Review

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The Professional Handbook provides a general overview of adaptations for children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., teach to children's strengths, address children's needs with special scaffolding). It also describes how teachers can use the "One-to-One Follow-Ups" to provide responsive instruction, all of which follow a similar structure of "If you observe..., then adapt..." Finally, the Teaching Guides provide specific modifications for each "Big Learning Experience" in relation to certain disabilities.

Learning Environment: The Professional Handbook includes some adaptations to ensure learning materials and the physical space are accessible for children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., adding a screen magnifier, using visual posters, providing easy-to-grip markers). The suggested modifications for each "Big Learning Experience" often refer to making the materials and physical space accessible for specific activities (e.g., rearranging physical space so that children in wheelchairs can participate). However, universal design principles are not discussed, and the Teacher Guides do not provide consistent guidance embedded throughout on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are fully accessible to children with disabilities or other special needs.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum provides minimal guidance on how to embed teaching practices and other interventions in daily routines and activities to support the learning of children with disabilities or other special needs. The Teacher's Handbook provides examples of modifications that teachers working with children with disabilities have made (e.g., using picture cues, partnering children with more competent peers, providing visuals for vocabulary). However, the curriculum lacks guidance on how to embed specific research-based practices or other interventions in daily routines and activities to support the learning of children with disabilities or other special needs.

Learning Environment: C4L provides minimal guidance on how to ensure learning materials and the physical environment are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. The Teacher's and Director's Handbooks include a few specific adaptations for materials (e.g., adding materials when children with sensory issues have a difficult time with planned materials, providing a second copy of books for children to follow along during read-alouds). Universal design principles are not explicitly addressed, and the curriculum lacks consistent, embedded guidance on how to ensure that the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to all children.
 

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The Handbook provides general strategies for using the curriculum with children who have disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs (e.g., using visuals, differentiating instruction). However, the curriculum lacks guidance on how to embed specific research-based teacher practices or other interventions in daily routines and activities.

Learning Environment: The curriculum provides general guidance on how to ensure learning materials and the physical space are accessible for children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. The Handbook includes a few specific adaptations (e.g., adjusting the physical environment to accommodate wheelchair access, using visuals to help children with autism follow directions). However, universal design principles are not discussed. The Handbook does not provide consistent, embedded guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to all children.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: Volumes 1–6 provide strategies and examples of how to ensure daily routines and activities are inclusive of children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., using visual and tactile cues, providing picture sequences). The Teaching Guides and Intentional Teaching Cards provide specific suggestions for how to include children with disabilities or other special needs in learning experiences (e.g., providing something to hold during large group activities to focus a child's attention, suggesting alternative materials for all children to participate in an activity).

Learning Environment: The curriculum provides specific guidance that is embedded throughout many of the curriculum materials to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities or other special needs. The Volumes offer many examples of universal design principles and modifications to the physical environment. The activities in the Teaching Guides and Intentional Teaching Cards provide specific suggestions for how teachers may need to add or modify learning materials to meet individual children's needs.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum provides minimal guidance on how to embed intentional teaching practices and other interventions to support the development and learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. The "Supporting Children with Special Needs" section of the Teacher's Manual suggests setting up a buddy system, using peer tutoring, and reducing the amount of material that is covered each day. However, the curriculum includes no further guidance in this area.

Learning Environment: The curriculum provides limited guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities and other special needs. The Teacher's Manual suggests that, depending on a child's disability, a teacher might employ assistive technology such as computer screens to enlarge text. The curriculum encourages teachers to use concrete materials with children with special needs. Even so, the curriculum lacks overall guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to all children (e.g., universal design principles), and the curriculum could include specific examples of how to adapt learning materials embedded throughout the instructional components.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum provides specific guidance integrated throughout the curriculum materials on how to embed intentional teaching practices and other interventions to support the development of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. Foundations for Learning includes general guidance to support children with specific needs (e.g., offer children with special needs additional opportunities to practice print awareness in a variety of settings, repeat and expand on group lessons on print awareness). In addition, for each unit, the Volumes list "Special Needs Adaptations" that offer specific assistance for children with visual and hearing impairments; cognitive, motor, speech and language delays; and emotional and behavioral issues. For example, the curriculum suggests that teachers adapt an "I Spy" game for a child with visual impairments by placing five items in a tray and asking the child to examine them; or for a child with speech delays, teachers are encouraged to show the child three pictures and ask him to point to the one he enjoys.

Learning Environment: Learn Every Day™ includes specific guidance on how to ensure learning materials are accessible for children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs, but it lacks guidance on how to ensure that the environment is accessible. "Special Needs Adaptations" for each unit include suggestions for adapting materials (e.g., attach clothespins to items to make them easier to pick up if a child has difficulty grasping; for children with motor delays, use tongs instead of chopsticks). While the curriculum offers a few suggestions for ensuring the physical environment is accessible for children with specific disabilities, it lacks overall guidance on how to ensure the physical environment is accessible to all children (e.g., universal design principles).

