- Increased preschool capacity to equitably meet the needs of all children and families
- Reduced suspension and expulsion of young children
- Family engagement
- Early childhood best practices integrated with infant mental health consultation
- Data-based decision making and intervention monitoring
Over the past few years, the state has been quietly building the Washington Pyramid Model, a collection of programs and evidence-based classroom practices to support early childhood development.
The goal: Increase high-quality, inclusive learning settings
for young children, which in Washington is an urgent issue for children with
intellectual and developmental disabilities. Among the 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Bureau of Indian Education schools we rank 49th
out of 53 when it comes to inclusive early learning. (Source: 2020 Annual Report to Congress on the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act)
For children with intellectual disabilities in K-12, we are 51 out 53 when it comes to least restricted environment. Overall, in K-12, we are in the bottom 8 for least restricted environment.
Out of 10,150 preschool students with disabilities in
Washington with an individual education program (IEP), just 1,783 attend a regular early childhood program,
with supports pushed in. “Regular early childhood program” is actually legal
term – spelled out in federal and now state administrative code – that means a
regular preschool or other early learning setting, where at least half the students
do not have a disability. Access to one is important because research shows that inclusive
early learning is critical to social emotional learning and skill development. No study that assesses social outcomes has found segregated settings to be superior.
In fact, research shows skills decline when children are taught them only to be placed into “self-contained” classes, or classes with just a few peers.
Inclusion – or lack of it – affects children’s development and well-being. Relationships, social and emotional learning, and skill building are essential to later behavior health and academic progress.
Data on use of restraints and isolation is similarly alarming.
According to state reports, students with disabilities make up 92 percent of students who were restrained or isolated in our public schools. And 80 percent of the students who were restrained or isolated were in grades K-5.
There is even more upsetting data on suspension and expulsion. National data shows children with disabilities make up about 13 percent of all preschoolers, but account for 75 percent of formal and informal suspensions and expulsions.
Too many schools are not using inclusive, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive practices, and the kids are not all right.
The Washington Pyramid Model – supported by both the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) – is the movement to change that. It focuses on building out technical assistance and coaching to support inclusive programs with fidelity. At its core is relationship building – among staff, with families and community, and with children.
Action steps include:
- Improve the inclusion of children with disabilities in early learning settings
- Identify and implement applied research strategies that address specific inclusionary policy, procedure, and reflections on potential opportunities in early childhood settings
- Identify early childhood inclusion and funding models, facilities guidance, and high-quality instructional strategies captured in the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center’s Pre-K Inclusion Toolkit and Provisions of Services to Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs During a School Facility Closure document
- Finalize a Joint Position Statement on Preschool Inclusion with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Share training experiences with early learning professionals, across grade levels and disciplines, relating to inclusionary practices and Universal Design for Learning frameworks
- Continue to build a network to support sustainable professional development around the Washington Pyramid Model to support implementation in classroom, program, and systems level under the guidance of a cross-sector state leadership team
Washington is in year three of the pyramid model build out.
- Year 1 included work with 2 school districts and 1 education service district, or ESD. ESDs are regional entities, governed by boards, that link public schools to state and national resources. A lot of staff professional development is done through ESDs.
- Year 2 added 4 early learning programs and two ESDs.
- Year 3 added 3 districts or programs and 3 ESDs. In King County, implementation sites include the Neighborhood House in South Seattle and the Shoreline School District’s Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center.
You can read about the work in the 2020-21 Washington State Pyramid Model Implementation Report.
The report includes information about the 9 site programs being supported. You can also look up locations on this map, along with locations of other state initiatives on inclusive early learning.
This article was written by Ramona Hattendorf, director of advocacy at The Arc of King County using sources from OSPI and the U.S. Department of Education.
