Preparing Children with Disabilities for School
by Dianna Pinkerton
"All disadvantaged and disabled children will have access to high quality
and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare children
for school" (from Goal 1, National Goals for Education, 1990).
How Does the Federal Government Support
Readiness for Children with Disabilities?
Public Law 99-457, the 1986 Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA),
addresses the needs of young children with disabilities through two programs:
the Handicapped Infants and Toddlers Program for children birth through age 2
and the Preschool Grants Program for 3 to 5 year olds. Together these programs
represent an important effort to expand the scope of services available to the nation's
youngest children with disabilities and their families. The
Handicapped Infants and Toddlers Program, Part H of the EHA, supports the
planning, development, and implementation of an interagency system of early
intervention services for infants and toddlers who have disabilities. The
Preschool Grants Program, Section 619 of Part B of the EHA, is designed to
ensure the availability of a free, appropriate public education for all children
ages 3 to 5 with disabilities. Both programs provide federal support for meeting
Goal 1 of the National Goals: "By the year 2000, all children in America
will start school ready to learn." During the 1989-1990 school year
approximately 642,000 children were served through these programs (Thirteenth
Annual Report to Congress, 1991, p. 84).
What Special Problems Are Faced by Children
with Disabilities As They Make the Transition from Preschool to the General
School Setting?
The transition from preschool to school can be difficult for a child with
disabilities. The preschool environment characterized by small groups and
individual attention is replaced by classrooms with more children, fewer adults
per child, and greater demand for adapting to general classroom procedures and
working independently (Carta, Atwater, Schwartz, & Miller, 1990). Parents
and teachers from both receiving and sending programs need to be involved in
placement as well as scheduling and facilitating the move (Fowler, Schwartz,
& Atwater, 1991). P.L. 99-457 recognizes the importance of preparing
children and their families by requiring that specific steps be addressed in
each child's individualized family service plan (IFSP) for children from birth
through age 2 or individualized education program (IEP) for preschool children.
What Role Do Families Play?
Family members play a key role in providing information about the child's
abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and interests. Parental insights complement
information obtained from preschool sources and provide a broader picture of the
child's capabilities and needs. Identifying specific ways for parents to be
involved in the process is essential to a good transition (Bernheimer, Gallimore,
& Weisner, 1990).
Parents may act as teachers, partners, decisionmakers, and/or advocates
(Shearer & Shearer, 1977). They are teachers when they reinforce the skills
acquired in preschool, partners when they communicate needs with school
personnel, and decisionmakers when they participate in the IEP process. Parents
can help prepare the child for the transition to public school by maintaining
and generalizing skills necessary for the transition. They also serve as a
bridge between the two programs, visiting the new program with their child,
helping the child to become familiar with the new setting, and discussing
concerns and fears connected with the upcoming change. They can also help bridge
the gap by arranging visits with former preschool friends and teachers as well
as with new classmates. Parents can help their child develop skills in following
directions, playing independently, attending to task, and self-care. These
skills will help prepare the child for the new setting (Hains, Fowler, &
Chandler, 1988).
What Role Do Teachers Play?
Sending and receiving teachers both play important roles in the transition
process. Teacher attitudes, instructional priorities, and communication with
parents and other members of the transition team will determine the quality of
the child's transition (Hains et al., 1988). Sending and receiving teachers may
have different goals and priorities, but they play complementary roles in
preparing the child for the move from preschool to the general school setting.
The sending teacher should find out what skills the child will need in order
to function adequately in the new setting and implement a program for preparing
the child to develop those skills. Familiarity with the receiving program is
essential in order to design an appropriate transition curriculum. The sending
teacher can gain a better understanding of prerequisite skills by visiting the
receiving classroom. For children placed in an integrated setting, behavioral
requirements for successful functioning have been assessed and are referred to
as survival skills. These include being able to function independently during
group instruction, following classroom routines, completing tasks within an
allotted time period, and working in the absence of teacher direction. Teaching
survival skills as part of the preschool curriculum helps prepare the child for
the demands of the general school setting (Carta, Atwater, & Schwartz,
1991). Skill-building activities should be developmentally appropriate for each
child.
