Strengthening Inclusion for Young Learners in Chicago

Overview

In early 2022, Start Early, Chicago’s other five federal Head Start grant recipients and Chicago Public Schools formed an Advisory Committee to begin exploring how to achieve community-based services for children with IEPs enrolled in Head Start. After a year of research on other district models, gathering of parent and staff input and joint planning through frequent committee meetings, the pilot model was developed and launched in the fall of 2023. 

Parents in Chicago often enroll their children ages 3-5 in community-based organizations because they love and trust their local early learning program and because the program provides more convenient hours and comprehensive, year-long services for families. At the same time, Chicago Public School (CPS) is the agency that provides special education services for all children ages 3-5 who qualify for these services. Currently, most young children with disabilities must leave their community-based classroom, board a bus, transition to a CPS classroom and travel back to their community-based program in one day to receive their special education services. Some families choose to forgo services due to the disruptive nature of this transition. The goal of this pilot is to develop, implement, assess and institutionalize feasible strategies for delivering special education services to children with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) onsite in the Head Start programs in which they are enrolled. 

Are you an educator currently participating in this pilot? Access orientation and pilot training recordings here.

Have questions about this pilot? Reach out to inclusionpilot@startearly.org to get in touch with a member of the planning team.

Program Eligibility

CPS Itinerant teachers and related service providers (which currently includes speech language pathologists and social workers) travel to each participating Head Start program to deliver services in the Head Start classroom. Because this is a pilot program, eligibility is currently limited. Children are eligible to participate in the pilot if they meet all of the following eligibility criteria:  

• They attend one of the six participating Head Start programs: Educare Chicago, Paulo Freire Family Center, Chinese American Service League, Christopher House (Belden Ave), Henry Booth House– Near South, and Carole Robertson Center for Learning – Little Village  
• They have fewer than 275 special education minutes per week on their IEP  
• Their parent or guardian has given consent  

CPS itinerant teachers and Head Start teachers have dedicated planning time to discuss needs and goals of children in the classroom and develop strategies using both of their expertise to support all children. This time is important for teachers to develop a teaching relationship and implement inclusive classroom strategies together. 

All staff also have the opportunity to participate in annual professional development trainings and on-going joint communities of practice hosted by STAR NET, a statewide network that provides evidence-based training for teachers to implement inclusive strategies in their classrooms.  

Learnings to Date

Start Early conducted a thorough qualitative and quantitative evaluation during school year 2023-2024 through surveys and focus groups with pilot stakeholders, including the planning team, staff, and parents. Findings from the first year of implementation indicate:  

• Pilot staff expressed stronger belief in the importance of inclusion, the collaborative teaching model and the importance of children receiving services in the community-based setting after participating in the first year of implementation. 
• Pilot staff felt that they had developed new and improved skills related to early childhood special education after participating in the first year of implementation. 
• Pilot staff are building strong relationships across the Head Start and Chicago Public Schools systems.  
• Staff and parents alike report improved outcomes for children and are glad to be a part of the pilot. 

Team & Collaborators

This project is executed through a public-private partnership thanks to the many contributions of staff from Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, Carole Robertson Center for Learning, Chicago Commons, Easterseals serving Greater Chicago and Rockford and Henry Booth House.  

Special thanks to: This pilot project was made possible with generous support from Crown Family Philanthropies.