Head Start/ECEAP and laboratory school partner to enhance inclusive preschool programs

The collaborative effort strives to enhance the quality of Head Start/ECEAP programs in Seattle and to better meet the needs of children with diverse abilities and their families. Major goals of the project include developing an effective and sustainable model of inclusion for Head Start/ECEAP classrooms and a model of transportable training for Head Start/ECEAP staff.

During the 1995-96 school year, the EEU created a new inclusive classroom for children enrolled in Head Start/ECEAP. Like all classrooms at the EEU, the Head Start/ECEAP classroom includes children with developmental disabilities and typically developing children in a setting that builds on the strengths and supports the needs of each child. The new classroom also serves as a training site for teachers, coordinators and other staff who operate Head Start/ECEAP programs in the community.

Head Start/ECEAP is a federal and state-funded program for children ages 3 to 5 from low-income homes. The program provides educational activities to pave the way for success in school. It also gives children and their families access to a variety of support services designed to meet their health and social service needs, including the special needs of children with disabilities. The EEU project is supported by State of Washington ECEAP funds.

"It has been a nice two-way street-we're able to share our expertise and, in turn, learn from Head Start/ECEAP about different components of family support," says Cecile Lindquist, Admissions and Community Liaison Coordinator at EEU and director of the project. "Learning about the family supports that are part of the Head Start program has broadened our knowledge of other services available in the community and of what services might be supportive of families. We have other families in the EEU school program with the same sorts of needs."

Supports that are hallmarks of Head Start/ECEAP include health screening for children enrolled in the program, education about nutrition, support for parents and their education, parenting training, access to services that meet further family needs, and activities that encourage parents to network and become more involved in school.

"It has worked well for us because we already have a social worker and nurse as part of our staff," explains Lindquist. "We have access to nutrition resources through the Clinical Training Unit at CHDD and the UW School of Dentistry is able to provide dental screening. Having all of these resources readily available made it fairly easy for us to plug into the Head Start program."

This year's class was made up of 19 preschoolers, including eight children with disabilities. A head teacher, an assistant teacher, an aid and a trainer round out the classroom.

After starting each day with a healthy breakfast, children in the class participate in a half-day program of planned activities and free play, which also includes a nutritious lunch. The preschool curriculum emphasizes activities of daily living such as washing hands, brushing teeth and thinking about safety. In both large and small group settings, children learn skills by participating in developmentally appropriate activities. During play time, children can choose from a number of activities designed to reinforce the skills they are learning. They also get a chance to exercise sharing and other peer-interaction skills they are acquiring in the group situations. Activities designed to foster social competence are an important aspect of the program's goals to build self-confidence and prepare youngsters for school.

"The feedback we've gotten so far tells us that parents like the classroom and the Head Start/ECEAP trainees like the training," notes Lindquist.

Nineteen staff members from seven City of Seattle Head Start/ECEAP sites participated in the inservice training this year. "Next year we're hoping to train 30 people," says Barbara Matlock, trainer for the project, whose experience teaching preschool at the EEU as a graduate student and later training teachers who work with children with disabilities was ideal background for the job.

To begin the two-week training program, Matlock visits the site where staff have requested training. She meets with the staff and together they work to assess training needs. Based on their needs, Matlock designs an individualized training program that emphasizes preschool activities and incorporates best practices for working with children with special needs. This includes targeting specific areas to work on such as communication, behavior management and class organization. It also involves negotiating a way to fit training time at the EEU into staff schedules. Arranging substitutes so staff can be away from their sites is a challenge that usually requires some flexibility.

Head Start/ECEAP staff come to the EEU to observe and participate in the model classroom by helping to plan, implement and assess activities. "An important part of my training philosophy is to present the theoretical background on something, then get trainees working on it with kids right away," says Matlock.

For example, Merrie Barnes and Vicki Nalls from The Creative Child Enrichment and Development Center, a City of Seattle Head Start/ECEAP site in south Seattle, wanted to know how to encourage language development in children. After discussing concepts with Matlock and observing techniques used in EEU classrooms, Barnes and Nalls gave it a try themselves in the model classroom. "We learned about introducing a picture in a picture book to a child and describing one feature of the picture, then encouraging the child to expand on the other things he or she sees in the picture," explains Barnes. "Instead of an adult dominating the scene, the child is interacting with the adult and developing language skills."

The final aspect of training is the transfer process, explains Matlock. According to a regularly scheduled follow-up plan arranged at the beginning of training, Matlock goes to each community site and assists staff in putting what they have learned to work at their own facility. On site, she can take a look at the environment and determine how to make the transfer from the model classroom to a preschool in the community, taking into account how space, staffing and other factors differ from the EEU.

"I've been impressed with the community sites and they've been impressed with their experience at the UW," says Matlock. "It's been a good reciprocal relationship."

The Head Start/ECEAP classroom at EEU is starting up again in September. For more information, call 206/543-4011.

Merrie Barnes, director of The Creative Child Enrichment and Development Center, works with a preschooler in the EEU's Head Start/ECEAP classroom.

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