How Mississippi is Using the ICP to Improve the Quality of Inclusive Practices

Editor's Notes

• #4 For the Q&A, please submit your questions during the webinar.
• #5 The ICP is a structured observation assessment that assesses the quality of daily inclusive practices that support the developmental needs of children with disabilities in the early childhood setting. It is designed for inclusive settings that serve children ages 2-5. The ICP uses a rating scale (1-7) to indicate the extent to which classroom practices intentionally adapt the environment, activities, and instructional supports so that young children can have access and active participation in the environment. There are 12 practices or “items” that are assessed:
• #8 To meet the needs of children with disabilities in early childhood programs, the MS Department of Human Services contracts with the Institute for Disability Studies to provide the Mississippi Early Childhood Inclusion Center. MECIC was developed to meet the needs of early childhood educators, families, and young children with disabilities by providing high quality early childhood inclusion. To do this, we provide training and technical assistance to early childhood educators and provide family support through our family navigation and screening program.
• #9 One of the specialty programs that MECIC offers is the Preschool Credential program. This 40 hour certificate program utilizes the ICP to measure quality inclusive practices of participants in the credential program and to assess the effectiveness of our professional development program. The ICP is administered at the beginning of each credential. Participants in the credential then begin a comprehensive professional development program that consist of didactic trainings, self-directed learning activities, and on-site mentoring. The credential is aligned with the DEC initial standards and includes topics around best practices for early childhood inclusion. In addition to trainings and learning activities, participants receive an Individualized Plan of Action that is developed based on areas of concerns identified during the initial ICP. On-site mentoring and individualized technical assistance is provided to address these concerns.
• #10 One of the specialty programs that MECIC offers is the Preschool Credential program. This 40 hour certificate program utilizes the ICP to measure quality inclusive practices of participants in the credential program and to assess the effectiveness of our professional development program. The ICP is administered at the beginning of each credential. Participants in the credential then begin a comprehensive professional development program that consist of didactic trainings, self-directed learning activities, and on-site mentoring. The credential is aligned with the DEC initial standards and includes topics around best practices for early childhood inclusion. In addition to trainings and learning activities, participants receive an Individualized Plan of Action that is developed based on areas of concerns identified during the initial ICP. On-site mentoring and individualized technical assistance is provided to address these concerns.
• #11 One of the specialty programs that MECIC offers is the Preschool Credential program. This 40 hour certificate program utilizes the ICP to measure quality inclusive practices of participants in the credential program and to assess the effectiveness of our professional development program. The ICP is administered at the beginning of each credential. Participants in the credential then begin a comprehensive professional development program that consist of didactic trainings, self-directed learning activities, and on-site mentoring. The credential is aligned with the DEC initial standards and includes topics around best practices for early childhood inclusion. In addition to trainings and learning activities, participants receive an Individualized Plan of Action that is developed based on areas of concerns identified during the initial ICP. On-site mentoring and individualized technical assistance is provided to address these concerns.
• #13 Here is an example of a current Plan of Action. You can see that it is individualized to the teachers and children in the classroom.
• #14 Let’s take a look at the data. Listed here are all the items that showed a significant change from the pretest conducted at the beginning of the credential and the post test conducted at the end of the credential. This table lets us know that we are seeing significant changes in the quality of inclusive practices in the classrooms that have participated in the credential. We can look at this data and see where the strengths and challenges still are and also note some areas of strength such as membership and feedback.
• #16 The other side of the story, is that the data also shows areas where there was not a significant change between pre and post evaluations. Specifically, items 3 and 6. Item 3 assesses Adult’s Guidance of Children’s Free-Choice Activities while Item 6 assesses Relationships Between Adults and Children. So, we looked closely at the criteria for 3 & 6 to see where participants were missing the mark. We found that participants had difficulty getting past the minimum standards for these questions. Item12 was significant, however, it did not show as strong of a change as the other items. And lastly, item 4, which is conflict resolution was null as we only had 4 classrooms where this was observed.
• #17 What does this data tell us? It pointed to us what changes we needed to make in our credential program. This past year, we updated several things to improve the professional development program based on what we learned from our data. 1- We re-organized our credential. Where we use to start with an introduction to quality inclusion and UDL, we now start at the basics of typical development and identifying red flags. 2- Next, we enhanced the Plan of Action. Not only did we change the format of the Plan of Action to be more teacher friendly, we also now review the Plan of Action during each mentoring session and if needed, truly break it down over the course of the credential. We try not to overwhelm the participants by identifying all of the areas of concern at once. 3- In general, now the importance of relationships and building relationships is highlighted in every single module and we provide more active learning opportunities during the didactic trainings. 4- To address Item 3, we discuss embedding learning opportunities throughout the credential; specifically, how to use scaffolding techniques during learning activities. TA takes this one step further to help participants learn how to do this is their own classrooms. 5- To address Item 6, we intentionally teach the importance of individual conversations with teachers, discussing how to have sustained, reciprocal conversations with all children. Again, TA follows-up, modeling this in the classroom and coaching teachers through this practice. 6 - Additionally to address Item 6 and Item 11; we updated the homework… Item 6: the homework assignment and TA for module 6, “Engage Me: Framework for Behavior Management” looks specifically at practicing strategies to enhance social/emotional development with 3 children in the classroom, including at least one identified child with a disabilities. So here, teachers have to be intentional and practice strategies that encourage social interactions in their classroom. For item 11, which was only marginally significant; we updated the homework to include a specific assignment for directors on including an “inclusive statement” and in their handbook
• #18 What does this data tell us? It pointed to us what changes we needed to make in our credential program. This past year, we updated several things to improve the professional development program based on what we learned from our data. 1- We re-organized our credential. Where we use to start with an introduction to quality inclusion and UDL, we now start at the basics of typical development and identifying red flags. 2- Next, we enhanced the Plan of Action. Not only did we change the format of the Plan of Action to be more teacher friendly, we also now review the Plan of Action during each mentoring session and if needed, truly break it down over the course of the credential. We try not to overwhelm the participants by identifying all of the areas of concern at once. 3- In general, now the importance of relationships and building relationships is highlighted in every single module and we provide more active learning opportunities during the didactic trainings. 4- To address Item 3, we discuss embedding learning opportunities throughout the credential; specifically, how to use scaffolding techniques during learning activities. TA takes this one step further to help participants learn how to do this is their own classrooms. 5- To address Item 6, we intentionally teach the importance of individual conversations with teachers, discussing how to have sustained, reciprocal conversations with all children. Again, TA follows-up, modeling this in the classroom and coaching teachers through this practice. 6 - Additionally to address Item 6 and Item 11; we updated the homework… Item 6: the homework assignment and TA for module 6, “Engage Me: Framework for Behavior Management” looks specifically at practicing strategies to enhance social/emotional development with 3 children in the classroom, including at least one identified child with a disabilities. So here, teachers have to be intentional and practice strategies that encourage social interactions in their classroom. For item 11, which was only marginally significant; we updated the homework to include a specific assignment for directors on including an “inclusive statement” and in their handbook