Development and evaluation of an advocacy course for early childhood special educators

ABSTRACT

Globally, there are political, social, and financial obstacles to providing high quality, inclusive early childhood education to young children with disabilities and their families. Many teachers are able to identify the systemic issues that negatively impact their work; however, many early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers do not have the competence or confidence to advocate for systemic change. In the U.S., one reason for ECSE teachers not engaging in advocacy is an absence of content, practice, and opportunities to learn about advocacy in traditional teacher preparation programmes. This mixed methods study explored how an 8-week graduate level course focused on advocacy for ECSE trainees influenced their knowledge, skills, and dispositions towards advocacy. The course content, assignments, and activities are described as well as pre- and post-course evaluation data. Implications are discussed regarding the course outcomes, lessons learned, and future directions for infusing advocacy content and experiences in ECSE training programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood special education
• advocacy
• inclusion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alissa Rausch

Dr. Alissa Rausch is an Assistant Research Faculty Member in the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. She has worked as clinical faculty in the early childhood and early childhood special education licensure program at CU Denver. Her work in higher education blossomed from 15 years of practice as an early childhood educator working in inclusive preschool classrooms serving young children and their families. Alissa also had the privilege of serving children from diverse backgrounds and their families in their homes and in community settings. Her current work centers on supporting preservice and in-service practitioners to build their capacity to act as agents of social change and implement quality inclusive practices for young children in the field of early childhood education.

Elizabeth Steed

Dr. Elizabeth Steed joined the School of Education & Human Development in 2013. Prior to coming to University of Colorado Denver, Dr. Steed worked in early intervention with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities. She completed an Institute of Education Sciences postdoctoral fellowship in Early Childhood Education at Purdue University and was an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for the Early Childhood Special Education program at Georgia State University. Dr. Steed has been the Principal Investigator on a number of research grants. Her research focuses on inclusion, supporting young children's social emotional competence, and culturally responsive practices in early childhood education. Dr. Steed's hobbies include hiking and camping, reading fiction, skiing, and playing USTA tennis.

Phillip Strain

Dr. Phillip Strain is James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Urban Education at the Morgridge College of Education and Director of the PELE Center, University of Denver. He is the author of over 300 scientific publications, has served on the editorial boards of 22 professional journals and has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of grants and contracts totaling over 80 million dollars. He is particularly interested in expanding inclusive preschool options, comprehensive services for young children with autism and prevention and intervention for children with challenging behaviors.