Directions: Be sure to make an electronic copy of your answer before submitting it to Ashworth College for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four (4) pages in length; refer to the “Assignment Format” page for specific format requirements.
Part 1
Using the information in Chapter 10, you’ll compare and contrast three (3) inclusion models by filling out the Inclusion Support Model Chart (see below). For each model, you’ll describe the key elements and distinctive characteristics, examine the advantages and challenges, and discuss the resources needed to implement each model.
One-To-One Assistant Itinerant Consultation Co-teaching
Key elements and distinctive characteristics of model
Advantages
Challenges
Resources needed to implement the model
Part 2
Next, assume you’ve been hired by a school district to provide inclusion support to children with disabilities, ages 3–5. Write a two-page reflection essay on which inclusion model you might like to try and why. Discuss what it might look like and what skills you might need to acquire or already have that might help the model develop successfully—keep in mind that there’s no one right inclusion model. There are a variety of ways to accomplish inclusion. The choice of models depends on the needs of the child, family, staff, and resources of the program.
CHAPTER 10:
Doubts
After the extreme optimism that accompanied the establishment of Head Start, it came as a shock to those who worked daily with the children and their parents that the program failed to produce long-term gains. The Westinghouse Report of 1969 cited data suggesting that measured gains made by Head Starters faded rapidly. By the end of the first grade, there often were no significant differences between the overall academic performance of children who had attended Head Start programs and those from the same kinds of homes who had not. Doubting the validity of this investigation, influential people fought for a stay of execution (Gotts, 1973). Among them was Edward Zigler, a member of the original planning committee that conceptualized Head Start and later director of the Office of Child Development. Zigler (1978) retorted, “I ask my colleagues in the research community to forgo the temptation of delivering definitive pronouncements concerning the fade-out issue and await instead the collection and analyses of more data” (p. 73).
Although the most recent impact study of 3- to 4-year-olds in Head Start revealed minimal long-term effects on children’s cognitive and social emotional development at the third-grade level (Puma et al., 2012), other studies have reported the positive effects of being in Head Start. At the end of the Head Start program, children demonstrated gains in language, literacy, and math skills, and well as increased social skills and impulse control (Aikens, Klein, Tarullo, & West, 2013). In kindergarten, compared to children who did not attend preschool, Head Start children demonstrated higher cognitive and social-emotional skills and fewer attention or behavioral difficulties (Zhai, Brooks-Gunn, & Waldfogel, 2011). As adults, Head Start graduates have been found to have an increased likelihood to graduate from high school, attend college, and receive a degree, license, or certification (Bauer & Schanzenbach, 2016). In addition, they are less likely to be unemployed or in poor health (Deming, 2009).
