U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the Woodland Early Learning Community School. Photo Source: U.S. Department of Education Flickr page

“As our country continues to move forward on the critical task of expanding access to high-quality early learning programs for all children, we must do everything we can to ensure that children with disabilities are part of that,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said earlier this month while he was visiting the Woodland Early Learning Community School in Kansas City.

“Duncan visited the city public school as the first stop on his annual 10-city Back to School bus tour,” the Kansas City Star reports. “This year’s tour, under the theme ‘Ready for Success,’ was set to highlight the importance of including children with disabilities in high-quality early learning programs and to push the importance of community focus on early childhood education.”

To encourage this work, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have released a “Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs.”

The statement’s release coincides with a number of relevant anniversaries. As a press release explains:

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 40th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the 50th anniversary of Head Start. While tremendous progress toward equality for children with disabilities has been made, children with disabilities and their families continue to face significant barriers to accessing inclusive high-quality early childhood programs, and too many preschool children with disabilities are only offered the option of receiving special education services in settings separate from their peers without disabilities.”

Understanding Inclusion

“Inclusion in early childhood programs can set a trajectory for inclusion across the life course, making it critical that we include individuals with disabilities in all facets of society from birth,” the policy statement says.

The goal is to be inclusive while “holding high expectations and intentionally promoting participation in all learning and social activities, facilitated by individualized accommodations, using evidence-based services and supports to foster… development (cognitive, language, communication, physical, behavioral, and social-emotional), friendships with peers, and sense of belonging.”

As early childhood programs become more inclusive, they have to overcome a number of barriers including:

– early childhood workers who lack training and expertise

– lack of comprehensive services, such as early intervention and special education as well as pediatric and mental health services

– limited time to build partnerships among early childhood educators, early interventionists, early childhood special educators, related services providers, pediatric healthcare providers, and other developmental specialists, and

– conflicting interpretations of applicable laws

The most frequently reported barrier is attitudes and beliefs.

“In many cases, false beliefs and negative attitudes about inclusion may be influenced by misinformation of the feasibility of inclusion, fear of the unfamiliar, resistance to changing existing practices, stereotyping of children with disabilities, a worry that children with disabilities will divert attention and resources from their peers without disabilities, and lack of awareness of the benefits for all children, including those without disabilities and those with the most significant disabilities.”

Recommendations for Action

The policy statement makes sweeping recommendations for state-level action, including:

– create an interagency task force and plan for inclusion

– review and modify resource allocation

– ensure that quality rating frameworks measure inclusion

– implement statewide support for children’s social and emotional behavior

– strengthen accountability and incentives, and

– build a coordinated early childhood professional development system

Recommendations for local action include:

– build partnerships with families

– enhance professional development

– establish appropriate staffing and strengthen staff collaboration

– develop formal collaborations with community partners, and

– ensure access to specialized support such as teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, teachers of the blind or visually impaired, and orientation and mobility specialists

As the policy statement concludes:

“The case for meaningful inclusion of young children with disabilities, not only in early childhood programs, but in the community more broadly is an essential component of our nation’s efforts to ensure equality of opportunity for all Americans.”