Should all infants, preschool, and school-aged children be cared for and educated in high-quality, inclusive community early care and education settings? The answer to that question is YES! All young children, including those with differing abilities, have a right to experience quality early childhood education in their communities. The early childhood years are important in laying the foundation for children’s healthy growth and development. This belief inspires the various projects and work of the Early Childhood (EC) Team at The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies.

In recent years the Center’s EC Team has been involved with three federally funded Early Learning Opportunities Act Grants (ELOAG) funded through the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. These projects are designed to increase the quality and accessibility of inclusive early care and education settings. This work is being done in collaboration with community partners: Kennebec/Somerset ACCESS (Alliance for Children’s Care, Education and Supporting Services); Coastal ACCESS; and Western Maine ACCESS.

Kennebec/Somerset ACCESS Grant activities in Kennebec/Somerset (Ken-Som) included hiring Cynthia Sproul as the project’s Early Intervention Specialist. Sproul worked closely with Center Research Associate Debra Rainey, providing assistance to early childhood educators when help was requested for child-specific questions and concerns. Sproul’s work helped providers in Kennebec and Somerset counties become more aware of inclusive practices and supports available to meet the needs of all children. During the grant period no child in the Ken-Som region, who received intervention services provided by Sproul, was asked to leave a childcare setting.

The Ken-Som ELOAG provided funding for new learning opportunities for early childhood educators living in rural areas. Six regional resource libraries were established with early childhood education books and videos, making these resources more readily available to parents and educators. Two workshops provided enriching professional development opportunities. Building Positive Relationships for All Children, benefited 50 participants and Rochelle Bunnett, of Washington State, traveled to Maine to present Designing Beautiful Environments for all Children: Rethinking the Possibilities to 100 participants. The Bunnett workshop was supported by the Ken-Som and Coastal ELOAG grants. Marlene Myers, of Catholic Charities, Fairfield Maine shared these comments about the training: “This workshop was very inspiring…I seem more alert to the environment, with color, playfulness, and fun…Thank you all for having Rochelle give us the opportunity to expand our minds and think about our environments.”

Coastal ACCESS ELOAG funds in the Coastal area from Belfast to Brunswick, supported a collaborative model among multiple agencies and regional organizations. New services and trainings were designed to increase quality in child care homes and centers in this region. Activity highlights included increasing reading programs and literacy training for child care providers; expanding training for child care staff in strengthening the quality of their learning environments and teaching practices through the use of a research-based curricula; helping sites move toward national accreditation standards of quality; and improving opportunities for children with special needs in child care settings.

One aspect of this work focused on building the capacity of the local resource and referral services staff, expanding their skills to work with providers and parents around issues related to children with special needs, including challenging behaviors. To aid in this task, the Center’s EC Team developed a resource toolkit including 11 Growing Ideas tipsheets, books, and research/resources for adults and children. The resource toolkit will be available at the Mid-Coast Resource Development Center (RDC) Coastal Economic Development Corporation in Bath.

The Growing Ideas tipsheets, written by members of the Center’s EC Team, include topics identified as high-interest according to a survey conducted by Maine Resource and Referral Specialists. Topics include developmentally appropriate practice, inclusion, laws that support inclusion, universal design in early care and education, assessment, social emotional development, guidance, behavior as communication, biting, swearing, and aggression. These tipsheets, available in .pdf and text-only formats, can be downloaded for free by visiting: http://www.ccids.umaine.edu/ec/.

Workshops sponsored by the Coastal ELOAG grant included the Designing Environments workshop, mentioned above, and the workshop, Plan from the Start: Intentional Design for Early Childhood Learning. The Plan from the Start training offered research-based information on how to consider universal design concepts when planning early learning environments and teaching strategies. Universal design for early learning considers how to make the curriculum and environment accessible to the greatest number of learners without modification. This two-day, advanced level training was held at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro for 45 early childhood educators. The training was so successful it was repeated this spring, geared to family child care home providers. One participant of the fall workshop commented, “An excellent use of two days of my time. I am recharged, refocused, and ready to keep moving forward on the path to Universal Design.”

Coastal ELOAG activities also included a special peer-mentoring project that trained 13 peer mentors, including teachers and directors from center and home settings, to be leaders in the field of early education. Peer mentors received comprehensive training and were key partners in developing the Plan from the Start training. They continue to provide ongoing support to early childhood educators looking for information about best practices, getting started, accreditation, Child Development Associate (CDA), and a range of other topics. Brochures about the peer mentor program are available from the Mid-Coast RDC and Maine Roads To Quality, located at the University of Southern Maine Muskie School in Portland; two organizations that refer providers to the mentor group. Mentors are paid through the grant. Center Research Associate Jill Downs, who helped coordinate these various activities, also attended two Care to Read sessions on early literacy, providing information and resources on choosing children’s literature representing disability and including all children in early literacy activities.

Western Maine ACCESS The most recent ELOAG grant project with Western Maine ACCESS adopted a multi-faceted approach to move toward affordable, accessible, high-quality care in the region. This partnership, between Franklin County Children’s Task force and the Center, will support children, parents, and the early care system in Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties with some innovative new training approaches.

With this grant, the Center’s work extends into cyberspace, with the launch of a web-based distance education course for family child care providers built around the Growing Ideas tipsheets. Each month, participants read a tipsheet, then undertake activities and join in discussions that relate ideas discussed in the tipsheet to their daily work with children. This increases provider access to information, training, and technical assistance, removing obstacles, such as long-distance travel and scheduling conflicts. Course participants started the first module at the end of March 2005. One module per month will be offered through January 2006. Providers will receive on-line support, be able to study at home, connect with other providers, and receive training contact hours, all at no cost.

The Western Maine ELOAG grant also includes goals to enhance early literacy, promote effective parenting, create quality learning environments, and increase access to inclusive community-based child care programs for children with special needs. The Center will consult with Western Maine Early Literacy Training programs to provide information and resources on choosing children’s literature representing all children, including children with disabilities and challenging behaviors. An EC Team staff member from the Center will collaborate with Maine Roads To Quality accreditation facilitators to provide information and resources to the accreditation cohort programs on including children with disabilities in early childhood programs.

While grant activities may vary in each of the three ELOAG grant regions, the goal is consistent: to provide high quality, inclusive, community-based early care and education programs for Maine’s youngest children. Funding from ELOAG grants has offered new opportunities for the Center’s EC Team and partners to make a difference for Maine’s children and families.

— Bonnie Blagojevic
 Jill Downs
 Debra Rainey

CENTERPOINT: The Newsletter of The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, Maine’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service