As more and more focus is being put on Early Childhood Education both on the state and federal level, Special Education and other district and building level Administrators are realizing the need to better understand preschool and the requirements as it relates to serving preschool aged children with disabilities. The US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the New Hampshire Department of Education (NH DOE) have a strong commitment to ensuring that preschool children with disabilities are educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This means that children are educated in an Early Childhood setting and removed to other settings only when the nature and severity of the child’s disability is such that, even with supplemental aids and services, their needs cannot be met in the Early Childhood setting. As with school aged children, school districts are required to ensure access to a continuum of alternative learning environments for preschoolers. For some districts, ensuring access to Early Childhood programs means collaborating with community Early Childhood and preschool programs. For some districts, this means expanding district operated program models to include Early Childhood classrooms.

SUPPORTING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES:A Guide to Understanding
Early Childhood Special Education Systems

To support districts in examining their Preschool Special Education Systems, the Race2K project has developed SUPPORTING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES: A Guide to Understanding Early Childhood Special Education Systems This guide was developed to provide a general overview of preschool in the context of ensuring preschool children with disabilities have access to the Least Restrictive Environment. In addition, it also provides tools and strategies to help Administrators better understand and examine their district’s system for providing services to preschool aged children with disabilities. This guide is intended to be used as a tool for school districts to reflect on the capacity and characteristics of their own programs and/or classrooms. The Rubrics and other tools included are to help Administrators and Preschool program staff examine and discuss their program’s characteristics and components. It is suggested that Administrators and Preschool program staff meet to discuss the questions raised and complete the Rubrics and/or tools together. It is important to remember that this Guide and its tools are not designed to “evaluate” a program but rather to generate discussion about the characteristics of the program and the capacity of a district to meet the needs of children with disabilities within the LRE. The guide is divided into several sections. You can explore the sections below or download the entire guide here.

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Click the picture to down load Examining Where Services are Provided to Preschool Children with Disabilities
This section discusses the terminology, and provides clarification around the settings and environments related to serving preschool aged children with disabilities. This section includes a program self-assessment.
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Click the picture to downloadUnderstanding Your District's Preschool System
The second section provides information to support conversations between Administrators and Preschool staff around the components and qualities of the district’s preschool system including classroom types, service delivery models and quality components. This section includes a rubric to help document a district’s preschool system.
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Click the picture to downloadExpanding Your District Operated Preschool Program
The third section discusses how a district can expand their district operated preschool program to meet the increasing number of preschool aged children with disabilities and/or to include Early Childhood classrooms. This section includes a checklist to help explore capacity for expansion.

Rubrics/Checklists

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Click the picture to down load District Self-Assessment
This Self-Assessment is intended to provide a snap shot of a district’s program.
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Click the picture to downloadUnderstanding Your District's Preschool System Rubric
It is suggested that Administrators meet with Preschool Coordinators or others involved in a district’s preschool program to discuss the questions raised in the Understanding Your District’s Preschool System section of the Guide and then use this Rubric to document the district’s preschool system.
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Click the picture to downloadExpansion Capacity Checklist
It is suggested that Administrators meet with Preschool Coordinators or others involved in a district’s preschool program to discuss the questions raised in the Moving Your District’s Preschool Programming Forward and complete the Checklist together.