Direct instruction/systematic prompting (DI/SP) procedures are effective procedures that can result in quick learning and few errors.
Learn about individualizing—one of the key elements of the HSCI framework for effective practice—to support individual learning outcomes and goals for children with disabilities.
This tool describes aspects of the space, materials (toys, books, etc.), equipment, routines, and activities that practitioners and families can intentionally alter to support each child’s learning across developmental domains.
This video shows examples of classroom environments and how they are organized and arranged to help children feel connected and safe (running time: 2 min. 20 sec.).
This module explores how families and service providers can effectively work together to create and support inclusive experiences for preschool-age children who have disabilities.
This module focuses on the specialized activities and accommodations that can, during normal routines, be provided in inclusive settings to serve an infant or toddler with a significant disability.
This checklist includes the characteristics of systematic instructional practices that can be used by a practitioner or parent to teach targeted skills and to promote child learning and development. The instructional practices can be used to teach or facilitate child acquisition of adult-identified skills or behavior in an intentional, planful manner.
When teachers of young children identify specific behavior or skills they want a child to learn, they can use systematic instruction practices to teach those targeted skills. By carefully planning and intentionally using teacher-directed instruction strategies, teachers can help a child learn new behavior, continue to use the behavior over time, and use the behavior in different activities and with different people.
Cuando un maestro de niños pequeños desea identificar destrezas o comportamientos específicos que quiere enseñar, puede emplear prácticas de instrucción sistemáticas para hacerlo. Al planear cuidadosamente y utilizar deliberadamente estrategias de instrucción dirigidas por el maestro, puede ayudar a los niños a aprender comportamientos nuevos, continuar practicando el comportamiento a lo largo del tiempo y usarlo en distintas actividades y con personas distintas.
When teachers of young children identify specific behavior or skills they want a child to learn, they can use systematic instruction practices to teach those targeted skills. By carefully planning and intentionally using teacher-directed instruction strategies, teachers can help a child learn new behavior, continue to use the behavior over time, and use the behavior in different activities and with different people.
This checklist includes the characteristics of embedded instructional practices that can be used by a practitioner or parent to promote a child’s use of targeted, functional behavior in the contexts of home, community, or classroom activities
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.
La instrucción integrada involucra diversas interacciones docentes breves entre el maestro y el niño durante las actividades diarias en el aula. Al identificar objetivos de comportamiento funcional, escoger las actividades que más faciliten las oportunidades de aprendizaje integrado y utilizar estrategias docentes planeadas e intencionales, los maestros pueden ayudar a los niños a aprender conductas nuevas para participar en las actividades del aula a lo largo del día.
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.
Develop your expertise on leveraging Embedded Learning Opportunities (ELOs) to support young children’s individual goals, with the resources in this training package.
This module describes effective tiered instruction related to social emotional development and academic learning for use with young children in early care and education programs. It also takes you through a decision-making process to help integrate various sources of evidence and determine whether tiered instruction could be used to promote positive behaviors and academic learning in young children.
Teachers can support children’s participation, independence, and learning in everyday classroom activities by using a practice called “following the child’s lead.” Child-initiated interactions are a key characteristic of this practice. Following a child’s lead involves planning and adjusting classroom activities based on children’s interests, facilitating children’s interactions with the social and nonsocial environment, and supporting children’s choices to transition from one activity to another.
Para favorecer la participación, la independencia y el aprendizaje durante las actividades diarias, los maestros pueden usar una práctica llamada “dejar que el niño dirija”. Las interacciones iniciadas por los niños son la principal característica de esta práctica. Para seguir la dirección del niño es necesario planificar y adaptar a los intereses del niño las actividades del aula, facilitar las interacciones de los niños con el entorno social y no social y apoyar sus decisiones a la hora de pasar de una actividad a otra.
Teachers can support children’s participation, independence, and learning in everyday classroom activities by using a practice called “following the child’s lead.” Child-initiated interactions are a key characteristic of this practice. Following a child’s lead involves planning and adjusting classroom activities based on children’s interests, facilitating children’s interactions with the social and nonsocial environment, and supporting children’s choices to transition from one activity to another.
This checklist includes the characteristics of naturalistic instructional practices that can be used by a practitioner or parent to support and strengthen child learning and development while a child is engaged in everyday home, community, or classroom activities.
Esta lista incluye las características de las prácticas de instrucción natural, que el practicante o los padres pueden usar para apoyar y reforzar el aprendizaje y el desarrollo del niño, mientras participa en actividades diarias en casa, la comunidad o el aula.
This checklist includes the characteristics of naturalistic instructional practices that can be used by a practitioner or parent to support and strengthen child learning and development while a child is engaged in everyday home, community, or classroom activities.
The Practice Guides for Practitioners are intended primarily for practitioners working in group settings and for sharing with other practitioners in community programs. The Practice Guides are formatted for print as well as for viewing on mobile devices.
The Practice Guides for Practitioners are intended primarily for practitioners working in group settings and for sharing with other practitioners in community programs. The Practice Guides are formatted for print as well as for viewing on mobile devices.
Gain an in-depth understanding of the four elements of Planned Instructional Sequences (PInS) to teach discreet skills to young children with disabilities.
Instructional practices are a cornerstone of early intervention and early childhood special education. Teachers, other practitioners, family members, and other caregivers use instructional practices to maximize learning and improve developmental and functional outcomes for young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays/disabilities.
This tool describes the critical set of strategies for fostering children’s social-emotional competence, communication, cognitive development, problem-solving, autonomy, and persistence.
