Assessment of Inclusive Practices in Head Start Preschool Classrooms to Support Students with Disabilities: Access, Participation, and Supports

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This quantitative study investigates the assessment of inclusive practices in Head Start preschool classrooms (Muccio, 2012) to inform access, participation, and supports (DEC/NAEYC, 2009) as currently, Head Start does not mandate to assess inclusive practices. The Head Start Act enacted in 1965 is mandated to include 10% enrollment for preschool students with disabilities (Allen & Cowdery, 2009; Odom, Buysse, Soukakou, E. 2011). Data will be gathered from ten (10) Head Start preschool classrooms of a school district in Riverside County using the Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) (Soukakou, 2016) and the Support Scale for Preschool Inclusion (SSPI) Survey (Küçüker, S., Funda A., & Emine G. 2006) from teachers. ICP scores of classrooms will be compared with tier ratings of Quality Rating and Improvement System (Quality Start Riverside County, 2019). Data of ICP, SSPI, and QRIS will be analyzed by identifying observable variables by implementing Analysis of Variances (ANOVA), Path Analysis of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) (Tabachnik & Fidell, 2012) methodology with the use of the LISREL software. Findings will be shared with administrators of Early Childhood Education nationwide as it has the potential to make transformative changes in policies on preschool inclusion, quality measures, and professional development to improve student outcomes for all students. Research findings will be contributed to the current literature. According to (Gallagher & Lambert, 2006; Muccio et al., 2014) Head is the largest provider of inclusive services for students with disabilities in the United States and research on assessment of inclusion is extremely scarce.