The success of the transition preparation is ultimately determined by the
child's adaptation to the new environment. The receiving teacher's attitude
toward and experience with children with disabilities may be factors in the
success of the child's placement. Some flexibility will probably be required on
the teacher's part in order to adjust expectations and adapt to the child's
special needs. The sending and receiving teachers will have the continuing role
of acting as liaisons between programs and with parents. Good communication and
clearly defined goals will facilitate the preparation for the child's move from
preschool to the general school setting.
What Are the Elements of a Successful
Transition Process?
The Capstone Transition Process (Johnson, Cook, & Yongue, 1990) is one model
that provides clear guidelines for the transition process. The first activity
initiates long-range planning by establishing a "transition timeline."
This timeline serves as a guide for accomplishing transition activities and can
be set up in chart form to track activities. The Capstone Transition Process
addresses specific activities beginning 12 months before the move to a new
program. The process includes preparation, implementation, and evaluation
activities. The initial steps of the process are designed to prepare the
participants for their role in the transition. Steps include notifying and
preparing parents and teachers from both the sending and receiving programs.
Data on the child's needs are collected or updated. A profile of communication
procedures, available services, prerequisite skills, and teacher expectations is
developed from existing information. The preparation phase of the process
culminates with the development by the transition team of an IEP for use as the
basis of educational programming in the new setting. Following the IEP meeting,
the timeline provides reminders for the transfer of information and records to
the receiving program. The final step calls for evaluation of the effectiveness
of the process.
Capstone Transition Timeline
- Develop the transition timeline.
- Notify appropriate administrators of the student's approaching transition.
- Inform parent(s)/primary caregiver(s) that the child will be making the
transition and collect information on family transition needs.
- Determine the communication policy of the potential receiving program(s)
and obtain a description of the program(s).
- Obtain information from teacher(s) in potential receiving program(s)
regarding the program/classroom overview and skills perceived as important
for transition into the classroom.
- Verify the receipt of transition information and/or followup request for
the transition information or additional information.
- Reevaluate: verify the student's assessment and eligibility.
- Prepare the parents for the transition planning meeting.
- Hold the transition planning meeting.
- Hold the IEP meeting. Obtain permission from the parents to release
information.
- Provide information to all transition team participants.
- Link the parent/primary caregiver of the transitioning child with a
parent/primary caregiver of a child already attending the new program.
- Send the receiving program all pertinent records and verify the receipt of
the records.
- Provide the receiving program with information about the child's current
program.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the process after completion.
References
Bernheimer, L. P., Gallimore, R., &
Weisner, T. S. (1990). Ecocultural theory as a context for the individual family
service plan. Journal of Early Intervention, 14(3), 219-233.
Carta, J. J., Atwater, J. B., Schwartz, I. S., & Miller,
P. A. (1990). Applications of ecobehavioral analysis to the study of transitions
across early education settings. Education and Treatment of Children,
13(4), 298-315.
Carta, J. J., Atwater, J. B., &
Schwartz, I. S. (1991, April). The effects of classroom survival skills
intervention on young children with disabilities: Results of a two-year
follow-up. Presentation of the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research
in Child Development, Seattle, WA.
Executive Office of the President.
(1990). National goals for education. Washington, DC: EOP. ED 319 143
Fowler, S. A., Schwartz, I. &
Atwater, J. (1991). Perspectives on the transition from preschool to
kindergarten for children with disabilities and their families. Exceptional
Children, 58(2), 136-145.
Hains, A. H., Fowler, S. A., &
Chandler, L. K. (1988). Planning school transitions: Family and professional
collaboration. Journal of the Division for Early Childhood, 12(2),
108-115. EJ 368 964
Johnson, L. J., Cook, M., & Yongue,
C. P. (1990). Capstone Transition Process. Unpublished manuscript, University of
Alabama.
Shearer, M. S., & Shearer, D. E.
(1977). Parent involvement. In J. B. Jordan, A. H. Hayden, M. B. Karnes, &
M. M. Wood (Eds.), Early childhood education for exceptional children: A
handbook of ideas and exemplary practices. Reston, VA: The Council for
Exceptional Children. ED 132 788
Thirteenth annual report to Congress on
the implementation of the Education of the Handicapped Act 1990. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Education.
This publication was prepared by Dianna Pinkerton with funding
from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and
Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007. The opinions expressed in this
report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the
Department of Education.
ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely
reproduced and disseminated.
|
