Goals & Outcomes of Instruction

Child engagement. Growth and change of whole child Social competence and prosocial

behavior. Use of skills in daily functioning. Assist children in spending their

lives with their families in their communities.

Prevent additional problems or disabilities.

Foundational Assumptions of Special Education Instruction

Development is influenced by student’s biological status, health status, & history.

Development and learning are influenced by experience.

Instruction will vary in focus on:– biological functioning (surgery, diet,

medication)– ecological variables (family support)– child-environment (curricular

strategies)

Program Models: 0 to 3

Center-based: Families bring their infant or toddler to a program at an agency setting where appropriate services are provided by professionals and paraprofessionals. Intervention sessions are scheduled either on an individual basis or in small groups.

Home-based: Individualized to meet the child's needs with whatever resources are available in the home.

Regular child-care settings: ”Normalized" settings which provide opportunities for integration.

Program Models: Preschool

Integrated preschool settings: ”Normalized" settings which provide opportunities for integration; special education teacher is either full-time staff member or a consultant to the early childhood educator

Segregated preschool settings: this is usual for children from 3 to 5 because most public school systems don't provide services for typical kids at this age.

Head Start: 10% of children have disabilities; but very few children with severe/profound MR are served.

Program Models: School Aged

Regular classroom with supportive services

Resource Room Placement: “pull-out”

Special Class Placement Special Day School Placement Homebound Programs Other Domiciled Settings Residential Settings

Team Models

Multidisciplinary: Professionals work independently evaluating and serving the client in their own domains. Each applies the expertise and techniques of his or her

discipline in isolation of what professionals in other disciplines are doing concurrently with a child or parent. Little or no interaction or ongoing communication occurs

among professionals dealing with the same client. Interdisciplinary: Professionals form various disciplines

work together cooperatively in both planning and delivering services to the child or parent. Emphasis is upon teamwork and interaction among team members, who help and rely upon each other to provide well-coordinated, integrated services for he individual, although each discipline ultimately delivers the service in its own domain.

Transdisciplinary: Professionals from various disciplines work together cooperatively by educating one another in the skills and practice of their disciplines so that one team member can act as the single agent for carrying out services with a designated child or parent.

The IEP/IFSP Process

Critical Components: present levels of functioning across domains family resources, priorities, and concerns

related to child development expected intervention outcomes, including

criteria, procedures, and timelines description of the specific services needed to

meet the child/family needs environments in which services will be

provided dates for initiation & duration of services name of service coordinator procedures for transition

Types of Assessments…

Standardized tests: Tests which are uniform in administration and scoring; have been normed on a representative sample of individuals for whom the test is designed.

Norm referenced measures: Child’s performance is compared with that of other children.

Criterion referenced measures: Child’s performance is compared with a specified level or standard of achievement.

e.g. Curriculum based measures: assess performance along a continuum of objectives, especially within a developmentally sequenced curriculum

Systematic Observations: observations by knowledgeable persons

What are the questions you should ask when choosing an assessment instrument?

What is the purpose of the assessment?

Is the assessment valid? Is the assessment reliable? Is this assessment reliable and valid given the

characteristics of the child being tested?

Measure Purpose of Measure

Norm based Determine degree of child’s developmental impairmentthrough comparison

Curriculum based Identify curricular objectives, offer adaptations, and monitorchild progress/program impact

Judgment based Include parent and professional perceptions of child statusand progress

Ecological Characterize the social and physical qualities of the child’senvironment

SystematicObservation

Gather specific information about target behaviors

The Assessment Process

Identification: process of locating infants and toddlers and their families who might be eligible for early intervention.

Screening: The process of identifying those children in need of further in-depth assessment.

In-depth assessment for diagnosis and determination of eligibility: Comprehensive assessment used to verify the presence of conditions that may qualify a child for early intervention/ECSE services.

Monitoring of child progress during intervention: According to the IEP/IFSP there will be ongoing monitoring of services.

Population Tracking: As part of Part C services, states are required to have a system for compiling data on the # of infants in need of serves; the number served, and the types of services provided

Assessment for Program Planning and Service Delivery

Procedures used by the assessment team to:

a) determine the individual’s current level of functioning

b) clarify strengths and needs

c) identify special services needed by the student

d) identify intervention techniques that can be incorporated into the IEP

e) revise these plans as necessary

Recommended Assessment Practices

a) use multiple perspectives

b) use multiple techniques

c) assess on multiple occasions

d) assess the environment

e) use authentic item content

f) make collaborative decisions

g) assess environment

Linking Assessment & Intervention

– functional rather than categorical

– developmental rather than psychometric

– criterion referenced rather than norm-referenced

– task and process specific

– longitudinal instead of “one-time”

– planning purposes rather than diagnostic purposes

– ecological rather than child-only view

Assessments “Types” that Link to Intervention

Criterion Referenced Assessments: compares a child’s performance with a specified level or standard of achievement; Curriculum-based assessments are a sub-set

Participant Interviews: ask professionals or caregivers to record their perceptions of the child’s functioning.

Systematic Observations: involves structured observation and recording of behavior and yields quantifiable data

Anecdotal Recordings: a written description of a child’s behavior in a particular situation/setting/interaction

Classroom-based: in the environment in which instruction will occur

Dimensions of Authentic Assessment

Performance dimension: Emphasizes a student's active generation of a response and highlights that the responses observable.

