Pacific TA Meeting:
Quality Practices in Early Intervention
and Preschool Programs
Service Delivery and Teaming
Presented by
Ann Bailey, Grace Kelley and Anne Lucas
Service Delivery Discussion
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Current trends and approaches in use for providing Early
Intervention and Preschool services around the country
• Common underlying themes to these approaches
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Some agreed upon implementation practices
• The roles and functions of a team during the Early
Childhood processes
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Team responsibilities for providing ongoing services
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Statutes and Regulations
• Statutes and regulations tell us more
information about:
– What services are provided under the law
– General purpose of early intervention and
preschool special education
– Who can/must provide the services
– The States’ responsibility of oversight and
monitoring
– Ways in which services are paid
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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What do we want for children?
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Health
Positive Social-emotional skills
Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills
Continuity
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Mission of Part C
• Part C early intervention builds upon and
provides supports and resources to assist
family members and caregivers to enhance
children’s learning and development through
everyday learning opportunities
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Mission of Section 619
• IDEA Preschool Services (Part B Section 619)
are designated to provide Free Appropriate
Public Education for all eligible children, ages
3 to 5 with disabilities within an inclusive
environment.
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Mission for Section 619
IDEA Preschool Services (Part B Section 619) are
designated to provide Free Appropriate Public
Education for all eligible children, ages 3 to 5
with disabilities within an inclusive
environment.
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Key Principles for Both Part C and 619
• Infants, toddlers and children learn best through
everyday experiences and interactions with familiar
people in familiar contexts.
• All families, with the necessary supports and resources,
can enhance their children’s learning and development.
• The primary role of both the service provider in early
intervention and the Part B Preschool staff is to work
with and support family members and caregivers in
children’s lives.
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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More Key Principles
• Both the early intervention and preschool special education
process, from initial contacts through transition, must be
dynamic and individualized to reflect the child’s and family
members’ preferences, learning styles and cultural beliefs.
• IFSP/IEP outcomes must be functional and based on needs
and identified priorities.
• Interventions must be based on explicit principles, validated
practices, best available research, and relevant laws and
regulations.
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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General Role of All Early Childhood
Service Providers
• Consulting with parents, other service providers
and representatives of community agencies
• Training parents and others regarding the
provision of early childhood special education
services
• Participating in the multidisciplinary team
assessment of the child (and family in Part C) and
in the development of integrated goals and
outcomes for the IFSP/IEP
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Early Intervention Services
• Designed to meet the developmental needs of
each eligible child
• Designed to meet the needs of the family
related to enhancing the child’s development
• Are selected in collaboration with parents
• Are provided under public supervision by
qualified personnel
• In conformity with the individual family
service plan
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Early Intervention Services
• Meet the standards of the state and federal
regulations
• To the maximum extent appropriate to the
needs of the child, are provided in “natural
environments” including the home and
community settings in which children without
disabilities participate
• At no cost unless federal or state law provides
for a system of payments by families, including
sliding fees
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Preschool Special Education
• Designed to provide a free appropriate public
education (FAPE) to all children residing in the
State between the ages of 3 and 21, that is in
inclusive settings, as appropriate
• FAPE for children beginning at age 3…must
ensure that the obligation to make FAPE
available to each eligible child residing in the
State begins no later than the child’s third
birthday
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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What All Children Need
All children, including those without disabilities,
children with disabilities, children living in
poverty, etc. deserve to have a differentiation
of services and instruction to meet their needs
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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The service delivery approach impacts:
• State (regional) structures necessary to support
the approach
• The way the EI and preschool services are
organized at the program or regional level
• Teaming practices and team composition
• What “it” looks and feels like/ doesn’t look like
• Providers knowledge or training
• Beliefs, values and demonstrated competencies
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Team-Based
Service Delivery Models
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Multi-disciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Trans-disciplinary
Primary Service Provider
Primary Coach
Consultation Services
Collaborative Team Model
Trans-agency
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Defining the Models
• Coaching: “an interactive process of observation and
reflection in which the coach promotes a parent’s or other
care provider’s ability to support a child’s participation in
everyday experiences and interactions with family
members and peers across settings”
• Primary Coach Approach to Teaming: “…assigns one
member of a team as the primary coach, where he or she
receives coaching from other team members, and uses
coaching with parents and other primary caregivers to
support and strengthen their confidence and competence
in promoting child learning and development.”
Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in
Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Defining the Models
• Consultation Services: Not tied to one particular
model, but flexible to meet the individual needs
of children and families and variation in program
structure.
• Collaborative Team Model:
– Team members work in partnership and pool resources.
– All team members are involved in planning and monitoring goals
and procedures, although each team member’s responsibility
for the implementation of procedures may vary.
– Team members jointly share ownership & responsibility for
intervention objectives.
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Defining the Models
• Trans-disciplinary:
– Evolved from multi-disciplinary to interdisciplinary to trans-disciplinary
– Professionals share roles and see the child as a whole in the context of
the family.
• Primary Service Provider (PSP):
– Linked to a Trans-disciplinary model.
– PSP works in close collaboration with other team members integrating
and synthesizing information shared to deliver efficient and
comprehensive support.
– Service delivery by one person with supporting services provided
through joint visits and consultation.
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Defining the Models
• Trans-agency:
- Provides a process for the primary service provider, the
family, and staff from outside agencies serving the family,
to come together to develop an across agency service plan
for the child and the family.