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The Curriculum Guidebook provides general guidance for working with children with special needs (e.g., be inclusive, work with the child's family) and suggestions for the types of adaptations that can be made to support children with specific disabilities or special needs, such as motor delays and visual and hearing impairments. For example, the curriculum suggests that children with hearing impairments be seated close to the teacher during instructional activities. One limitation is the curriculum lacks specific guidance on how to embed intentional teaching practices and other interventions in the daily routines and activities to support the development and learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Learning Environment: The curriculum notes it is important to reflect on whether the physical environment is accessible to children with disabilities. However, it provides limited guidance on how to make the environment accessible. For example, the Curriculum Guidebook offers some strategies to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with specific disabilities (e.g., providing tactile materials, using thumbs up or down in place of "yes" or "no"). However, the curriculum lacks overall guidance on how to ensure the physical environment is accessible to all children (e.g., universal design principles) and specific examples of how to adapt learning materials embedded throughout the curriculum activities and interest centers.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: I Belong: Active Learning for Children with Special Needs provides practical scenarios, examples, and strategies to modify activities to accommodate children with disabilities or other special needs. Other curriculum resources that focus on learning activities (e.g., 50 Large Group Activities for Active Learning, Small Group Times to Scaffold Early Learning) provide specific adaptations for children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., offering picture cards, providing alternative materials to do the activity).

Learning Environment: I Belong: Active Learning for Children with Special Needs thoroughly discusses how to adapt the learning environment and daily routines for children with disabilities or other special needs.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The DLM Research and Professional Development Guide provides a general overview of adaptations for children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., present new concepts in short segments, allow children to use many senses to explore). The Teacher's Editions provide specific modifications for many of the learning activities, including modifications to support children with delayed motor development, hearing impairment, speech and language delays, or other special needs.

Learning Environment: The curriculum lacks guidance to ensure learning materials and the physical space are accessible for children with disabilities or other special needs. The DLM Research and Professional Development Guide mentions a few specific adaptations (e.g., creating picture cards for children to follow routines, adjusting seating to meet children's needs). Universal design principles are not discussed, and the Teacher's Editions do not provide consistent guidance embedded throughout them on how to ensure that the physical environment and learning materials are accessible.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: Guidelines and Strategies for Children with Special Needs provides general guidance for working with children with special needs (e.g., using peer buddies) as well as descriptions and adaptations to support children with specific disabilities or special needs (e.g., allowing children with visual impairments to explore things through touch and sound). The Teacher Guides provide specific modifications to ensure that daily routines and activities are inclusive of children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., using gestures while speaking, suggesting alternative materials for children with sensory integration issues).

Learning Environment: The curriculum provides some guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities or other special needs. For example, Guidelines and Strategies for Children with Special Needs provides some strategies to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with specific disabilities (e.g., adjusting the lighting, hanging sign language alphabet on the wall, providing braille books). Similarly, the Teacher Guides occasionally offer suggestions for additional learning materials to support children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., posting a number line in the Math Center, providing a paintbrush for children with tactile sensitivity). However, the curriculum lacked overall guidance on how to ensure the physical environment is accessible to all children (e.g., universal design principles). The curriculum could include more specific examples of how to adapt learning materials embedded throughout the many curriculum activities and learning centers.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: Welcome to Frog Street Threes provides general guidance for working with children with special needs (e.g., planning activities that include all children, working with the child's family). It also includes descriptions and adaptations to support children with specific disabilities or special needs (e.g., allowing children with visual impairments to explore things through touch and sound). The Teaching Guides provide specific modifications to ensure daily routines and activities are inclusive of children with disabilities and other special needs (e.g., simplifying an activity, inviting children in wheelchairs to participate in a movement activity using different body parts).

Learning Environment: The curriculum provides guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities and other special needs. For example, Welcome to Frog Street Threes includes strategies like adjusting the lighting and using simple adaptive devices. Similarly, the Teaching Guides occasionally offer suggestions for additional learning materials to support children with disabilities and other special needs (e.g., give children a larger tool than an eyedropper, adapt a ball-catching activity by letting children use a net or bucket).

Teaching Practices and Interventions: World of Wonders provides embedded guidance throughout the curriculum materials to support the development of children with disabilities, suspected delays, and other special needs. The "Adaptations for Children with Special Needs" text boxes provide support for children with varying special needs (e.g., language delays, physical, vision impairments, the autism spectrum). However, the same specific strategies are repeated across the units for everyday classroom experiences (e.g., circle time, learning song movements). Adaptations are not tailored to specific activities within the different domains, but provide general guidance (e.g., quiet praise for appropriate behavior, modeling turn-taking). 

Learning Environment: The curriculum provides guidance to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, and other special needs. The Welcome to Wonders of the World guide discusses the importance of facilitating learning opportunities to ensure children with disabilities can access the learning experiences. In addition, the "Adaptations for Children with Special Needs" text boxes provide examples of modifications for learning materials to meet individual needs (e.g., visual reminders, Velcro to stabilize puzzle pieces). Similar to the teaching practices, suggestions for adaptations to the learning environment are general and not specific to the learning experiences presented throughout the curriculum.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum provides guidance on how to embed teaching practices and other interventions in daily routines and activities to support the learning of children with disabilities or other special needs. Each unit includes several "Make It Easier!" prompts that provide guidance on how to differentiate instruction and scaffold learning for children who have special needs. In addition to general classroom suggestions (e.g., provide extra scaffolding, adjust motor activities, and utilize visual supports), Adaptations for Children with Special Needs also provides strategies throughout the daily routine to support children with specific disabilities or needs. This includes suggestions for adapting circle times, center time, and other parts of the day for children with cognitive delays, language delays, and children on the autism spectrum, as well as for children who have motor delays and sensory needs.

