Our Mission

About

Ready4School Innovating Education for Autism in Early Childhood

The main goal of the Ready4School project is to increase the quality of special and inclusive preschool programs for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and facilitate improved transitions from preschool to primary education. The project aims to achieve these goals by developing, testing, and publishing an innovative assessment and programming educational kit for preschool teachers working with children with ASD. Pilot testing will be done by training three trainers per country on the developed materials who will then train a minimum of five teachers in their countries. Resultantly, the concrete outcomes of the project will be an innovative and effective educational kit based on the principles of ABA and adapted to be easily implemented by educators without formal ABA training. To further promote accessibility, the developmental assessment with school readiness checkpoints/assessment tool based on the preschool teaching curriculum, detailed lesson plans following the teaching curriculum, and data sheets for successful monitoring and evaluation of progress will be made digitally available.

More About

"Empowering Preschools: Enhancing Autism Education for a More Inclusive Future"

Impact

The project aims to integrate an educational kit into the daily routines of preschool teachers working with children with autism.

Primary Impact Areas

🟣 The project empowers teachers to assess and address the developmental needs of children with autism, enhancing the quality of special and inclusive preschool programs and benefiting both children and their families. It facilitates a smoother transition from preschool to primary education for children with autism, reducing stress for them and their families. Additionally, it helps participating organizations develop capacities in special and inclusive education and fosters new partnerships and collaborations.

Outcomes and Contributions

🟣Serves as a reference for other preschool programs, improving special and inclusive education at various levels. While impact varies among participating organizations, all experience improved program quality and enhanced skills.

Wider Societal Benefits

🟣Benefits families of children with autism, local communities, and decision-makers. Raises awareness about autism, contributing to a more inclusive society that values diversity and ensures equal opportunities for all.

Work Packages

WP2: School readiness Educational Kit for preschool teachers

Needs assessment; Teacher tools: Developmental assessment, curriculum, lesson plans, data collection forms, etc.. Creating the School Readiness Teaching Kit will enable preschool teachers and trainers to teach the skills detected through the Assessment tools as lacking or underdeveloped. If those skills are detected on time and the right teaching methods are used to teach them, the chances for children with ASD to become ready 4 school and ready for the least restrictive environment will be higher.

WP3: School readiness skills Assessment and mobile application

Assessment Tool, App, Website: Once the key school readiness skills have been identified (WP2), the assessment tool will be developed. This will involve creating items and tasks that measure each of the identified skills, as well as instructions for administering and scoring the assessment. The digitized version of the educational toolkit (mobile app) will be developed to allow for easy administration and interpretation of the assessment tool. The application will also provide feedback and recommendations for intervention based on the assessment results.

WP4: Train-the-trainer (Pilot-testing) activity and local teacher training

The pilot-testing activity involves testing the curriculum and lesson plans developed under Work Package 2 and the assessment tool with its digital application developed under Work Package 3. The pilot-testing will be hosted in Skopje by Bluefirefly, where selected preschool teachers and trainers will participate (3 from each partner country). They will be presented with the developed material and will be trained both on basic ABA strategies and on how to use the material in the classroom. The local teacher training activity involves training preschool teachers and trainers to use the School Readiness Teaching Kit and School Readiness Assessment Tool. The training will be conducted by early education and applied behavior analysis experts and will take into account the specific needs of preschool children with ASD and challenges they and their families face in their efforts to be properly assessed, prepared, and placed into the school setting.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. 2023-1-CZ01-KA220-SCH-000156079