Training Preschool Staff to Promote Cooperative Participation among Young Children with Severe Disabilities and Their Classmates

Abstract

Young children with severe disabilities often require specific support to participate in activities with typically developing peers in inclusive preschools. We evaluated a program for training preschool staff to promote cooperative participation between preschoolers with and without disabilities. The training program consisted of viewing videotaped scenarios of examples of how to prompt and praise cooperative participation during different free-play situations, along with specific instructions and on-the-job feedback. The program was implemented with 2 staff persons who worked with 2 preschoolers with severe disabilities in two classrooms. Each time the staff training program was implemented, increases occurred in cooperative participation between the child with disabilities with whom a staff person worked and typically developing peers. Concurrent observations of a child whose support staff did not receive training revealed no corresponding increases in cooperative participation. Results are discussed regarding the importance of staff training procedures that directly impact child performance.