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 Please feel free to use this site, but recognize that it is no longer current.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 staff from both sending and receiving programs 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 the topic of transition to be introduced to the family early enough for families to develop questions and prepare for transition (e.g., at least three months before the child’s third birthday)?
- Provide the family and service providers with necessary information regarding the entire transition process (e.g., preparation, implementation, and follow-up)?
- Identify strategies that acknowledge and respond to different preferences by families for participation in the transition process and for making decisions related to the transition?
- Provide strategies for families to help prepare their child for transition?
- Clearly identify parental rights related to the transition process and change of service (e.g., due process, informed consent, confirmation of child eligibility, language of communication)?
- Present reasons for communication between the family and service providers in the receiving program?
- Provide a list of topics or questions families and providers may wish to discuss, as well as methods or ways to obtain the answers?
- Offer strategies to address conflict or misunderstanding that may arise between service providers and families (e.g., conflict resolution, due process, and mediation) regarding child placement and services?
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Transition Planning by Providers
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To what extent does the material …
- Clearly identify the sending and receiving agencies?
- Address ways in which the sending and receiving agencies can plan together for children's transition to age-appropriate services (e.g., shared time-lines, cross-program visits, interagency agreements)?
- Encourage sending programs to prepare children for transition?
- Provide information on the process of determining a child's eligibility for continued services beyond the age of transition (e.g., age 3 or 5)?
- Explain the transmission of information from the sending program (e.g., early intervention program) to the receiving program (e.g., school district)?
- Recommend that the sending program provide to the receiving program information about culturally specific practices and family routines that may influence service needs (e.g., sleeping, eating, children's communication styles with adults)?
- Recommend that the sending program provide to the receiving program information about the child’s first language?
- Explain the need to apprise parents of their legal rights to review their child’s records and provide written consent for the transmittal of these records?
- Explain that information about the transition process should be provided to the family in the family’s preferred language in written form or through a qualified interpreter/translator?
- Take into account cultural preferences for the way in which information is provided (e.g., verbal/signed, written, or both)?
- Acknowledge that the child’s next services are consistent with what is required under IDEA. That is, services are consistent with the philosophy of least restrictive environment and natural environments.
- Acknowledge that child services (age 3 and above), resulting from transition planning, are consistent with what is required under IDEA with regards to general curriculum?
- Present a range of placement and service options for children (e.g., special education class, community preschool with itinerant services, Head Start, primary language support) if it is produced before 1997, predating the current IDEA?
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Evaluating Impact and Appropriateness of Transition Services
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To what extent does the material …
- Encourage providers to evaluate the family’s understanding of the transition process and the family and child's adjustment and satisfaction with the new placement and services?
- 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?
- 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 transition, 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