Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  preschool class groupings

    Posted 06-01-2018 10:39 PM
    Hello all! My district has had a special education preschool program for over 30 years, and an At-Risk Pre-K for 14 years. We work to blend the two programs more each year. Does anyone have any advice in this area? Or great resources?

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    Lee
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  • 2.  RE: preschool class groupings

    Posted 06-03-2018 07:50 AM
    I think the first question to ask is what is your ultimate goal for each child?  Will he be a general education kindergartener or special needs?  In my school, I have 6 PK -- 1 universal, 3 special needs collaboratives, and 1 high need special needs class, and 1 very young special needs class.  As students in the high needs and very young class close out the year, we take a hard look at what would be the best for that child in the future.  Since these two classes are smaller than the others, we ask ourselves if the child is ready for a bigger class (16/17 students vs only 10).  We look at skills, social emotional, behaviors -- all aspects of the child.  Then we look at all of our returning students as a whole -- who will work best with whom, which teacher would be the best fit, etc.  There is a lot of thought and energy put into this process, and I can say it works.  The teachers guide the placements as they know the students best, and they sit together and do it.  In addition, the change in teacher provides a starting point, with additional interventions, of getting children ready for changing teachers once they get to the elementary school.  While most children would benefit from having the same teacher every year, that is not going to be an option starting in Kindergarten and beyond.  In addition, most of these students have social emotional and adjustment concerns to begin with.  Helping them in a smaller, well-trained environment to acclimate to changes is the best place to start instead of waiting until Kindergarten.  That doesn't mean that some children don't stay with a particular teacher two years in a row, especially if we are going to have them for three years.  These are rare occasions and are based on very specific reasons.  Another aspect to consider is the benefits to the teacher and assistants.  If you are always getting the most difficult children every year, it wears on you.  Sharing those children who can be moved to another classroom helps them too!

    That being said, I do have to qualify that I have enough PK classrooms in my building to do this.  If you only have one or two classrooms, it makes it hard to put this process in place.  However, the benefits of transitioning children through the different classrooms has been very successful for us.  Parents love it, and the children benefit greatly.  Think of it as a riding a bicycle -- you go from the low-riding tryke to the to tricycle, to the two-wheeler with training wheels.  By the time they get to Kindergarten, you are ready to send them off without training wheels!

    I hope this helps!

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    Amanda Stevens
    Principal
    Marlowe Elementary School
    Inwood WV
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  • 3.  RE: preschool class groupings

    Posted 06-05-2018 12:15 PM
    Hi,
    I am one of the At-Risk & Special Needs Co-Facilitators and I wanted to weigh in though Mary Wonderlick has more experience in the public education system than I do. I work in birth to five child care at the Center for Inclusive Child Care supporting children in inclusive settings. I think the reply to your answer was a thorough reply; transitioning a child slowly from a supportive, responsive and smaller classroom setting will yield better social emotional outcomes for the child than waiting to transition all at once into a general education kindergarten classroom. The supports are a major consideration here. If the children who are at-risk are moved out of a particularly supported classroom (where I am assuming they get mental health support?) will supports follow them to the general education classroom? The supports are so important to their ongoing health and development. Consistency in care is frequently cited as a priority for healthy social emotional development, so if your district is doing away with their classroom, how could you still have promote some of that consistency? Could a teacher they know be part of the other classroom some parts of the week? Are there familiar routines that can be incorporated?
    Let us know what is happening and how your district has decided to proceed. Cindy

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    Cindy Croft
    Center for Inclusive Child Care
    Saint Paul MN
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  • 4.  RE: preschool class groupings

    Posted 06-05-2018 01:36 PM
    Lee,
    I do not have any specific information or data for you at hand. Given my background  it is probably presumed that I would. I will presume that you started with and have already utilized our naeyc site as a resource.

    What I would recommend is that you search both the DEC (Council of Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood) and Head Start's websites. DEC because of their focus on youngsters with disabilities and Head Start because of their focus on children who are at-risk. They each do have "Best Practice" recommendations, position and policy statements -- many in partnership with naeyc.
    DEC  http://www.dec-sped.org/
    Head Start  https://www.nhsa.org/

    I applaud your passion and spirit.

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    Mary Wonderlick
    co facilitator
    At Risk & Special Needs Interest Forum
    Chicago IL
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