Authentic dimension: Emphasizes the real life nature of a task and the natural context in which the assessment occurs or the observational data are gathered. Authenticity is important because: The more realistic or natural the task, the greater the

motivation to the child and the more applicable the task to everyday events and situations

Authentic tasks and circumstances promote the importance of a competency-based approach to the education of young children with special needs and the focus the assessment across all disciplines on a complex sets of skills and processes and the generalization of learning across settings

Authentic tasks require the assessor to make no inferences about a child's capabilities, because the behaviors sampled are directly observable.

Instructional linkage dimension: Emphasizes the extent to which the assessment tasks are aligned with curriculum outcomes.

Guiding Principles:

1. Family-centered collaboration is basic to the process

2. The natural environment of the child and the family should be the environment for the development and implementation of the IFSP

3. The process is critical

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)

present levels of functioning across domains family resources, priorities, and concerns

related to child development expected intervention outcomes, including

criteria, procedures, and timelines description of the specific services needed to

meet the child/family needs environments in which services will be

provided dates for initiation & duration of services name of service coordinator procedures for transition

Critical Components

collecting information– tests– observations– interviews– contexts:

unstructured play structured play peer interaction caregiver-child interaction motor play meal-time

Information regarding:– diagnosis and eligibility– intervention & placement– ongoing assessment

Assessment

Inclusion Definitions

Mainstreaming: initially referred to the reentry of children with mild disabilities into regular education programs.

Integration: Early efforts to combine young children who were disabled and nondisabled into a single program.

Inclusion: Rather than separating students on the basis of disability, students should simply be included, by right, in the opportunities and responsibilities of public schooling

Necessary for Successful Inclusion

attitude selection of appropriate setting training vigilance access to specialists collaborative planning, decision

making, and service delivery appropriate materials and equipment activity based curricula active promotion of interaction

between nondisabled and disabled students

Why Neither 0% nor 100% Works

- Brown, et al.

Best models are in regular education more social opportunities in regular education regular education is chronologically appropriate integration benefits all students better to be an insider who goes out than an

outsider who goes in therapies generalize better when applied in

regular classrooms individualized, systematic, comprehensive, and

long-term instruction in a wide array of environments must be a critical component of an educational plan

direct instruction in one-on-one environments is necessary

Specialization not available in general education classroom is necessary for mastery of some subjects

Factors to Consider When Making Placement Decisions

The number of skills that need to be mastered

How much abstract learning is possible by the student? How much concrete instruction occurs in the class?

How many trials does the student generally need for skill acquisition?

How much drill & practice will the student need for mastery?

What activities will be necessary for generalization?

What is the range of instruction for the class?

Options when Home-base is General Education

Extend the curriculum downward

Generate alternative activities provide additional instruction in

other environments provide primary instruction in

other activities

Individual Considerations

Chronological age Related services Number of environments Personnel Social Relationships Student/Family priorities Probability of skill acquisition Functionality Preparation for future

Effective Use of Human Resources...

Outline all students’ needs for support during activities

Outline students’ daily schedule Outline adults’ daily schedule,

including responsibilities during individual lessons

Look for other resources:– volunteers– classmates– students– parents

Handouts to Download

Depending on how your individual computer and web browser works, either:(a) click on the highlighted text to open the

handouts

(b) insert the web address below on the “location” line of your web browser

Inclusion Observation Checklist: – http://www.circleofinclusion.org/materials/prep.pdf

Parent Questionnaire & Environmental Checklist:

– http://www.circleofinclusion.org/materials/supportingchildren.pdf

** The handouts are in Adobe Acrobat Format. If you do not have that software program, the UIC computers do or you can download it for free. Instructions are on the Circle of Inclusion Web Page.

Additional References

Bagnato, S. J., Neisworth, J. T., & Munson, S. M. (1997). Linking assessment and early intervention: An authentic curriculum-based approach. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Bredekamp, S. Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Bricker, D. (1995). The challenge of inclusion. Journal of Early Intervention, 19, 179-194.

Brown, L., Schwarz, P., Udvari-Solner, A., Kampschroer, E.F., Johnson, F., Jorgenson, J. & Gruenewald, L. (1991). How much time should students with severe intellectual disabilities spend in regular education classrooms and elsewhere? Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 16, 39-47.

Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. (1994). Inclusive education and the radicalization of special education reform. Exceptional Children, 60, 294-309.

Henley, M., Ramsey, R. S., & Algozzine, R. F. (1996). Characteristics of and strategies for teaching students with mild disabilities. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Karp, Joan M. (1996). Assessing Environments. In M. McLean, D.B. Baily, & M. Wolery (Eds.), Assessing infants and preschoolers with special needs, (pp. 234-267). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill.

Lutzker, J. R., & Campbell, R. (1994). Ecobehavioral family intervention in developmental disabilities. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole Publishing.

Mowder, B. A. (1997). Family dynamics. In A. H. Widerstrom, B. A. Mowder, & S. R. Sandall, (Eds.), Infant development and risk: An introduction, (pp. 125-154). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

National Association for the Education of Young children (NAEYC); Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC/CEC), & National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). (1996). Guidelines for preparation of early childhood professionals. Washington, DC: NAEYC.