Publications Review Guidelines

Dear Visitors:
Federal funding for this website ended in 2003, therefore few materials have been added since that time. Fortunately, there is continued interest in culturally and appropriate materials, curriculum, and programs. Because of this, we have allowed this site to remain as an archive. Please feel free to use this site, but recognize that it is no longer current.

The following Review Guidelines are intended to help service providers and individuals involved in personnel preparation determine the congruence between the beliefs, values, and practices of the individuals in your community and current recommended practices in early childhood/special education. The Review Guidelines will first help you consider the overall effectiveness of presentation of a material. Next, questions follow which pertain specifically to the content area of Family Support.

It is important to realize that no material is likely to match the exact needs of individuals in your community. Therefore, in many instances, you may wish to make some simple adaptations to the materials before using them.

A separate set of Review Guidelines is available to help select materials that have been translated from one language to another. In addition, other suggestions for choosing materials are available on the CLAS Web site (http://clas.illinois.edu). It is our hope that you may use these Review Guidelines to engage in meaningful dialogue with families and colleagues in your community, as you decide which materials to use in your early childhood setting.

Please respond to all that apply.

 

— Clarity —

 

1. Is the purpose of the material clear?
2. Is the presentation of the information easy to follow?
3. If there are directions on how to use the material, are they clearly stated?
4. Does the material include an effective explanation of technical terms or jargon?
5. Does the language in the material acknowledge diversity (e.g., family structures, multi-generations, disabilities, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, etc.)?
6. Is the format (e.g., print, audio, video, etc.) appropriate for the intended users of this material?
7. Are contact agencies or persons for accessing additional information or support easily identifiable?

 

—Comprehension Level —

Easy = mainly simple sentences with minimal or no technical jargon;

Average = a mix of simple and complex sentences with some technical jargon (e.g., USA Today);

Difficult = mainly complex sentences with a lot of technical jargon or discipline-specific terms (e.g., College-level text or New York Times).

 

1. For printed materials, the reading level of the material is:
   Easy Average Difficult N/A
2. For video and audio materials, the comprehension level of the material is:
   Easy | Average | Difficult | N/A

 

— Graphics, Illustrations and Photos —

Do the graphics:

 

1. Represent a non-stereotypical view of cultural (e.g., contemporary dress) and linguistic groups?
2. Represent a wide variety of groups (e.g., disabilities, gender, race, generation)?
3. Enhance the materials (e.g., photo prints and designs are appropriate and of high quality)?

 

Establishing a Healthy Relationship Between Providers and Families

To what extent does the material …

 

1. Emphasize the importance of providers and families establishing a comfortable relationship prior to identifying, assessing, and addressing family support issues and needs (e.g., understand values and beliefs)?
2. Acknowledge the importance of employing service providers who respect and are knowledgeable about the cultures and languages of the families served?
3. Encourage providers to engage in self-reflection regarding their role, assumptions and beliefs, and how they may be perceived by the family (e.g., supportive, interfering, guiding, intrusive)?
4. Acknowledge that family support services are derived from Part C of IDEA, which states that infants and toddlers are best served within the context of their families?
5. Offer strategies to address conflict or misunderstanding that may arise between providers and families regarding suggested support services?
6. Encourage the provision of services in the families' preferred language or through the assistance of a qualified translator/ interpreter who can serve as a cultural mediator?
7. Encourage the provider to acknowledge and respect that not all families are comfortable in expressing needs or accepting support?
8. Acknowledge the need for providers to respect the family’s choices for support?

Intervention Strategies

To what extent does the material …

 

1. Include ways to individualize supports that build on families' strengths and respect their preferences, values, and unique lifestyles?
2. Identify strategies for sharing information with families about supports available in the community and agency?
3. Identify strategies for families to access social supports that are consistent either with the family’s culture, language, or preference?
4. Present strategies to involve families in a variety of supports and services?
5. Acknowledge that family members may differ in their availability or desire to participate in intervention activities, which may increase or decrease over time?
6. Acknowledge that support services may not meet all the needs of a family and provide appropriate referral and follow-up?

Utilizing Community-Based Social Supports

To what extent does the material …

 

1. Encourage families to identify and utilize naturally occurring social supports (e.g., use of existing resources in families and local communities)?
2. Encourage the coordination of community-based supports and services for families?
3. Encourage using community leaders and cultural guides to link families to community resources?

Model Effectiveness

To what extent does…

 

1. The material identify potential short-term outcomes for both the caregiver and/or the child?
2. The material identify potential long-term outcomes for both the caregiver and/or the child?
3. The material specify the cultural and linguistic groups with whom the approach has been used?

Evaluating Impact and Appropriateness of Family Support

To what extent does the material …

 

1. Encourage providers to systematically evaluate the appropriateness of the interventions with families based on their changing needs and preferences?
2. Suggest ways of ensuring that outcomes are important and meaningful to the families as well as the service providers?
3. Include a variety of options for gathering information from families (e.g., interviews, observations, checklists, etc.) that respect families’ cultural and linguistic background and considers families’ level of acculturation?

The following two questions are intended to deepen the analysis of the ways materials address issues of diversity. In some cases, these issues may have been addressed in the preceding questions.

Does the material acknowledge and address complex and sometimes subtle aspects of diversity as they relate to the area of family support, such as:

 

1. Power (refers to the division of members of society into levels with unequal access to resources, knowledge, and authority)
2. Racism (refers to systems advantage based on race)
3. Prejudice (refers to an adverse judgment or opinion based on preconceived beliefs and ideas about different groups)
4. Socio-Economic Class (refers to the division of society into levels with unequal wealth and prestige)

Are there any spoken or unspoken assumptions, values, or beliefs in this material that could conflict with the delivery of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (e.g., assuming all parents view themselves as advocates or equal partners)?

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College of Education
Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative
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