- FPG experts will be presenting at meetings around the world. Visit the FPG website for a complete list of upcoming presentations.
- Visit the FPG websitefor the latest news on FPG projects.
The initiatives highlighted in this issue of Early Developments address a variety of approaches to tackling the achievement gap. At the root of all of them is research. FPG is diligently working to expand the research-base of effective solutions, while using what is already known to design innovative and fresh ways to tackle the gap head on.
Download a copy of the current Early Developments.
In response to the November 27th Wall Street Journal article, entitled “Parents of Disabled Students Push for Separate Classes,” FPG Senior Scientist Pamela Winton prepared the following letter to the editor. A shortened version appears in the December 6th issue of The Journal.
Letter Written to the Editor:
Robert Tomsho’s article, “Parents of Disabled Students Push for Separate Classes,” is the WSJ’s second recent front page story to attack the merits of inclusion. While these articles raise legitimate concerns, they distort the issue by focusing only on the symptoms (the conflict), rather than the actual problems that need to be addressed.
Inclusion is like anything else. When done poorly, it doesn’t work. And simply calling something inclusion, does not make it so. In the most basic terms, inclusion flips the old special education model on its head. Instead of moving children to isolated classrooms to receive specialized services, inclusion requires that the services be brought to the child in the regular classroom—the same one that his or her typically developing peers attend. And far from the disastrous outcomes reported by the Wall Street Journal, when done correctly research shows that all children benefit—those with and without disabilities.
For inclusion to be successful, specialists, teachers and families must actively collaborate to best meet the needs of children with disabilities. There must be active support for inclusion from the administration and ongoing professional development. In other words, the resources to support inclusion must be in place to allow all children to reap its benefits. This was clearly not the case in the situations the Journal described.
In some early childhood education programs effective inclusion practices are becoming the norm. And when done well, it is producing significant results for children across a range of abilities. Research shows that children with disabilities make developmental gains in inclusive classroom. They engage in more positive behaviors. Parents report gains in social skills, acceptance by peers, and developmental gains.
Typically developing children also benefit. In one study parents reported that their child was more accepting of human differences, more aware of other children’s needs, had less discomfort around people with disabilities, and had less prejudice about people who behaved differently.
The articles do raise valid concerns for what happens when educators call something inclusion, but in reality practice “dumping”—simply placing children with disabilities in the same classroom as their typically developing peers. Inclusion is much more. Rather than using inclusion as a scapegoat for problems in schools, we should be providing the resources to support it and allowing all children to reap its benefits.
FPG's National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI) will host two webinars as part of its new Community of Practice (CoP). To register, go to www.fpg.unc.edu/~npdci/community
Webinar: Should Your State Apply to Partner with NPDCI?
Monday, January 14, 2008
3:00-5:00pm Eastern Time
Learn about the NPDCI state application process and if your state is a good fit. The webinar will discuss NPDCI’s conceptual framework and definition of professional development. Learn more about how to develop a state application to NPDCI. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of NPDCI team members and hear how NPDCI is coordinating with other federal projects that are working with states on cross-sector early childhood issues.
Primary Audience: Representatives from states considering applying to NPDCI to be selected for Cohort 2.
Webinar: Professional Development and Inclusion
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
3:00-5:00pm Eastern Time
What do we know about effective professional development? What strategies are states using to support personnel working in inclusive settings? This webinar will focus on what we know about professional development to support inclusion and specific strategies to support personnel. Materials related to the topic will be available in advance of the webinar. The webinar discussion will be guided by participants’ contributions and questions.
Primary Audience: Anyone interested in the topic of professional development and early childhood inclusion.
The Eighth Annual Early Childhood Inclusion Institute is scheduled for July 29-31, 2008.
The Institute is the premier educational opportunity for anyone involved in the care and education of children birth through age five with special needs in inclusive settings. Attendees will learn about the latest research findings and resources to guide inclusive policy, professional development and practice; develop collaborative relationships and cross-agency systems to support early childhood inclusion; gain awareness of strategies and models to support inclusive services; and have the opportunity to meet, learn from and problem solve with peers.
What if on your first day at a new job, you found out that you were an “at-risk” employee? You knew from the start that you were labeled as being more likely to fail than your colleagues. So the Human Resources Department provided you with extra supports in basic skills with the hopes that you might get by. Sounds pretty awful—yet everyday the United States does this to millions of young children—especially those. Before millions of children even set foot in a school they are labeled at-risk and then continually viewed through that very narrow prism. FPG’s Project U-STARS is turning the at-risk stereotype on its head. Rather than assuming children are at-risk, it assumes “at-potential.” It works with kindergarten through third grade teachers to recognize outstanding potential in their students.
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