Inclusive Early Care & Education in Kentucky: A Look at Classroom Quality Over Six Years

Meg Gravil, MSW Xin Gao, PhD Jennifer Grisham-Brown, EdD

University of Kentucky

What We Know

Early care provides are often reticent to provide care to young children with disabilities (Pressler, 1996; Buysee, Westley, Bryant & Gardner, 1999) for various reasons

Belief that doing so will cost extra money Attention will be diverted from children without disabilities Inclusion will adversely effect program quality

What We Need to Know

Does inclusion of children with disabilities adversely affect program quality ?

Is there a relationship between program quality and the presence of children with disabilities?

Rationale for Study

Gather in-depth data on community-based early care and education programs serving children with disabilities Examine variables that impact the quality of childrens early care and education experiences Determine how the state of Kentucky has addressed barriers to/misconceptions about providing child care to children with disabilities

KIDS NOW Evaluation Project

Longitudinal evaluation providing formative information to Kentucky Department of Education on the implementation, refinement and impacts of early childhood education initiative, Kentucky Invests in Developing Success (KIDS) NOW Multiple studies including Program Director Study, Program Quality Study, Child Outcome Study and Family Day Care Home Study

Sample

State-wide representative yearly sample (N = 120) of licensed, center-based child care programs

based on geographic location, population size and income levels

5 years of evaluation study yielded sample of ~600 programs serving children with disabilities

Sample, cont

Random sample selected from sites participating in 1+ year of multi-year evaluation

107 programs serving children with disabilities utilized for this investigation 62 preschool classrooms/42 infant/toddler classrooms Disability enrollment range 1-105 (Mean=7 children per site)

Sample, cont

Breakdown of program sample

Preschool Noninclusive 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 33 34 28 35 33
39

Infant/Toddler Noninclusive 41 39 38 37 33
30

Inclusive 25 33 30 27 28
25

Inclusive 11 10 4 5 6
8

Measures

Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R; Harms, et al., 2005)

Widely used for examining program quality in classrooms serving 2 1/2 to 5 year olds Subscales include Space & Furnishings, Personal Care Routines, Language-Reasoning, Activities, Interaction, Program Structure, Parents & Staff

Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO; Smith, et al., 2002)

Broad language & literacy classroom observation for use in preschool classrooms Subscales include Literacy Environment Checklist, General Classroom Environment, Language, Literacy and Curriculum, Book Reading, Writing Programs with higher level of Kids Now participation received higher score on quality measures

Measures, cont

Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R; Harms, et al., 2003)

Widely used for examining program quality in classroom serving birth-30 month olds Subscales include Space and Furnishings, Personal Care Routines, Listening and Talking, Activities, Interaction, Program Structure and Parents and Staff

Center Director Survey

15 questions survey completed by directors of centers in Evaluation Program, enrollment and staff information Professional development components of program Extent of participation in KIDS NOW and local childhood councils

Classroom Teacher Survey

10 question survey completed by teachers of classrooms in SNAPSHOT study Classroom teacher and child demographics Experience, child care education, professional development

Results: Program Quality

ECERS-R scores: higher in inclusive programs

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 non-inclusive inclusive

Results, cont

ELLCO scores: higher in inclusive programs No ELLCO data collected in 2003

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 non-inclusive inclusive

Results, cont
ITERS-R
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 non-inclusive inclusive

scores: higher in inclusive programs

Results: Program Quality Aggregated 6 Years

ECERS-R
6 5 4 3 2 1 0

ELLCO
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

ITERS-R

non-inclusive

inclusive

non-inclusive

inclusive

non-inclusive

inclusive

Correlational Data

In observed preschool classrooms, those with greater numbers of children with disabilities enrolled had higher program quality scores.
ECERS-R 2003 2004 2005 2006 .28* .33* .34* .29* ELLCO .42** .31* .38** .39*

2006
2008

.37**
Not significant

.48**
No data

** indicates significance at p-value of .01 *indicates significance at p-value of .05

Results: Director Education Aggregated 6 Years

Directors in Inclusive programs have higher education levels than directors in Non-inclusive programs
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

non-inclusive inclusive

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Implications

Ensuring high quality early care and education in inclusive settings is possible Statewide initiatives in Kentucky that may have influenced findings:

Policies on the delivery of early intervention services in the natural environment Support from regional training centers on including children with disabilities in child care programs Development of professional competencies at all career levels in early care and education for working with young children with special needs

References

Buysse, V., Wesley, P. W., Bryant, D., & Gardner, D. (1999). Quality of early childhood programs in inclusive and noninclusive settings. Exceptional Children, 65(3), 301-314. Grisham-Brown, J., Cox, M., Gravil, M., & Missall, K. (2010). Differences in child care quality for children with and without disabilities. Manuscript submitted for publication to Early Education and Development, 21(1), 2137. Harms, T., Clifford, R. M., & Cryer, D. (1998). Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Harms, T., Cryer, D., & Clifford, R. M. (2003). Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, New York, NY: Teacher College Press. Presler, B., & Sonoma State Univ., R. (1996). Health and safety considerations: Caring for young children with exceptional health needs. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED402727). Retrieved March 25, 2008, from ERIC database. Smith, M., Dickenson, D., Sangeorge, A., & Anastasopoulos, L. (2002). Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc.

For Additional Information

http://www.education. ky.gov/KDE/ KIDS NOW Evaluation 229 Taylor Education Building Lexington, KY 40506 meg.gravil@uky.edu