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Defining the District Responsibility
• In order to ensure access to general education
preschool, a district must work with the broader
early learning community
• District must ensure FAPE
• “Removal of children with disabilities from the
regular educational environment occurs only when
the nature or severity of the disability of a child is
such that education in regular classes with the use
of supplementary aides and service cannot be
achieved satisfactorily.”
Models for “Maximum Extent
Appropriate…”
• District/School
– Itinerant services in an ECE Entitlement grant class
– Team teaching with a preschool special education teacher and general
preschool teacher in same class-joint responsibility for all childrencommunity based program in school building
– Integration of related services in the classroom
– Enrollment of nondisabled peers in a preschool special education
classroom
– Locating in same space or facility but separate instruction based upon
disabled or nondisabled
• Preschool special education classes in an early learning location with some joint
activities
• General early learning program located in a building next to preschool special
education
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Itinerant ECSE Service
• Itinerant Services may be defined as:
– Services provided by preschool special education
teachers or related services personnel which occur
in the setting where the child or the child and
parent(s) is located as opposed to providing
services at a centralized location.
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Models for “Maximum Extent
Appropriate…”
• Working with a Community Early Learning Program:
– Itinerant services in a child care or Head Start or family child care
– Team teaching with a preschool special education teacher and general
preschool teacher in same class-joint responsibility for all children
– Integration of related services in the classroom
– Enrollment of preschool children with disabilities in a child care or Head Start
or family child care
– Locating in same space or facility but separate instruction based upon disabled
or nondisabled
• Preschool special education classes in an early learning location with
some joint activities
• General early learning program located in a building next to preschool
special education
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Rethink the Path
• Suspecting a disability and considering a
referral is essentially evaluating:
– The child’s behaviors and skills in comparison to age
expectations (nondisabled peers) = CHILD OUTCOMES
– The environment in which the behaviors and skills are
exhibited=LRE
– Thinking that additional supports and services are
necessary =IEP
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Federal Movement for Early Learning
• Early Childhood Collaboration
– Child Care
– Head Start
– Part C and 619
• Federal Directions
• Coordinate Service Delivery
• Integrate Infrastructures
• Family-centered Approach
– Will see more joint funding
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Quality Teams
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Have a common purpose
Have Agreed upon Values and Beliefs
Understand each others role and functions
Value and Respect Each Member
Are Willing to Help One Another
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Quality Teams Share and Support:
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Common Information
Common Tasks
Frequent and Clear Communication
Each Others’ Learning and Growth
A Focus on Personal and Team Growth
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Component
Multidisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Transdisciplinary
Philosophy of
Team Interaction
Team members
recognize the
importance of
contribution from
several disciplines
Team members are
willing and able to share
responsibility for
services among
disciplines
Team members commit
to teach, learn and work
across disciplinary
boundaries to plan and
provide integrated
services
Family role
Generally families meet
with team members
separately by discipline
The family might be
consider a team
member. Families may
work with whole team
or team representative
Families are always
members of the team
and determine their own
team role
Component
Multidisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Transdisciplinary
Lines of
Communication
Typically informal.
Members may not
think they are part of a
team
Team meets regularly
for case review,
consultation etc.
Meets regularly to share
information and to teach
and learn across
disciplines; consultation
and team building
Staff Development
Happens independently
and within individual
disciplines
Frequently shared and
held across disciplines
Frequently occurs and is
across disciplines. Viewed
as critical to team
development and role
transitions.
Component
Multidisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Transdisciplinary
Assessment
Process
Members conduct
separate assessments
by disciplines.
Members conduct
assessments by
disciplines and share
results with one another
Team participates in an
“arena” assessment,
observing and recording
across disciplines
IFSP Development
Members develop
separate plans for
intervention with in
their own disciplines
Goals are developed by
disciplines and shared
with rest of team to
form a single service
plan
Staff and family develop
plan together based
functional assessments
information from the
family and the child
IFSP
Implementation
Implemented
separately by
disciplines and separate
visits by discipline
Still discipline specific
but some times-co-visits
when working on
several outcomes/goals
One person is the major
implementer with the
family and other
members consult or
teach the primary
member
Collaboration Framework
Communication
The exchange of
information and meaningnetworks. Communication
is a
crucial part of any
productive relationship.
Contribution
An informal relationship
(often called mutual
support) through which
parties help each other by
providing some of the
resources and support
needed to
reach their independent
goals.
Coordination
A deliberate, joint, formalized
relationship involving
planning and division of roles,
sharing of resources, risks and
rewards for efficiency and
effectiveness in
achieving the complementary
goals of the parties.
Partnership
Parties with similar
interests plan
together,
negotiate mutual roles
and share resources to
achieve joint goals.
New levels
of service achieved.
Collaborative Leadership
“Collaboration involves parties who see
different aspects of a problem. They engage in a
process through which they constructively
explore their differences and search for (and
implement) solutions that go beyond
their own limited vision of what is possible.”
(Gray, 1989).
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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Team work is like whitewater rafting!
• Have a clear sense of where you
are headed
• Plot your course together
• Check for rapids or rough spots
before entering the water when
possible
• Good communication strategies
and clear methods to
communicate before you start
• Define the roles
• Use individual strengths
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Early Intervention and Preschool Programs
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