Building Blocks for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings

Dr. Sandall is Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington. She has directed personnel preparation projects, developed curriculum materials for all age groups, and published materials on educational practices to facilitate optimal outcomes for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities. Her scholarly interests are effective instructional practices for young children with disabilities in inclusive settings, the changing roles of teachers of young children, and effective approaches to professional development and knowledge utilization. She was Principal Investigator of the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning for the Office of Head Start; the Center continues its work as the EarlyEdU Alliance at Cultivate Learning at the UW. Dr. Sandall serves on the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Commission on Recommended Practices and edited publications on the practices. She is on the editorial boards of Journal of Early Intervention and Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. Dr. Schwartz is Professor of Special Education and Director of the Haring Center at the University of Washington. Dr. Schwartz is also the Director of Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism), a school‐based early intervention intensive behavioral intervention program for children with autism. She has an extensive background working with young children with special needs and their families, specifically with young children with autism and related disabilities. Dr. Schwartz is the director of the Applied Behavior Analysis Program at the UW, and is dedicated to creating high quality inclusive schools so that all children, regardless of their background or ability, can attend the school of their choice and receive a high quality education. Dr. Schwartz has published numerous chapters and articles about early childhood education and social validity. She serves on the editorial review boards of Topics in Early Childhood Special Education and the Journal of Early Intervention.Dr. Joseph is the Bezos Family Distinguished Professor in Early Learning at the College of Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. She teaches courses, advises students, provides service and conducts research on topics related to early care and education. Dr. Joseph has been involved in a number of research projects and training and technical assistance activities at the local, state and national levels related to child care quality, teacher preparation, and promoting children's social emotional development as well as preventing challenging behavior in early learning settings.She is the Founding Executive Director of Cultivate Learning, and was the Principal Investigator and director of the Head Stat Center for Inclusion (Headstartinclusion.org) and Co‐PI of the National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning funded by the Office of Head Start. At Cultivate Learning she oversees the work of quality ratings in all licensed childcare and state prek programs in the state.Dr. Gauvreau is a clinical faculty member and Field Director of the Special Education Program at the University of Washington. Dr. Gauvreau has extensive experience as a preschool special education teacher, home visitor, behavioral consultant, and teacher trainer, and has lead numerous trainings on early intervention and autism, inclusive education, promoting positive behavior support, and family centered practices. Her research interests include effective special education teacher preparation and strategies for inclusive education. Dr. Gauvreau is principal investigator for a project exploring family centered practices in teacher education and serves on the editorial review board of Young Exceptional Children.

• Section I: Using the Building Blocks FrameworkThis section will maintain the same organization as the third edition.Chapter 1: IntroductionThis chapter will be revised and updated. We will position Building Blocks within the umbrella of multi-tiered systems of support. We will review and revise the vignettes to make sure that they “ring true” in terms of culture and diversity as well as the range of early childhood service delivery environments.Chapter 2: Evidence-Based Practice and the Building Blocks FrameworkThis chapter will be revised and updated to include up-to-date references. We will strengthen the description of the bottom block – foundation. We will incorporate current thinking and research around diversity and equity.Chapter 3: Keys to CollaborationThis chapter will be revised and updated. We will pay particular attention to collaboration across early childhood sectors and incorporate examples/vignettes to show effective collaboration strategies. Similarly, we will carefully review and revise how we show collaboration with families. Since the topics that were identified by reviewers had, in fact, been added in the third edition of the book, we will consider some formatting changes and/or additional examples to better highlight this content.Chapter 4: Getting Started with Building BlocksThe organization of this chapter will remain the same. We will review and revise as needed based on reviewer comments and our own recent experiences with programs who are adopting Building Blocks. We will do a better job at clarifying how UDL fits within the Building Blocks framework.Section II: Teaching StrategiesThe organization of this section will remain the same with additions as noted below.Chapter 5: Curriculum ModificationsWe will do a thorough review of the curriculum modifications with special attention to culture, diversity, age range, and service delivery options.We will add a sub-section on how to identify an appropriate modification, how to collect data on its usefulness, and how to make changes if needed.Chapter 6: Embedded Learning OpportunitiesThis chapter will be reviewed and revised to improve clarity, ensure representation, and to show how embedded learning opportunities are used across curricular domains.We will add a sub-section on ongoing assessment and instructional decision making as related to embedded teaching and learning.Chapter 7: Child-Focused Instructional StrategiesThis chapter will be reviewed and revised to ensure representation, and to show how child-focused instructional strategies are used across curricular domains. We will add more specific content related to children with significant disabilities. We will discuss child-focused instructional strategies in related to the concept of specially designed instruction.We will add a sub-section on ongoing assessment and instructional decision making related to use of child-focused instructional strategies.Chapter 8: Assessment and Instructional Decision Making (new chapter; working title)We propose this new chapter. This chapter will focus on the importance of assessment to monitor child progress and to improve teaching and learning. We will use a visual to capture the connection of assessment and teaching, show simple strategies to incorporate ongoing data collection into teaching, and share strategies for making good instructional decisions. This content will be based on our own experiences, research, and interactions with many early childhood programs. As with other chapters, our intention is to write this in a straightforward manner and use examples/vignettes to bring ongoing assessment to life.Section III: Important Topics Related to the Building Blocks FrameworkIt is likely that the order of these chapters will change as we work on them. The current chapter 9 – Acquiring and Using Knowledge Including Language and Early Literacy will be omitted. A new chapter on Implementing the Building Blocks framework will be added. All chapters will be reviewed and revised in terms of equity and representation (diversity, range of service delivery options, children from toddlers through kindergarten).Chapter x: Becoming More IndependentThis chapter will be reviewed and updated. We expect to include information on transition to kindergarten here. We also expect to include information on self-determination in this chapter.Chapter x: Friendships and Social RelationshipsThis chapter will be reviewed and updated.Chapter x: Developmentally Appropriate Classroom BehaviorThis chapter will be renamed to capture the range of service options – child care centers, family child care homes, play groups as well as classrooms. Chapter content will be reviewed and updated.Chapter x: Implementing the Building Blocks FrameworkThis new chapter will focus on adopting and establishing the Building Blocks framework across various early childhood contexts. The chapter will draw from what we know from implementation science as well as our own work with programs and systems. The chapter will include practical, useful supports such as supervisor (director) guides and checklists.Chapter 13: Concluding ThoughtsThis chapter will be updated based on the revisions to the previous chapters.ReferencesThe references will be updated.Appendix A: Blank FormsWe will continue to make the blank forms available.Appendix B: Additional ResourcesWe will completely update this section.Supplemental Materials: Professional Developmental Modules

"Building Blocks brings together the best available research‐based knowledge and professional wisdom to directly support the application of inclusive practices in early education and care programs. The practical examples and resources are highly relevant and useful for anyone working with young children across the world!" - Elena P. Soukakou, Ph.D.“Essential reading for practitioners who wish to meaningfully support young children in inclusive settings. The book is filled with classroom scenarios, implementation examples, useful forms, and step‐by‐step guidance that ensures effective inclusive practices.” - Jennifer Grisham, Ed.D., Professor,Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education and Faculty Director, Early Childhood Lab, University of Kentucky