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 Please feel free to use this site, but recognize that it is no longer current.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 prior to identifying, assessing, and addressing a child's developmental needs (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 and families sharing information on an ongoing basis about the child’s current level of development and the type and degree of visual impairment?
- 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, changing the intervention program)?
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Intervention Strategies
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To what extent does the material …
- Include information acknowledging a variety of caregiving practices and the impact they may have on the child's development?
- Suggest ways to obtain information and build on the caregiver's belief about his or her own role in supporting the child's development?
- Acknowledge that family members may differ in their availability or desire to participate in intervention activities, which may increase or decrease over time?
- Suggest intervention strategies and materials that can be embedded within the family's routines and environments?
- Acknowledge the importance of using games, songs, or activities that are familiar to the family to teach skills?
- Encourage strategies that address multiple domains of development as opposed to a singular focus during intervention?
- Encourage caregivers to respond to the child’s sensory interests and preferences, as they relate to demands in the child’s natural environment?
- Provide suggestions for adapting activities, materials, equipment, environments, and intervention strategies as needed to accommodate the abilities and sensory needs of individual children?
- Encourage intervention strategies that take into account the environment in which the family lives (e.g., living space, safety considerations) and in which the interventions will be delivered (e.g., home, school, community)? Strategies should be environmentally sensitive and may vary according to the setting.
- Encourage collaboration among all providers in planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions (e.g., regular preschool teacher, orientation and mobility instructor, or teacher credentialed in visual impairment)?
- Emphasize that intervention services must be consistent with what is required under IDEA (e.g., assessment, orientation, mobility, and transition services)?
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Model Effectiveness
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To what extent does the material …
- Identify potential short-term outcomes for both the caregiver and/or the child?
- Identify potential long-term outcomes for both the caregiver and/or the child?
- Specify the cultural and linguistic groups with whom the approach has been used?
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Evaluating Impact and Appropriateness of Intervention and Services
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To what extent does the material …
- Encourage providers to systematically evaluate the appropriateness of the interventions 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 (e.g., interviews, observations, checklists, etc.) that respect families’ cultural and linguistic background and consider 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. |
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Does the material acknowledge and address complex and sometimes subtle aspects of diversity as they relate to visual impairments, 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