Over the past several years, early childhood consultants from the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency have been leading the scale-up of Preschool Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) in our area. Preschool SDI is part of a statewide professional learning initiative aimed to develop and implement tools and processes to aid practitioners in delivering effective specially designed instruction (SDI) to improve outcomes for learners with disabilities. This work is taking place through strands focused on Significant Disabilities, Preschool, and K-6 Literacy.
The desired outcomes of Preschool SDI include:
- Preschool children with disabilities will make progress and close the gap with their peers while attending inclusive preschool classrooms.
- Preschool teachers will feel confident and competent in providing high-quality specially designed instruction (SDI) in inclusive preschool classrooms.
- The state’s system for PD and support will ensure teachers are receiving the learning and coaching needed to achieve the first two results.
Districts choosing to participate in Preschool SDI commit to 3 years of professional learning and coaching that include the following components:
- Monthly training
- Bi-monthly coaching
- Action Planning
- Teaming
- Fidelity measures
Learning in Preschool SDI is grounded in two guiding documents: the Iowa SDI Framework and the DEC Recommended Practices. Professional learning topics over the course of the three years include: Data Analysis (RIOT/SCIL); Child Strengths, Preferences, & Interests; Purposeful Routines; Writing Meaningful IEP Goals; Importance of Child Engagement; Peer Mediated Intervention; Embedded Learning Opportunities; Accommodations, Modifications, and Assistive Technology; Prompting Hierarchy & Data Collection; The Instructional Plan; Organizing Adults; Visual Supports; Implementation Fidelity; and Choosing and Implementing Evidence-Based Practices.
If you are interested in learning more about Preschool SDI, information can be found on the Preschool SDI Google site at https://sites.google.com/view/preschoolsdi/home. If you have questions, please contact Jennifer Jansen at 563-344-6393 or jjansen@drivered.mbaea.org.