Early Childhood Inclusive Education Checklist : A Self-assessment of Best Practices

The research is clear: early childhood inclusive education settings provide higher quality learning experiences and result in greater growth in the cognitive and social domains than disability-only settings for young children eligible for special education services. Positive outcomes cut across the range of disability categories, varying intensity of support needs, and types of inclusive early childhood education and care settings.

In The Early Childhood Inclusive Education Checklist: A Self-Assessment of Best Practices, co-authors Jacqueline Thousand and Richard Villa, who have spent over four decades advocating for and supporting school communities to initiate, implement, and sustain inclusive education best practices, synthesize their experience and extensive research to provide educators with an insightful and practical tool for implementing, assessing, and optimizing inclusive education.

The book provides 13 early childhood inclusive education best practices, which represent a checklist of essential components (or indicators) of quality early childhood inclusive education. To determine current level of implementation of best practices, readers are instructed to rate the degree to which each indicator occurs in their school. Directions are provided on how to calculate and interpret the total score, mean score, and range of scores. Each of the best practices interrelate and build upon one another to achieve the overarching goals of access, participation, supports, and success for all young children. The data derived from using the checklists can be used to plan for continuous program improvement.

By sharing the information in this book and conducting self-assessments related to the best practices described in its chapters, home, school, and community partners will establish common conceptual frameworks, knowledge, and skills among the stakeholders that lead to increased opportunities for young children to flourish in inclusive environments.

Jacqueline Thousand, PhD coordinates special education teacher preparation and graduate program options in the School of Education at California State University, San Marcos. Jacqueline is a noted national and systems change consultant and inclusive education advocate. She has co-authored 15 books as well as numerous research articles and chapters on issues related to co-teaching, inclusive schooling, organizational change strategies, differentiated instruction and universal design, cooperative learning, collaborative teaming processes, creative problem solving, student self-determination, and discipline with dignity. She is actively involved in international teacher education and inclusive education endeavors and serves on the editorial and advisory boards of several national and international journals and professional organizations. For National Professional Resources, Thousand is co-author of the books The Inclusive Education Checklist and The Early Childhood Inclusive Education Checklist, and the laminated reference guides, Differentiated Instruction: Creating Inclusive Classrooms, RTI: Co-Teaching & Differentiated Instruction, and Co-Teaching At A Glance.

Co-author Richard A. Villa, EdD received his doctorate from the University of Vermont where he was adjunct professor from 1981-1996. He has worked with thousands of teachers and administrators throughout North America and the world to develop and implement organizational and instructional support systems for educating all students within general education settings. Villa has been a middle and high school classroom teacher, special educator, special education coordinator, pupil personnel services director, and director of instructional services. He works with schools, governmental and non-governmental agencies, and advocacy organizations. Villa has authored over one hundred articles and book chapters and co-authored fourteen books on topics of inclusive education, differentiated instruction, collaborative planning, co-teaching, RTI, and school restructuring. He has also developed multimedia kits for teachers, administrators, and parents. For National Professional Resources, Villa is co-author of the books The Inclusive Education Checklist and The Early Childhood Inclusive Education Checklist; the laminated reference guides, Differentiated Instruction: Creating Inclusive Classrooms, Co-Teaching At A Glance, and RTI: Co-Teaching & Differentiated Instruction; and hosts the professional development videos Collaborative Planning: Transforming Theory into Practice, and Collaborative Teaching: The Co-Teaching Model (sold individually or as a set, Collaboration for Inclusion).