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 Please feel free to use this site, but recognize that it is no longer current.
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.
Effectiveness
of Presentation
Please respond to all that apply.
Clarity
- Is the purpose of the material clear?
- Is the presentation of the information easy to follow?
- If there are directions on how to use the material, are they clearly stated?
- Does the material include an effective explanation of technical terms or jargon?
- Does the language in the material acknowledge diversity (e.g., family structures, multi-generations, disabilities, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, etc.)?
- Is the format (e.g., print, audio, video, etc.) appropriate for the intended users of this material?
- 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).
- For printed materials, the reading level of the material is:
Easy | Average | Difficult | N/A - For video and audio materials, the comprehension level of the
material is:
Easy | Average | Difficult | N/A
Graphics, Illustrations and Photos
Do the graphics:
- Represent a non-stereotypical view of cultural (e.g., contemporary dress) and linguistic groups?
- Represent a wide variety of groups (e.g., disabilities, gender, race, generation)?
- Enhance the materials (e.g., photo prints and designs are appropriate and of high quality)?
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Establishing a Healthy Relationship Between Providers and Families
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To what extent does the material …
- Emphasize the importance of providers and families establishing a comfortable relationship (e.g., understanding values and beliefs)?
- Acknowledge the importance of employing service providers who respect and are knowledgeable about the cultures and languages of the families served?
- 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?
- 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)?
- Encourage professionals to clarify their role with families and to gather information regarding family expectations?
- Offer strategies to address conflict or misunderstanding that may arise between suggested interventions and families' preferences?
- Acknowledge the importance of providers receiving information from the family about the child's health and development?
- Acknowledge the importance of developing a climate of mutual respect and trust by responding to family concerns as they arise (e.g., answering questions, providing resources)?
- Recommend that providers use a variety of strategies to ensure they make effective contacts and follow-ups with families (e.g., memos, phone calls, use of bilingual/bicultural staff, home visits)?
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Preparation of the Families for the IFSP/IEP Process
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To what extent does the material provide information on the following:
- Family's legal rights (e.g., use of native language for all levels of the IFSP/IEP process, right to secure legal advice, advocacy, mediation, and attorney's fees).
- The process of planning for the IFSP/IEP process (e.g., preparing the parents for the IFSP meeting, asking parents to consider child and family goals, hiring a parent liaison).
- How families can get appropriate resources and services in order to implement the IFSP/IEP goals (e.g., family/child advocacy centers, school board).
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Preparation of Professionals and Programs for the IFSP/IEP Process
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To what extent does the material …
- Provide comprehensive information on the team’s roles and responsibilities?
- Encourage providers to identify and invite individuals who can assist and support the family during the IFSP/IEP process (e.g., interpreters, translators, cultural brokers, advocates)?
- Emphasize the importance of collaboration with bilingual educators when the child is from a non-English speaking family?
- Acknowledge that all teachers and service providers need to be aware of the specific accommodations, modifications, and other supports that must be provided for each child in accordance with the IEP (IDEA, 1997)?
- State that the child’s IEP must be accessible to each general education teacher, special education teacher, related service providers, and others responsible for IEP implementation (IDEA, 1997)?
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During the IFSP/IEP Meeting
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To what extent does the material …
- Provide comprehensive information regarding how families and professionals can review the IFSP/IEP process for evidence of cultural and linguistic bias?
- Provide comprehensive information regarding the importance of creating an atmosphere where families will feel comfortable sharing their concerns, expectations, and goals (e.g., presence of extended family, speaking their preferred language, smaller group setting, holding meetings at parents’ preferred time and location, pacing of meeting)?
- Stress the importance of having translated material readily available to families?
- Provide multiple strategies for effective IFSP/IEP meetings (e.g., jargon-free language, explanation of technical information, trained interpreters)?
- Acknowledge the existence of power differentials present in IFSP/IEP meetings?
- Discuss strategies to facilitate equal access to service for all families?
- Discuss the requirement for all IEP teams to include at least one general education teacher if the child is currently or may be participating in the general education environment (IDEA, 1997)?
- Discuss how professionals can assist in the process of empowering all families to be long-term advocates for their child with special needs?
- Acknowledge that families have the right to invite a family member or anyone with special expertise regarding their child to the IFSP/IEP meeting?
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Identifying and Developing IFSP/IEP Goals
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To what extent does the material acknowledge the importance of the following:
- Developing IFSP/IEP goals that specifically document services to meet the child's language needs (e.g., bilingual education, ESL services)?
- Documenting the language to be used for implementing IFSP/IEP goals (i.e., home language or second language)?
- Addressing the child's communication needs or preferred mode of communication (e.g., ASL, communication board pictures)?
- Adding orientation and mobility services as appropriate to the list of related services (IDEA, 1997)?
- Developing IEPs that specifically discuss the extent to which the child is not participating with typically-developing peers in the general education classroom (IDEA, 1997)?
- Developing IFSP/IEP goals that respect the family's beliefs and traditions (e.g., goals embedded in family routines)?
- Developing IFSP goals that address services to meet the family's needs (e.g., vocational services, social services, legal services, and advocacy agencies)?
- Developing IFSP goals which employ the family's existing resources for implementation of IFSP goals (e.g., use of native language, interactions with extended family)?
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Evaluating Impact and Appropriateness of IFSP/IEP Process
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To what extent does the material …
- Encourage providers to systematically evaluate the appropriateness of the IFSP/IEP process with families based on their changing needs and preferences?
- Suggest ways of ensuring that outcomes are important and meaningful to the families as well as the service providers?
- Include a variety of options for gathering information from families about the IFSP/IEP process (e.g., interviews, observations, checklists, etc.) that respect families’ cultural and linguistic background and consider families’ level of acculturation?
- Specify the cultural and linguistic groups with whom the approach has been used?
| 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. |
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Does the material acknowledge and address complex and sometimes subtle aspects of diversity as they relate to IFSP/IEP, such as:
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- Power (refers to the division of members of society into levels with unequal access to resources, knowledge, and authority)
- Racism (refers to systems advantage based on race)
- Prejudice (refers to an adverse judgment or opinion based on preconceived beliefs and ideas about different groups)
- Socio-Economic Class (refers to the division of society into levels with unequal wealth and prestige)
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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)?
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign