ERIC EJ650510: Forming Partnerships with Tribal Colleges to Meet Early Childhood Personnel Preparation Needs.

9 Pages·2001·0.61 MB·English

by  ERIC

Journal of Early Intervention
http://jei.sagepub.com
Forming Partnerships With Tribal Colleges to Meet Early Childhood Personnel
Preparation Needs
Geralyn M. Jacobs, Joanne Wounded Head, Sue Forest, Judy Struck, Keenan Pituch and
Gerard A. Jacobs
Journal of Early Intervention 2001; 24; 298
DOI: 10.1177/105381510102400405
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INNOVATIVE PRACTICES
Forming Partnerships With Tribal Colleges to
Meet Early Childhood Personnel
Preparation Needs
GERALYN M. JACOBS
University of South Dakota
JOANNE WOUNDED HEAD
The Center for Disabilities at the University of South Dakota
SUE FOREST
University of Montana
JUDY STRUCK
The Center for Disabilities at the University of South Dakota
KEENAN PITUCH & GERARD A. JACOBS
University of South Dakota
Having enough well-trained early intervention personnel continues to be a challenge on the
reservations of our country. The Higher Education Partnership Project was designed to help
address this challenge by providing a model of outreach training for reservation sites. The
project involved collaboration with two tribal colleges, offering courses to students and
professionals working with children with disabilities and their families. The program was
successful in teaching critical competencies and building a local capacity for teacher training.
Factors that led to this success were the involvement and support of personnel from the
reservation in all phases of the project, making the courses sensitive and relevant to students’
needs and cultures, and planning for the long-range continuation of the courses.
A significant challenge in the field of early needs. The project was specifically tailored to
intervention is finding enough qualified, well- meet the unique needs of early intervention
trained personnel to meet the needs of young professionals working in reservation areas.
children with special needs and their families This article will provide background infor-
(Squires, 1995; Winton & McCollum, 1997). mation about the project, a brief description
The shortage is especially critical in many of of the project and how it was implemented,
the reservation areas of our country. The project results, and a discussion focusing on
Higher Education Partnership was designed to suggestions to consider when developing sim-
help alleviate this shortage on two of the res- ilar types of personnel preparation programs.
ervations in South Dakota, and to provide a A survey of all educators and administra-
training model for other areas with similar tors directly involved in providing early child-
298
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.
hood services to children with disabilities in contributed to the choice of these locations for
school districts and cooperatives in South Da- this project. Both reservations had local ac-
kota documented the need for trained person- credited institutions of higher education with
nel (see Forest, 1990). Following this survey, existing special education programs and fac-
South Dakota made a commitment to ensure ulty. Both had a strong commitment to pro-
that all early childhood professionals serving vide supports for young children and their
young children with disabilities have the com- families, evidenced by their Child Find pro-
petencies necessary to provide high-quality grams and clinics. Finally, community mem-
services. The state issued rules and regula- bers on both reservations made commitments
tions mandating that professionals responsible of time and resources to support the project.
for classrooms consisting of young children
with disabilities must have an endorsement in DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
early childhood special education. The en-
dorsement required professionals to take a The project was funded as an early intervention
minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework in training initiative from the federal Administra-
six areas, including a 3-credit-hour practicum. tion on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) and
The state then implemented a training initia- the South Dakota Office of Special Education.
tive consisting of telecourses and summer insti- It was initially funded for 3 years and then giv-
tutes, but few reservation-based personnel at- en a one-year extension. A continuation of the
tended. To reach the professionals working on project subsequently funded for an additional 4
the reservations, the Center for Disabilities at years, is currently in operation.
the University of South Dakota proposed the The project was designed to establish part-
Higher Education Partnership Project to bring nerships with the tribal colleges, offer courses
training directly to the reservation communities. that would cover the competencies the state
The two reservations chosen for this project outlined, and provide the scaffolding needed
were the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reserva- to help the colleges continue to offer the
tions. The Rosebud Reservation is located in courses in the future. Because one out of ev-
Todd County, which has a population of 9,246 ery four states has Native American colleges,
and an unemployment rate of over 80%. this project would also provide a model for
Twelve percent of the children enrolled in other states to follow. ’
their schools have been identified as having
special needs, and an estimated 49% of the Model Elements
children under age 18 live in poverty. Shan- Partnership building. From the very begin-
non County, which includes the Pine Ridge ning of the project, tribal personnel were in-
Reservation, one of the largest reservations in volved in planning and providing suggestions.
the United States, has a total population of Advisory committees were established on
11,837. Twenty-five percent of the children both reservations, consisting of tribal college
enrolled in their schools have been identified faculty, administrators, students, early inter-
as having special needs, and an estimated 44% vention personnel, public school directors of
of the children under 18 live in poverty. The exceptional education, and community mem-
number of children between the ages of 3 and bers and leaders. The groups met to discuss a
5 qualifying for special education services at variety of issues, including the best time and
the two reservations combined averaged 66 location for the courses and effective ways to
children per year over the last 5 years (Coch- advertise. They also identified local family
ran, 2000), The state Interagency Coordinat- members who could be invited to the classes
ing Council reported that the number of chil- to share their experiences. The project faculty
dren from birth to age 3 qualifying for servic- worked in close collaboration with the admin-
es at the two reservations combined averaged istration, faculty, and staff at the two tribal
71 per year over the last 5 years. colleges to discuss development of the courses
Several characteristics of these reservations and to develop future plans.
299
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.
Cultural considerations. Careful attention Table 1.
was given to cultural issues and the unique Course Offerings at the Tribal Colleges
concerns of Native American people. The
course on policy, services, and legal issues
had specialized components in governmental
policy issues that directly affect tribal opera-
tions and tribal health, education, and social
services. These included issues of self-deter-
mination and cases involving tribal sovereign-
ty. Native American children’s books, such as
the Native American Cinderella story, &dquo;The
Rough-Face Girl&dquo; (Martin, 1992), as well as
books from a variety of other cultures were
used when presenting ideas for curriculum.
Reservation personnel gave the project staff
university catalogs, student handbooks, and
apply new skills (Wolfe & Snyder, 1997). In
reading material describing their tribal beliefs
addition, students placed a list of course com-
on such topics as family life, disability, and
petencies in their portfolios, along with a de-
leadership. They suggested incorporating
scription of how the materials in their portfolio
books such as &dquo;Keepers of the Earth: Native
demonstrated their proficiency in each of the
American Stories and Environmental Activi-
competencies. Students were also given pre- and
ties for Children&dquo; (Bruchac, 1997), as well as
postcourse questionnaires to document their per-
other books in this series.
ception of the importance of the competencies
The staff worked to weave Lakota values
to be acquired in the courses, as well as their
into the courses, including the belief that chil-
skill level on the competencies.
dren are sacred, and the Lakota values of
Woksape (Wisdom), Woohitika (Bravery),
IMPLEMENTATION
Wowacintanka (Fortitude), and Wacantognaka
(Generosity). Class discussions consisted of Coursework and Curricula
generating ideas on how to incorporate these The Project Director and Training Specialist
concepts and traditions in teaching and ther- hired for this project were the instructors for
apy throughout the curriculum. Suggestions the courses. During the first months of the
included language and cognitive activities, project they gathered and reviewed existing
such as traditional storytelling and learning coursework in early intervention. They set up
Lakota words, as well as motor activities, such a series of courses (Table 1) designed around
as making traditional dream-catchers and each of the areas specified in the new state
movement experiences with native music. rules. Students could register for either grad-
Portfolios and course competencies. Com- uate or undergraduate credit. Graduate stu-
petencies for each course were based on the dents were expected to do additional work re-
competencies listed in the state rules and regu- quiring them to use more of the current re-
lations. Students were required to compile a search and literature in the field.
portfolio for each course to document their pro- Schedule and phases of courses. Seven
ficiency in the course competencies. The port- courses were designed to meet the required state
folio consisted of journal entries with reflections competencies. One course was offered each se-
on the assigned readings and activities com- mester beginning in 1994. The courses were of-
pleted both in and outside of class. It also con- fered one weekend each month at each reser-
tained special projects the students designed for vation for 3 hours on Friday evenings and 6
use in their current or future jobs and to dem- hours on Saturdays for five weekends, totaling
onstrate their skills. This type of assignment has 45 class hours. The plan called for the project
been shown to be effective in helping students faculty to offer a complete set of courses and a
300
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.
practicum, and then for the faculty from the res- for South Dakota’s Early Childhood Special
ervation itself to continue offering the courses. Education endorsement.
Instructional strategies. The project in-
structors prepared lectures, large and small Developing Local Capacity
group discussions, and a variety of activities. At the beginning of the project, the staff was
These activities included case studies that unaware of any individuals on the reserva-
would allow students to apply their theoretical tions who had completed all the coursework
knowledge (Fallon, 1996). Learning centers required for the endorsement in early child-
also became an integral part of the course hood special education. Therefore, one of the
plans. Different types of learning centers were major tasks of the project was to reach as
designed, based on the course content. In the many professionals as possible. Project staff
assessment course, for example, students placed advertisements in the tribal newspapers
worked with various screening and assessment and made announcements on radio stations.
tools at the centers. In the curriculum course, They visited schools in the area, posted flyers,
learning centers consisted of materials person- and met with teachers in the faculty lounge at
nel could use to enhance their curricula. The lunch and after school. In addition, they
centers were designed to model appropriate mailed flyers to other schools and centers.
practices and help students understand how to Project staff worked from the outset of the
implement learning centers into their own project to design syllabi, lecture notes, hand-
classrooms (Fox, Hanline, Vail, & Galant, outs, overheads, and course outlines which
1994). The wide variety of instructional strat- could be passed on to the tribal colleges to be
egies used were designed to meet the unique used in future courses on an ongoing basis.
needs of adult learners and to keep them ac- These materials were organized into kits for
tively involved in their own learning through- each of the colleges, along with videotapes
out the long weekend format of the courses. that could be shown in each of the courses,
reference books providing background mate-
Students rial, children’s books featuring Native Amer-
One hundred and twenty-two students from a ican authors and themes, and materials to help
wide range of professions enrolled in one or the colleges set up learning centers and other
more of the courses, including early interven- activities.
tion teachers, Head Start teachers, administra- Recruiting faculty for the subsequent
tors, and therapists. Twenty percent of the stu- rounds of courses was an issue that was ad-
dents had a master’s degree, 56% had a bach- dressed from the beginning of the project.
elor’s degree, 12% had an associate’s degree, Project staff discussed possible instructors
and 12% did not have a degree. Most of the with tribal college personnel and recruited stu-
students were currently working at the reser- dents in the courses who demonstrated a high
vation. Of those who indicated their ethnicity degree of leadership, knowledge, and skill.
on the demographics questionnaire that was There were two individuals with a master’s
given, 32% responded they were Native degree on each of the reservations that com-
American. Most of the remaining students pleted the coursework and were therefore able
came primarily from either a Caucasian back- to help teach the courses in the future.
ground or had both Native American and Cau-
casian backgrounds.
EVALUATION
Forty percent of the students stated on the
demographics questionnaire that they were Description of Data
taking courses simply to gain skills and infor- Throughout the first phase of the project, qual-
mation, whereas only one-third expressed an itative and quantitative data were gathered
interest in obtaining the endorsement. Never- from students, families, and tribal college per-
theless, over 35 students completed all of the sonnel. A demographic questionnaire was dis-
courses as well as the practicum and qualified tributed at the beginning of each course to
301
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unauthorized distribution.
gather information on the participants. Project gains (d > .80) on each of the skill levels.
staff administered the Self-Rating of Profes- There was little change, however, in students’
sional Skills Instrument (Bailey, Buysse, & pre- and post-test ratings of the importance of
Palsha, 1990) to gather data on students’ per- the course competencies, suggesting that all
ceptions of their knowledge and skill level be- course competencies were important to stu-
fore and after each course they took. Instruc- dents both before and after they took the
tors also administered the pre- and post-course course.
questionnaires documenting students’ percep- Results of the course evaluations showed
tion of the importance of the course compe- that, overall, students felt the courses were re-
tencies, as well as their skill level for the Cur- sponsive to their concerns and that their edu-
riculum, Teams, Assessment, and Families cational needs were met. Students believed the
courses. A paired sample t-test was used to courses helped them to achieve their profes-
assess if gains on these instruments were sta- sional goals, and indicated they would rec-
tistically significant. In addition, Cohen’s ommend these courses to others. Using the
measure of effect size (Cohen, 1988) was used checklist of course competencies, instructors
to assess the magnitude of the gain. Cohen’s also found evidence that students had suc-
cessfully documented their proficiency in the
delta (d) was calculated by dividing the av-
competencies through their portfolios.
erage gain by the respective pretest standard
deviation. After the first round of courses the outside
evaluator conducted semistructured interviews
Other information was gathered to help as-
sess the effectiveness of the project. Students with 13 individuals on the reservations in-
completed course evaluations at the conclu- cluding tribal college personnel, a Director of
Exceptional Education, therapists, aides,
sion of each course. Instructors used a check-
teachers and parents. One of the themes that
list of course competencies when reviewing
student portfolios to help determine students’ emerged from these interviews was a high de-
progress toward attaining the competencies. gree of satisfaction with the courses, including
content and delivery. Another theme that
At the end of the initial 3 years, the project’s
emerged was that the camaraderie that devel-
outside evaluator traveled to the tribal colleg-
oped during the courses contributed to the
es and conducted interviews to further deter- overall success of the project. Other themes
mine the effectiveness of the model (Snyder
indicated that this project was successful be-
& Wolfe, 1997).
cause the project staff took time and listened
to the needs and the concerns of the students
Summary of the Data
and professionals on the reservation, and that
Results of a paired sample t-test examining the staff brought the courses to them. Tribal
the difference between the pre- and post-test college personnel wholeheartedly expressed
mean scores for each of the measures of the their support of the project and their intent to
Self-Rating of Professional Skills instrument fund and continue the courses when the pro-
showed that in each of the courses, students ject funds ended. They stated that the courses
made significant and substantial gains across would continue because their own staff par-
all measures. Table 2 shows that all average ticipated in the training, project staff provided
gains were statistically significant (p < .001). the training materials and resources for each
In addition, Cohen’s d indicated that students’ of the courses, and staff would continue to be
gains on curriculum knowledge, skill level, available for consultation and technical assis-
and assessment skill level were moderate (d tance.
> .50), whereas the remaining gains were all
large (d > .80). DISCUSSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE
Students also made statistically significant
FIELD
and substantial gains from pre- to post-test on ,
self-ratings of their course competency skill The primary goal of this project was to help
levels. Table 2 shows that students made large individuals acquire the skills and competen-
302
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.
cies necessary to provide high-quality servic- Table 3.
es and supports to children with disabilities Factors that Facilitated the Success of the
and their families. The project was successful Project
in reaching this goal. Given the scarcity of - -
trained personnel before the project began, the
training of over 120 students increases the
likelihood that more effective services for
children and families will be available on
these reservations. Students rated their overall
skill and knowledge level substantially higher
at the end of the courses and indicated that
they believed it was a result of participating
in the courses. Another critical goal of this
project was to establish ongoing training that
would continue long after the grant was com-
pleted. This was accomplished by working
closely with tribal college personnel through-
out the project to infuse the courses into their
schedules of classes and by having the courses
listed in their catalogs as regular parts of their
course offerings. This has occurred at both
reservation colleges where the courses contin-
ue to be offered.
Challenges ’
A number of factors provided unique chal-
lenges. Finding appropriate on-site practicum
supervisors who were trained and experienced
was very difficult. Project faculty did most of
the supervision themselves, visiting the prac-
ticum teachers once in their classrooms and
reading their journals and assignments. On
one of the reservations, project faculty were
later able to delegate most of the responsibil-
ity of visiting the students to a Director of Factors Leading to Success
Exceptional Education who attended the first For those hoping to initiate similar programs,
set of courses. Turnover of faculty and admin- there seemed to be three major factors that con-
istrators at the colleges provided additional tributed to the project’s success (Table 3). The
challenges, but the project faculty was able to first critical factor was the active involvement
meet with new personnel as they came on and support of groups both on and off the res-
board. Additional challenges included the dis- ervation. Having local college faculty take part
tance that the staff had to travel to get to the in the courses was especially beneficial because
reservation, coupled with the sometimes-haz- it helped to ensure that there would be some-
ardous road conditions and unpredictable one on staff, trained to teach the courses.
weather. With the great expanse covered by Other important factors were sensitivity and
the reservations, many students themselves responsiveness to students’ needs and cultures.
had to travel great distances; 36% traveled Teaching courses on-site made an important
over 50 miles and 5% made a trip of 200 difference in the success of this partnership.
miles or more. Overwhelmingly, students reported they had
304
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.
not participated in telecourses that had been of- book. Vermillion, SD: University of South Da-
kota Business Research Bureau.
fered because they preferred to have the in-
structor available in person. They also stated Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the
behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ:
that becoming familiar with course instructors Erlbaum.
was one of the main reasons they continued to Fallon, M. (1996). Case-study teaching: A tool for
take the courses. Sharing food was one way training early interventionists. Infants and
instructors built rapport with the students; this Young Children, 8, 59-62.
is an important tradition in many Native Amer- Forest, S. (1990). An analysis of parental involve-
ican cultures. Taking time for this seemed to ment, least restrictive environments, and prep-
aration of personnel in ECSE classrooms. Pier-
contribute to building camaraderie, adding to a re, SD: South Dakota Department of Education
&dquo;community of learners&dquo; atmosphere. Recog- and Cultural Affairs.
nizing the expertise that the participating stu- Fox, L., Hanline, M. E, Vail, C. & Galant, K. (1994).
dents bring to class is another important factor Developmentally appropriate practice: Applica-
in making this type of program successful. tions for young children with disabilities. Jour-
nal of Early Intervention, 18, 243-257.
Course participants bring the richness of their
Martin, R. (1992). The Rough-Face Girl. New
cultural traditions, ideas they have used in their
York: Scholastic.
own classrooms, and community connections Squires, J. (1995). Evaluation of a rural-based early
they can share with each other. intervention personnel preparation project.
A final key to success was planning for the Journal of Early Intervention, 19, 328-342.
continuation of the courses from the outset of Snyder, P, & Wolfe, B. (1997). Needs assessment
the project. This involved identifying and and evaluation in early intervention personnel
preparation: Opportunities and challenges. In P
mentoring future course instructors. It also in- J. Winton, J. A. McCollum, & C. Catlett (Eds.).
cluded providing materials to the local colleg- Reforming personnel preparation in early inter-
es that would allow them to easily continue vention : Issues, models, and practical strategies
teaching the courses.’I (pp. 173-190). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
Establishing partnerships with tribal colleg- Winton, P. J., & McCollum, J. A. (1997) Ecological
es can be a very effective way of reaching an perspective on personnel preparation: Ratio-
nale, framework, and guidelines for change. In
underserved segment of our population. Pro- P. J. Winton, J. A. McCollum, & C. Catlett
viding this type of educational opportunity (Eds.). Reforming personnel preparation in
makes it possible for people with long-term early intervention: Issues, models, and practi-
interest in their communities to develop the cal strategies (pp. 1-25). Baltimore: Paul H.
Brookes.
skills and competencies they need to serve the
Wolfe, B., & Snyder, P (1997). Follow-up strate-
children and families of their area. gies : Ensuring that instruction makes a differ-
ence. In P J. Winton, J. A. McCollum, & C.
REFERENCES Catlett (Eds.). Reforming personnel prepara-
tion in early intervention: Issues, models, and
Bailey, D., Buysse, V., & Palsha, S. (1990). Self- practical strategies (pp. 173-190). Baltimore:
ratings of professional knowledge and skill in Paul H. Brookes.
early intervention. Journal of Special Educa-
tion, 23, 423-435.
The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the
Bruchac, J. (1997). Keepers of the Earth: Native project by the U.S. Department of Health and Hu-
American Stories and Environmental Activites man Services, Administration on Developmental
for Children. Golden, CO: Fulcrum. Disabilities, Grant #90DD0294, the South Dakota
Office of Special Education, the South Dakota Uni-
Cochran, C. (2000). South Dakota kid’s count fact-
versity Affiliated Program, and the faculty, admin-
istrators, students, and families on the Rosebud and
Pine Ridge Reservations.
1The Higher Education Partnership Project overheads, syllabi,
course competencies, and other course information are available, Address correspondence to Geralyn Jacobs, Uni-
at cost, to others interested in initiating similar projects. They can versity of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark Street, Ver-
be accessed by calling the authors at the Center for Disabilities at
The University of South Dakota and the University of South Da- million, South Dakota 57069. E-mail: Gja-
kota School of Education at 1-800-658-3080/VTTY [email protected].
305
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© 2001 Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or
unauthorized distribution.