What is your educational background?
I have a Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education.

What other experiences, or staff development has prepared you for inclusion?
I taught ECSE for several years with another school system. Our classrooms were in the same building but at the other end from Head Start. The ECSE classrooms had peer models as part of our enrollment. We began planning classroom activities together, shared the playground, planned a few parent activities together, shared materials with all teachers, visited each others' classrooms for special activities, and shared the lunchroom. We also began placing some of our children in their least restrictive environment.

What is your job role?
As a preschool coordinator, I oversee the day-to-day operation of the classrooms, make sure supply needs are met, supervise all special education needs for Bright Futures, supervise regular and special education teachers, assume responsibility for all education needs in the classrooms, supervise the site secretaries, the transition teacher and paraprofessional, and the floating paraprofessional, cooperate with the nurse and family involvement specialist to make sure Head Start guidelines are followed, and oversee enrollment.

What is your role regarding the inclusive component of the program?
I oversee the placement of students into the classrooms to make sure there is a blend of students. Ideal enrollment in each classroom in six Head Start children, four to six early childhood special education students, and two to three fee funded students.

How has your role changed or have you adapted your role as it relates to the inclusive program?
My job title changed from Education and Disabilities Coordinator with Head Start to Preschool Coordinator with the blended program. This added four more sessions with two more teachers to my responsibilities. Therefore, I was responsible for overseeing more IEP's which means more paperwork. I spend more time on administrative duties and have to organize my time in order to spend time observing.

What were your biggest concerns about participating in an inclusive program?
Blending of the program meant blending of the staff and doing this without feelings of loss of identity were a big concern for me. Both programs needed to feel that the children were gaining from this blend and not losing.

What were your experiences related to these concerns once inclusive services were implemented?
I believe that almost a year after the beginning of the blend, the staff are realizing the benefits to the children and the program. This takes time and patience and understanding and cooperation on everyone's part.

What do you see as the benefits of moving toward inclusive services?
This truly is the child's least restrictive environment. All children are treated as children first and then as children with needs, whether special education, economic, social, or health. All children accept each other more easily and are more tolerant of differences.

Can you offer one or more anecdotes that you feel illustrate the benefits of inclusion?
One of our students has a younger sibling that just joined our program as a transitioning student from the infant-toddler program. That child is hearing impaired so we are using sign language in both sibling's classrooms. We recently held a Kindergarten Teacher Panel for all families in the community who will have children in kindergarten next year. The grandmother asked the kindergarten teachers if they would be using sign language in their classrooms so that her grandchild could continue to learn and use sign language. She expects all teachers to provide the same quality education in kindergarten as is provided at preschool.