第十一屆 提升社區中融合幼兒園的品質 – 三位園長的經驗分享

Enhancing The Quality of Community-based Inclusive Early Care and Education Programs – Three Program Directors’ Experiences 
楊世華１＊  Shih-hua Yang１＊
 １致遠大學幼兒教育學系   １Department of Early Childhood Education, Diwan University

Background and Purpose: Research, conducted in model or university-based preschool programs, has shown that under the right conditions early childhood inclusion is feasible and beneficial for children with and without disabilities (Buysse, Skinner, & Grant, 2001; Odom, 2000). Unfortunately, the availability of high quality early care and education (ECE) programs in most communities is limited (Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes Study Teams, 1995; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2000). As program quality is highly related to children’s development, this deficiency has elicited concerns about the quality of ECE that young children with disabilities receive in community-based inclusive programs (Bailey et al., 1998; Buysse, Skinner, & Grant, 2001; Buysse, Wesley, Bryant, & Gardner, 1999; Fowler, 1999; Winton, 2000). Sarason (2003) argued that when an organization or a school does not achieve its purposes, leadership is usually part of the problem. Program directors are often in critical positions to facilitate successful inclusion or, unfortunately, may have the power to impede such reform. The purpose of this qualitative study, conducted in a mid-western state of the United States, was to learn how the program administrators of three nominated community-based inclusive ECE programs enhance their program quality.


Methods: A qualitative collective case study about three nominated community-based inclusive ECE program administrators was chosen to help provide a deep and detailed understanding how the three nominated program administrators tried to enhance their community-based inclusive ECE programs’ quality continuously. In order to recognize alternative perspectives and establish the credibility of the information gathered and conclusions drawn, after a nominated community-based inclusive ECE program had been selected and the program administrator had agreed to participate in the study, the following individuals in relation to the program were specifically invited to participate: (a) classroom staff, (b) parents, and (c) early childhood special education service providers from the local public school district. Twenty-five individuals (three program directors, ten classroom staff, six parents, and six early childhood service providers) agreed to participate in semistructured, one-on-one and in person interviews. In addition to the interview transcripts, there were other sources of data including the researcher’s fieldnotes and related documents of the nominated programs such as program handbooks, newsletters, and website information.

Findings and Conclusions: The findings, presented in individual case study reports, indicated that the following administrative strategies were important to enhance community-based inclusive ECE program quality: (a) hiring and retaining effective staff members, (b) establishing consistency between program philosophy or mission and the program management framework, and (c) experimenting, keeping what works, and building mechanisms for enhancing program quality. In addition, program administrators must believe in and commit to inclusive early care and education, demonstrate skills in leadership and management, and have both knowledge about and experience in child development or a related field. Finally, funding emerged as a central challenge faced by administrators in enhancing community-based inclusive ECE program quality.  

Key words：inclusive education, early care and education, leadership, education quality