Learning Environment: OWL provides some guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, and other special needs. For example, Adaptations for Children with Special Needs provides a few strategies to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with specific disabilities during certain parts of the daily routine (e.g., using a visual schedule, adding photos to text labels). However, the curriculum lacks overall guidance on how to ensure the physical environment is accessible to all children (e.g., universal design principles) and more specific examples of how to adapt learning materials embedded throughout the curriculum activities and learning centers.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The Guiding Documents provide general guidance for children with disabilities or other special needs (e.g., using physical gestures, providing sentence frames). In the units, the curriculum offers some teaching strategies, such as modeling and using small groups to support children's learning. The curriculum lacks systematic guidance on how to embed intentional teaching practices and other interventions in the daily routines and activities to support the development and learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. 

Learning Environment: Pre K for ME provides some general guidance on how to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, and other special needs. For example, the Guiding Documents offer some strategies to ensure the learning materials are accessible (e.g., visual images for directions, limiting the number of materials). In addition, some specific examples are embedded, such as providing plastic gloves for children with sensory challenges. However, the guidance is not embedded throughout curriculum materials and often does not address children with a variety of needs. 

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum provides guidance on how to embed teaching practices and other interventions in daily routines and activities to support the learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. Each Teacher Guide offers "Differentiation" and "Differentiation: Inclusion" callout boxes that describe ways to individualize instruction and scaffold learning for children who have special needs. Some examples include guidance such as, if a child has difficulty holding or manipulating a marker or pencil, offer hand-over-hand assistance, or if children are language-delayed, ask simple, specific questions to help them tell about themselves.

Learning Environment: InvestiGator PreK 2018 provides specific guidance that is embedded throughout many of the curriculum materials to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. The Research and Professional Guide gives a few examples of modifications to the physical environment, while the "Differentiation" and "Differentiation: Inclusion" callout boxes in the Teaching Guides include specific suggestions for how teachers may need to add or modify learning materials to meet individual children's needs.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: Some of the materials in the Just for Threes 2018 curriculum (also included as part of the InvestiGator PreK curriculum) provide guidance on how to embed teaching practices and other interventions in daily routines and activities to support the learning of children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. The Let's Investigate Teacher Guide includes "Differentiation" and "Differentiation: Inclusion" callout boxes that describe ways to individualize instruction and scaffold learning for children who have special needs. For example, it suggests that if a child has difficulty holding or manipulating a marker or pencil, offer hand-over-hand assistance; or if children are language-delayed, ask simple, specific questions to help them tell about themselves. In addition, the Outdoor Creative Play and Learning Cards offer inclusion prompts for each activity. However, lessons in the Just for Threes 2018 Teacher Guide (e.g., Marvelous Me! unit, Extension Activities) do not provide teaching practices and other interventions to support children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other disabilities.

Learning Environment: Just for Threes 2018 provides specific guidance in some of the curriculum materials to ensure the physical environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs. The Research and Professional Guide gives a few examples of modifications to the physical environment. The "Differentiation" and "Differentiation: Inclusion" callout boxes in the Let's Investigate Teacher Guide include specific suggestions for how teachers may need to add or modify learning materials to meet individual children's needs. However, the activities within the Just for Threes 2018 Teacher Guide and Social and Emotional Development Kit lack guidance to ensure that the physical learning environment and learning materials are accessible to children with disabilities, suspected delays, or other special needs.

Teaching Practices and Interventions: The curriculum's approach is that teachers should make accommodations for children with special needs, suspected delays, or other special needs within every activity, as necessary, without making modifications that alter the purpose of the activity. Accommodations are based on children's responses to supports and scaffolds provided by the learning environment in relationship to the child's ZPD. The Additional Scaffolds Appendix Manual provides overview information on scaffolding for individual children with special needs, including children with significant developmental delays, behavior problems (self-regulation), and children who need more fine motor supports. This volume also provides "Additional Teacher Scaffolds," specific supports for children with a variety of needs related to each activity in the curriculum. For example, in the activity "Share the News," there are scaffolds for a child who has difficulty with expressive language and for a child who has difficulty remembering the steps in the activity.

Learning Environment: The Introductory Manual discusses "Accommodations Made Within the Classroom," but provides minimal guidance on how to modify the physical environment. The curriculum mentions briefly that "the nature of a child's disability might mean accommodations that require changes be made in the design of the entire classroom or in the design of specific activities" and that such accommodations should be discussed among special education staff and the classroom teacher. A few strategies in the Additional Scaffolds Appendix Manual include suggestions for adapting materials (e.g., for a child who has a visual impairment, provide objects that have texture to sort so the child can use both touch and vision).