What are the key components of a high quality early childhood inclusion program?

This glossary contains terms used throughout the four levels of the Indicators of High-Quality Inclusion and Elements: State, Community, Local Program, and Early Care and Education Environments. The glossary should be used when completing any of the indicator self-assessments so that all involved are clear on meanings.

Terms are listed alphabetically, and include which levels a term is used in, as well as which specific indicators. Terms might appear in the indicator or within that indicator's elements.

Assessment

The process of gathering information to make decisions. Assessment informs intervention, and as a result, is a critical component of services for children who have or are at risk for delays/disabilities and their families. In early intervention and early childhood special education, assessment is conducted for the purposes of screening, determining eligibility for services, individualized planning, monitoring child progress, and measuring child outcomes.

• State: Indicators S1, S7
• Local Program: Indicator L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E8

Authentic child assessment practices include methods and strategies for identifying the contextual and adult behavior that promote a child’s participation and learning in everyday activities. The assessment practices involve observing children’s engagement in everyday activities, the learning opportunities that occur in the activities, child strengths and abilities displayed in the activities, and the adult behavior that can support child participation and learning in the activities.

• Local Program: Indicator L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E8

When funds are braided, two or more funding sources are coordinated to support the total cost of a service. Revenues are allocated and expenditures tracked by different categories of funding sources. In braiding, cost-allocation methods are required to ensure that there is no duplicate funding of service costs and that each funding source is charged its fair share across the partners.

• State: Indicator S5
• Community: Indicator C6
• Local Program: Indicator L6

Professionals, paraprofessionals, parents and students communicate and collaborate with one another to make meaningful decisions and to provide appropriate and effective services. All team members are involved in planning and monitoring educational goals and procedures, although each team member’s responsibility for the implementation of procedures may vary. Team members can be considered as sharing joint ownership and responsibility for intervention objectives.

• Community: Indicator C8
• Local Program: Indicator L8
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E7

Serves the same function as a Program Leadership Team in implementation initiatives in cross-sector organizations in communities that collaborate on early childhood initiatives, e.g., CO's Early Childhood Councils or NC's Smart Start Partnership communities.

See also: Implementation Site, Program Leadership Team

• Community: Introduction, All Indicators
• Local Program: Indicators L1, L9, L12

State leaders provide information on the allowable ways funds from various early childhood programs can be used to create classroom opportunities and support placement of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. An example of cost sharing is when various funding streams 'follow the child' and support children in a single classroom, or when one program pays for a specific operating cost, and another program pays for a different operating cost. An example of a specific cost might be a district funding an extra classroom assistant to support the children in the classroom. Each funding source must be used as intended and documented.

• Community: Indicator C6
• Local Program: Indicator L6

Includes the major organizations, agencies, and institutions in a state that provide services and supports the development and learning of young children, their families, and the practitioners who serve them.

• State: Indicators S1, S2, S4, S5, S9, S10
• Local Program: Introduction

Factual information. Data can be quantitative, measured in quantities as numbers, or qualitative, describing what something is like or what is observable. To be meaningful, data must be reliable, valid, and accessible.

• State: Indicators S1, S2, S3, S4, S8, S12
• Community: Indicators C10, C12
• Local Program: Indicators L5, L9, L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicators E6, E7, E8

Safe, responsive and nurturing high-quality settings that are an important part of supporting the learning and development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. These environments also help to prevent challenging behaviors and serve as a core component of interventions for infants and young children with identified disabilities.

• State: Indicator S10
• Community: Introduction, Indicator C1
• Local Program: Introduction, Indicator L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Introduction, Indicators E2, E4, E5, E6, E7

The formal organizational structures: agencies, programs, contracted employees set up to provide specified services and supports that children and families can use to meet needs.

• State: Indicators S1, S3, S10

Embedded instruction involves multiple, brief teaching interactions between a teacher and child during everyday classroom activities. By identifying functional behavior targets, selecting classroom activities best suited for embedded learning opportunities, and using planned and intentional instructional strategies, teachers can help children learn new behavior for participating in classroom activities throughout the day.

• Community: Indicator C10
• Local Program: Indicator L8
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E6

Two or more people who regard themselves as family and who carry out the functions that families typically perform. This means that people who are not related by birth, marriage, or adoption and who do not reside together may be a family unit if they regard each other as family and if they jointly carry out the functions that are typically assumed by families. Parental roles may include a single parent, grandparents as parents, two parents of the same sex, and other constellations that differ from the traditional mother-father roles. In addition to parents, families are comprised of siblings and the full range of extended family, including grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins.

• State: Indicators S1, S2, S3, S10, S11, S12
• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C2, C3, C4, C12
• Local Program: Indicators L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L7, L8, L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicators E2, E3, E7, E8, E9

A collaborative and strengths-based process through which early childhood professionals, families, and children build positive and goal-oriented relationships. It is a shared responsibility of families and staff at all levels that requires mutual respect for the roles and strengths each has to offer. Family engagement focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive relationship-building with key family members in a child's life.

• State: Indicator S3
• Community: Indicator C3
• Local Program: Indicator L3

Essential cultural practices and bodies of knowledge embedded in the daily practices and routines of families.

• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E9

High-quality inclusion should have the following components: intentional, sufficient, and supported interactions between peers with and without disabilities; specialized, individualized supports; family involvement; inclusive, interdisciplinary services and collaborative teaming; a focus on critical sociological outcomes; effective, ongoing professional development; and ongoing program evaluation.

• State: Introduction, Indicators S1, S2, S5, S7, S11
• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C8, C12
• Local Program: Introduction, Indicators L2, L3, L4, L6, L10, L11, L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Introduction

Early childhood inclusion embodies the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child and his or her family, regardless of ability, to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society. The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning to reach their full potential. The defining features of inclusion that can be used to identify high quality early childhood programs and services are access, participation, and supports.

• State: Introduction, Indicators S1, S2, S3, S7, S8, S9, S10, S12
• Community: Introduction, All Indicators
• Local Program: Introduction, Indicators L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6, L8, L9, L10, L12
• Early Care and Education Environments: Introduction

Educational institutions (schools, colleges and universities) that provide postsecondary education including community colleges; public and private colleges; public and private universities; and some technical, career and business schools.

• State: Indicators S10, S11

Layered funding denotes a tiered approach using a foundational source of funds, a second layer of funding might provide additional program hours, staff training, equipment and/or supplies. A third layer of funding may be child specific such as IDEA funds for a child's IEP services, or comprehensive services for children funded through Head Start.

• Community: Indicator C6
• Local Program: Indicator L6

Early childhood leadership encompasses both the ability to create and run excellent programs for young children and the ability to be effective and powerful in decision making that affects children and families.

• State: Introduction, Indicators S1, S3, S4
• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C12
• Local Program: Indicator L1
• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E2

A sequential process for both learning and instruction. It places focus on a series of steps that encourage a more thorough understanding and a deeper application of content. The learning cycle gives teachers a process for instruction while giving students a formula for learning.

The learning cycle has four stages: acquisition, fluency, maintenance, and generalization:

• Acquisition. The child has begun to learn how to complete the target skill correctly but is not yet accurate or fluent in the skill. The goal in this phase is to improve accuracy.
• Fluency. The child is able to complete the target skill accurately but works slowly. The goal of this phase is to increase the child's speed of responding.
• Maintenance. The child is accurate and fluent in using the target skill but does not typically use it in different situations or settings.
• Generalization. The child is accurate and fluent in using the skill. However, the child is not yet able to modify or adapt the skill to fit novel task-demands or situations. Here the goal is for the child to be able to identify elements of previously learned skills that they can adapt to the new demands or situation.

• Early Care and Education Environments: Indicator E6

The Federal Policy Statement of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs sites the following legal foundations; IDEA, ADA, Section 504, Title II, Head Start Act and the Child Care Development Block Grant:

These Federal laws recognize and support inclusion because of the developmental, educational, and social benefits that inclusion provides to children with disabilities.

• State: Indicator S12
• Community: Indicator C4
• Local Program: Indicators L3, L4

Early care and education service agencies and programs at the community level associated with federal, state or local oversight and/or funding.

• State: Introduction, Indicators S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S11
• Community: Indicators C1, C11, C12
• Local Program: Introduction

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides money for each state to have at least one PTI. The centers help the families of kids from birth to age 22 who have a disability. The main goal of PTIs is to give parents or guardians support and free information on how to make the most of their child’s education.

• Local Program: Indicator L3

The workforce who engages in the care and education of young children, including children with disabilities, across a variety of early care and education settings.

• State: Indicators S8, S9, S10, S11
• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C4, C7, C8, C10
• Local Program: All Indicators
• Early Care and Education Environments: Introductions, All Indicators

A definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions. A high-level overall plan embracing the general goals and acceptable procedures especially of a governmental body.

• State: Introduction, Indicators S1, S2, S3, S5, S9, S10
• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C3, C4, C5, C7
• Local Program: Introduction, Indicators L2, L3, L5, L7, L12

A course of study designed especially for the preparation of teachers and clinicians that involves the supervised practical application of previously studied theory.

• State: Indicator S11

The Program Coach works with the program leadership team, administrator and classroom coaches to support the high-fidelity implementation of evidence-based practices program-wide. The Program Coach visits with the program, attends program leadership team meetings, completes coaching activities with the classroom coaches, assists with product development, reviews data and supports with data decision making, phone calls, trainings, emails, etc.

• Community: Introduction, Indicator C4

Related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes speech-language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Related services also include school health services and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training.

• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C7
• Local Program: Indicators L8, L12

Those services delivered to some children in a program, but not all, including early intervention, special education, related services and others.

• State: Indicators S8, S10
• Community: Indicators C7, C10
• Local Program: Indicators L7, L9, L10

The entities that provide oversight to programs for young children. These programs include, but are not limited to childcare, Head Start, pre-kindergarten, home visitation, Title I pre-K, early intervention and preschool special education.

• State: Introduction, All Indicators
• Local Program: Indicator L12

An interagency group that is responsible for planning and supervising the initiative, including: funding support, policy initiatives, evaluation, data-based decision making, training and coaching, site selection, and public awareness.

• State: Introduction, Indicators S1, S4
• Community: Introduction, Indicators C1, C12

An approach to teaching, learning, curriculum development and assessment that uses new technologies to respond to a variety of individual learner differences.

See: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

• Local Program: Indicator L11

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