Introducing
The Community Inclusion Project
The Community Inclusion Project was designed to support communities by establishing functioning, representative and energized leadership teams with a clear plan for moving their communities to a mixed delivery system vision that provides for full access, participation, and support to all children Including those with disabilities under the new Colorado Universal Pre-K (UPK) guidelines. Outcomes were achieved by providing coaching to community teams with representatives from school-based programs/local education agency (LEA), community childcare, Head Start and family child care who want to collaborate on supporting young children with disabilities with a mixed delivery system in childcare.
This project seeks to support programs that want to build capacity to serve children with disabilities by assisting childcare providers who are eager to serve children with disabilities but have not had professional development, coaching or consultation to feel confident or competent to do so. In several key ways, this project has increased the capacity of childcare providers to support children across a wide range of development and help childcare agencies collaborate with public school programs which employ special education providers who can offer consultation and direct service to children in childcare. We hope to positively impact families by creating options that simultaneously meet childcare needs and children’s developmental needs.
The Community Inclusion Project was funded by the Community Innovation and Resilience for Care and Learning Equity (CIRCLE) grants from the Colorado Department of Education. For more information about the CIRCLE Grants please see this link. The CIRCLE grant funding also supported the development of this website.
Meet Our Team
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Alissa Rausch
Ed.D
Alissa Rausch, EdD is Research Faculty in the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. Previously, she has worked as clinical faculty in early childhood education and early childhood special education graduate personnel preparation. Her work in higher education blossomed from 15 years of practice as an early childhood educator working in inclusive preschool classrooms serving young children and their families. Alissa also had the privilege of partnering with providers, families and children from diverse backgrounds in their homes and in community settings. Alissa is staff on the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA). Her additional work centers on technical assistance supporting leaders and practitioners to build their capacity for high quality early care and learning and inclusion of children diagnosed with disabilities in practice, sustainable systems and grassroots advocacy.
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Michael A. Barla
Ed.D
Michael joined the School of Education & Human Development at CU Denver in the fall of 2018. Prior to coming to CU Denver, Dr. Barla was an Assistant Professor in early childhood education and special education at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO. He began his public school career as a Speech-Language Pathologist working with children pre-k through high school before moving into leadership positions. Dr. Barla retired from his public school career in 2015 and transitioned to higher education.
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Ben Riepe
Inclusion Specialist
Ben is an Inclusion Coaching Specialist for the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. Ben is on staff for ECTA and NCPMI. His 13 years of experience at a Denver Head Start supported high fidelity program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model. At the Colorado Center for Social Emotional Competence and Inclusion, he supported communities to embed evidence-based practices into their systems and classrooms.
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Angie Van Polen
Inclusion Specialist
Angie Van Polen is the LEAP Project Manager at the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. She provides consultation and technical assistance to LEAP Model and Pyramid Model implementation sites. Angie has over 20 years of experience in the field of education. Much of her work has been focused on improving systemic scale up and sustainability while engaging multidisciplinary teams to improve agreed upon outcomes. Her experiences provide her with a strong understanding of inclusive practices at a classroom level, as well as at a state-wide systems level to inform implementation practices, scale-up and sustainability. Angie is also on staff at National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) and Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA).
Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center
Our Vision: One day, every early childhood system will be equipped to effectively support and celebrate ALL children, honor their individual strengths, needs and identities, and welcome ALL families by saying, "If you live nearby, you belong in our high-quality, inclusive environment.”
Our Mission: Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center delivers customized, comprehensive supports to leaders and providers in states, communities, and local programs who aspire to create and sustain effective, high-quality, inclusive experiences with every young child and family.
Our Values: Complex change requires transformative solutions. Together, we will:
- Promote the fundamental truth that if experiences are not inclusive, they are not quality.
- Challenge attitudes and beliefs that limit possibilities and potential for children and families.
- Ensure that families are integral to the design, delivery and evaluation of high-quality inclusive experiences.
- Dismantle barriers at many levels.
- Adopt, sustain, and scale up solutions through implementation science.
- Prioritize provider wellness and build capacity with practice-based coaching.
- Commit to kind and supportive interactions and relationships that result in belonging for everyone.
- Continuously improve by examining relevant data and making responsive changes.
“It is the Departments’ position that all young children with disabilities should have access to inclusive high-quality early childhood programs, where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting high expectations.” “Research supports the benefits of inclusion for young children with and without disabilities. Studies have shown that individualized evidence-based strategies for children with disabilities can be implemented successfully in inclusive early childhood programs. Children with disabilities, including those with the most significant disabilities and the highest needs, can make significant developmental and learning progress in inclusive settings. Some studies have shown that children with disabilities in inclusive settings experienced greater cognitive and communication development than children with disabilities who were in separate settings, with this being particularly apparent among children with more significant disabilities.”
