Making Preschool Inclusion Work ─ Strategies for Supporting Children, Teachers, and Programs

Preschool inclusion is about much more than placing a child in a general education classroom. A network of creative, effective supports must be in place for the child, the teachers, and the program—and this comprehensive textbook shows how to make it happen. Future educators will get a thorough introduction to inclusion supports: evidence-based practices and strategies that help children with disabilities fully participate in preschool classrooms. With a strong emphasis on collaboration among all members of the education team, this text leads professionals step by step through every aspect of successful preschool inclusion, from designing an effective program to preparing all children for a smooth transition to kindergarten. An ideal textbook for preservice educators—and a valuable reference for early childhood programs—this important volume will help establish inclusive classrooms where every young child learns, belongs, and thrives.

• planning and delivering creative, cost-effective inclusion services and accommodations (includes detailed guidance for administrators)
  
• successfully using todaya€?s best models to implement inclusion supports, such as itinerant teaching, consultation, and co-teaching
  
• preparing for and conducting an effective IEP meeting, with concrete strategies for working collaboratively with parents
  
• solving problems and managing conflict
  
• applying Universal Design for Learning principles to classroom instruction
  
• using teaching strategies that engage and support all children
  
• addressing the needs and challenges commonly associated with specific disabilities, including autism, visual and hearing impairments, and physical disabilities
  
• preventing and managing challenging behavior with positive behavioral supports
  
• supporting kindergarten readiness and ensuring a smooth transition between programs
  

This comprehensive textbook gives education professionals a thorough introduction to inclusion supports: evidence-based practices and strategies that help children with disabilities fully participate in preschool classrooms.

Marci J. Hanson, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Special Education at San Francisco State University (SFSU). At SFSU, Dr. Hanson is actively engaged in teaching, research, and service related to young children and their families. In addition to these responsibilities, she directs the SFSU joint doctoral program in special education with the University of California, Berkeley, and codirects the early childhood special education graduate program. She is a consultant with the child and adolescent development faculty of the Marian Wright Edelman Institute for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families at SFSU and with San Francisco Head Start.

M. Diane Klein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a professor of early childhood special education at California State University, Los Angeles, where she has directed the programs in early childhood special education for 30 years. In her early career, she worked as a speech-language pathologist with young children with disabilities and their families. She has directed numerous federally funded projects involving caregiver–child interaction, working with infants with low incidence and multiple disabilities, training of early childhood special educators, and training inclusion-support personnel (Project Support). Along with Anne Marie Richardson-Gibbs, Dr. Klein has produced a variety of training videos related to inclusion-support strategies for young children with disabilities in community-based early childhood education settings.

Anne Marie Richardson-Gibbs is an early childhood special educator and has provided inclusion services for the past twenty years in both community-based preschool and public school settings. Currently Ms. Richardson-Gibbs works for the El Monte City School District providing inclusion support to preschool and early elementary age children with disabilities. Ms. Richardson-Gibbs has been the director of an early intervention program providing services to infants, toddlers and their families from the East Los Angeles community and worked as a statewide early intervention program specialist for the California Department of Education. She was the training coordinator for Project Support, a federally funded personnel training grant, creating inclusion support inservices, training videos and a manual for early childhood special educators. Ms. Richardson-Gibbs has taught ECSE classes at California State University, Los Angeles and served as chairperson for both the Infant Development Association of California and the Los Angeles Early Intervention Directors’ Forum. She continues to provide trainings and inservices for Head Start and school district personnel on inclusion support, behavior management, and autism and developmental delays in young children.