Learn about children accessing group and individual rewards.
A recorded keynote given by Dr. Phil Strain on lessons learned in his career focused on improving inclusion of young children with delays and disabilities
Shifts in the need for flexible service delivery require professionals to think carefully on the methods used to provide services that still meet FAPE, LRE, and Data requirements. Inclusive practices an be used regardless of instructional modality because of their operationalized nature. This webinar highlights the Early Care and Education Environmental Indicators which can be used to identify practices and provides examples of the elements for online, hybrid, and in-person settings.
This 5-min video explores the basic principle of inclusion: that every person belongs
While Colorado as a state has the highest Indicator 6 data in the country, the Preschool Team at the Colorado Department of Education sought to more deeply understand the quality of inclusive practices being implemented in publicly funded preschool classrooms across the state. This webinar will describe a study that was conducted to gather information from special educators and related service providers on how inclusive practices are implemented in programs and inform barriers to inclusion at the local policy and procedural level. Results of this study will be shared along with next steps the state will take to move forward to improve the dosage and quality of inclusive practices delivered to children.
This 18-min TED talk is given by a parent and disability-rights advocate who explains his family’s fight to ensure an inclusive education for his son and the benefits for his son and the other children in his son’s school
The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children is designed to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities within community programs. In states where there is a focus on increasing the use of high-quality inclusion practices, the implementation and scale-up of the Pyramid Model offers an effective approach. Join us for a webinar featuring new products and resources focused on increasing the use of inclusive practices in Pyramid Model programs to better support children diagnosed with disabilities or needing individualized supports. Learn about important research, statewide implementation potential and an assessment used to support inclusive practices in the classroom.
This 9-min video highlights the experiences of families who have children with disabilities and who are served in inclusive settings.
In this second of three webinars, we will explore how early care and learning providers and programs can use environmental routines to engage in coaching and collaborative teaming. Participants will learn how teams can use inclusive routines to benefit children’s development, to promote provider competence and confidence in using inclusive practices, and to positively impact workplace culture.
This is Part 1 of a 3-part webinar series titled: Inclusion Benefits Everyone (Children, Families, Providers, and Directors)
Join us as we explore how routines can be used as the foundation for including young children with and without disabilities in early care and learning environments. In this first of three webinars, we will discuss how to design daily routines to implement inclusive practices in diverse care settings for children. Participants will learn how to use routines to support predictability and to create opportunities for young children to learn and meaningfully engage in naturally occurring environmental routines.
In the final webinar of this three part series, participants will explore how directors and administrators can support inclusion through responsive and joyful leadership. Directors will describe how inclusion is built across time through exploring culture; setting an inclusive mission, vision, and goals; having important conversations; and ensuring providers and teams have the professional development supports they want and need.
This webinar is designed to provide an overview of the National Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators Initiative, a joint project by NCPMI and Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center.?The suite of materials?developed for states, local programs and child environments?intended to increase the implementation of high quality inclusive practices will be presented. Specific attention will be paid to the early childhood education environment (ECEE) inclusion indicators. Video examples will be used to illustrate implementation of the ECEE inclusion indicators in a variety of programs as well as implications for local program and state level staff.
In this webinar, Phil Strain and Ted Bovey introduce you to the LEAP Preschool Model, an inclusive, evidence-based model for young children with autism that was founded in 1981. The webinar begins with an overview of key model Ted Bovey components, follows with a discussion of several key research findings from over 30 years of research on the intervention strategies used and outcomes for children in the program and then wraps up by highlighting some of the key lessons learned about preschool inclusion for young children with autism. The LEAP Model parallels the levels of the Pyramid Model in many ways and similarities between LEAP and Pyramid implementation are briefly outlined.
This video shows examples of classroom environments and how they are organized and arranged to help children feel connected and safe (running time: 2 min. 20 sec.).
Sometimes community or world events will impact the work with have with children. This webinar offers strategies for having courageous conversations with stakeholders, provides examples of methods for partnering with families and strategies for special educators to provide distance learning experiences that will enrich social interactions for children without lowering our expectations of inclusion and safety.
This 11-min video provides an overview of the LEAP model and how it works to support inclusion of young children with autism in preschool settings
Early childhood inclusion was defined by ajoint position statementof the Division for Early Childhood and the National Association for the Education of Young Children in 2009.
Resources for planning funding for inclusion efforts in early childhood settings, including collaborative strategies, sample interagency agreements, and alternative funding sources to support the implementation of comprehensive and inclusive services for young children.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education issued this importantpolicy statementon the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs.
DEC and NAEYC joint position statement on inclusion.
Resources for planning funding for inclusion efforts in early childhood settings, including collaborative strategies, sample interagency agreements, and alternative funding sources to support the implementation of comprehensive and inclusive services for young children.
This website provides several up-to-date resources synthesizing research on inclusion in early childhood settings.
This summary sheet outlines 11 facts about high quality inclusion for young children with disabilities and the seminal research associated with each fact. A summary statement based on a 2012 study examining the rates of children with disabilities 3-5 years old who are placed in regular early childhood settings is also outlined.
Multiple resources for data collection tools.
Prompts are instructions, gestures, demonstrations, touches, or other things we can do to increase the likelihood that children will respond correctly. Prompting helps children complete tasks that might otherwise be too difficult, or contain multiple or complex steps. Supporting children using prompts (and providing positive descriptive feedback) helps them learn to complete tasks independently
This white paper provides information on the importance of inclusion and how the Pyramid Model might be used in statewide initiatives to increase the use of inclusive practices.
