural contexts • Skills are used with a variety of people and materials

30. Research Findings • Embedded instruction is effective for teaching a variety of valued skills to young children (e.g., Horn et al., 2000). • A variety of instructional strategies have been embedded effectively (e.g., McBride & Schwartz, 2003). • Embedded instruction seems to enhance generalization (e.g., Wolery et al., 2002).

31. Research Findings cont’d • Teachers assess embedded instruction favorably (e.g., Horn et al., 2000). • Teachers differ in the extent to which they can apply embedded instruction within their activities and classrooms (e.g., Filla et al., 1999). • Preservice teachers can learn and use embedded instruction in their field experience placements (e.g., Sandall & Davis, 2004)

32. Table 1: Number of children participating in ELO instruction Results • 63 students and children participated • Variety of objectives taught; most from cognitive domain • 87% of children made progress • 42.86% of children achieved objective Table 2: Number of ELO instructional objectives by domain

33. Child-focused Instructional Strategies Embedded Learning Opportunities Curriculum modifications & adaptations Quality Early Childhood Program

34. Child Focused Instructional Strategies • Unique learning objective • Requires more systematic or more intensive instruction

35. Getting Started with Building Blocks • Assess the quality of the learning environment • Plan/revise the schedule • Plan for the individual child • Clarify the learning objective(s) • Construct an activity matrix • Develop learning plans • Implement and evaluate the plan

40. Building Blocks • Provides a framework for planning and teaching • Builds on a quality early childhood setting • Provides for individualized levels of support

41. Child-focused Instructional Strategies Embedded Learning Opportunities Curriculum modifications & adaptations Quality Early Childhood Program