Lieber, J., Capell, K., Sandall, S.R., Wolfberg, P., Horn, E., & Beckman. P. (1998).  Inclusive preschool programs: Teachers' beliefs and practices.  Early Childhood Researhc Quarterly, 12, 87-105.

USE THIS IN THE AUTISM/ADULTS MANUSCRIPT AS WELL

• inclusion popular - not as much agreement on what it means
• many teachers and parents believe that inclusion has benefits
  • opportunity to learn about difference
  • respond to others
  • empathy
  • help others
  • modeling appropriate skills
• teachers - kids with disabilities are members of the classroom and participating
  • the ability to design and implement inclusive environments vary
  • Buysse and Bailey (1993) - variability in inclusion model
    • program related
    • classroom features
    • quality of the program
• definition informs action
  • teachers act on their beliefs (Clark & Peterson 1996)
  • not as much research at the early childhood level
  • what was out there was not promising
    • lower the cognitive level, the less support given
    • teacher beliefs seemed to influence the results
• little descriptive research on what is going on in the Early Childhood classroom
• more children are being served in Early Childhood programs not associated with University settings
• current study - 23 preschool classrooms - how did beliefs influence what was going on in the classroom?
  • based on the ECRII research
  • from community based and Head start schools (as well as public schools)
  • rural - urban settings
  • many different approaches to Early Childhood education
• quantitiative and qualitative data taken in the classrooms
  • interviews - 30-90 minutes, sometimes with follow-up
  • document reviews
  • field notes
    • coded with constant comparative method and ethnography
    • analyzed cross-site for categories and themes
• categories - definition of inclusion and interaction
  • themes similar to previous studies
• Definitions of inclusion
  • beliefs - all found kids with disabilities to be equal group members
  • enacted - doing the same things as the kids without disabilities
    • sometimes supported participation
    • differences - amount and types of instruction/adult intervention
      • across the board instruction - no diferentiation
      • adaptaions of the activities
• Teachers' beliefs - pluralism vs. melting pot (e.g., choice and self-determination
  • pluralism - group made of different individuals
  • melting pot - more emphasis on group norms
    • more likely to talk about the child fitting into the classroom culture
    • more strict view of what was acceptable
    • conforming to the norm valued
  • pluralism - more ways to be a member
    • independence
    • individuality
    • self-determination
    • ownership within the group
• benefits for typicallly developing children
  • learn about differences and how the world operates
  • implementation
    • erase and ignore differences and questions
    • explain differences during teachable moments
    • teach difference eplicitly - preteaching
      • all were tied to the beliefs about diversity
• teaching about kindness - tolerance and compassion was valued by all teachers
  • taught in many different ways - some though explicit instruction
• children have much to offer
  • children without disabilities would learn to help  and take the role of teacher
    • often encouraged and reinforced
• children with disabilities learn through observation - cognitive, communication, and prosocial skills
  • extent to which interactions were facilitated varied
    • proximity - just put in the same place
    • pairing
    • scaffolding - interpreting play behavior often used, as well as extending pretend play and suggesting better interactions
    • explicit teaching
• Discussion
  • teachers are very consistent in their expressions of beliefs and are consistent with previous studies
    • membership
    • benefits
    • benefits for typically developing peers
  • there were variations on implementation, which suggested that the term has many different operationalizations
    • consisten with Smith and Shepard (1988) - kindergarten readiness
    • service deliveries very different
  • some service delivery counter to a large body of literature, especially differentiation and facilitation of interaction
• lexicon has changed in a relatively short period of time
  • teachers trying to fit new definitions into existing paradigms instead of paradigm shifts? 
  • for teachers who value groups, practices that encourage assimilation will be used even though the research does not support this approach
  • most ECE teachers - constructivist and highly motivated
  • special educators - tend to be more directive and intensive
    • could be a reflection of training and setting
• this sample - highly educated teachers, but not necessarily more likely to use differentiated practices
• other reasons
  • program quality
  • model - many different, although most used High/Scope
  • some had influences such as the beliefs of others (e.g., co-teacher)
  • children - intensity of needs, number of needs, quality of needs
• descriptive research - hard to test the variables directly - but shows that we don't know for sure what "meaningful" participation is
• impleication
  • awareness might not equal implementation - may need more guidance
  • changing attitudes = changes in behavior
  • collaborative teams
  • collaborative preservice preparation models
  • much more research to be done - especially with program quality and and outcome measures