• 
  • Releases
  • Speeches
  • Articles
  • Events
  • Subscribe
  • Learning Link
  • Multimedia Centre
  • Practically Speaking
  • Profiles in Learning
• 
  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • Minerva Lecture Series
• 
  • Requests for Proposals
  • Funded Research
  • Reviewing Proposals
  • Building Capacity for Research
  • Researcher in Residence
  • Research Events, Presentations & Workshops
  • Student Success
• 
  • Composite Learning Index
  • Health Literacy
  • Post-secondary Education
  • Reading the Future
  • State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada
  • State of E-Learning
  • State of Learning in Canada
  • Redefining success in Aboriginal learning
  • Commissioned Reports
  • Question Scans
  • State-of-the-field Reviews
  • Systematic Reviews
  • Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning
  • Literacy Assessment
  • Lessons in Learning
  • Journal of Applied Research on Learning
  • Data Warehouse
• 
  • What We Do
  • President and CEO
  • Board of Directors
  • Knowledge Exchange
  • 21st Century Learning Initiative (Canada)
  • Knowledge Centres
  • Crosscutting Themes
  • Joint Initiatives
  • Corporate Reports
  • Working at CCL
  • Contact Us

• Requests for Proposals
• Funded Research
• Adult Learning
• Aboriginal Learning
• Early Childhood Learning
• Health and Learning
• Structured Learning
• Work and Learning
• Reviewing Proposals
• Building Capacity for Research
• Researcher in Residence
• Research Events, Presentations & Workshops
• Student Success

Assessing Inclusion Quality in Early Learning and Child Care in Canada with the SpeciaLink Child-care Inclusion Practices Profile and Principles Scale

Summary (PDF 24 KB) Full Report (PDF 536 KB)

Donna S. Lero, Ph.D.
Jarislowsky Chair in Families and Work Centre for Families, Work and Well-being
University of Guelph

 

Context

Recent advances in policy development and professional practice in the field of early childhood education and care have led to the expectation that it is appropriate and advantageous to include children with disabilities (special needs) in community-based early child care and learning programs. As more efforts are made to provide opportunities for young children with special needs to participate in inclusive programs, it is imperative that steps are taken to ensure that children and their parents benefit from programs that exemplify high overall quality and also address each child’s unique needs. To date, evidence-based research of the effects of experiences in inclusive programs on children’s development and parent support have been hampered by the lack of appropriate measures to assess inclusion quality in community-based programs that are reliable, valid, and relatively easy to administer by trained early childhood professionals.

Goal

The main purpose of this study was to examine the internal reliability and structural properties of the SpeciaLink Inclusion Principles Scale and Inclusion Practices Profile (recently combined in the SpeciaLink Early Childhood Inclusion Quality Scale (2009) as two new measures to assess inclusion quality, and to provide initial evidence of their validity. This technical report provides strong evidence for the utility and reliability of both SpeciaLink Inclusion measures when used together as measures of inclusion quality. Furthermore, both measures predict centre directors’ global ratings of their centre’s effectiveness in including children with special needs.

 

Top