A community assessment of preschool providers' attitudes was conducted to examine readiness for inclusive preschool participation. Participants included providers from private, community-based preschools, Head Start classes, and Chapter 1 programs. Multiple dimensions of preschool directors' and teachers' attitudes were assessed by examining their general attitudes toward inclusion, their attitudes toward serving children across diverse handicapping conditions and special needs, their perceived abilities and support needs in appropriately serving such children, and their actual behavioral choices when given an opportunity to sign up for inclusion-related activities. The findings indicated that respondents held moderately positive attitudes toward the general concept of inclusion. Providers differentiated between different types of special needs and they based decisions on where children should be served, accordingly. Implications for incremental development of inclusive options are discussed. One of the primary intents of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA) is to ensure, to the greatest possible extent, that children with disabilities receive the services to which they are entitled in the educational settings they would be attending if they did not have a disability (Salisbury, 1990). Part B of IDEA and the subsequent clarifying comment on the least restrictive environment (LRE) regulation require schools to provide a variety of placement options along a continuum of inclusiveness to preschool children who are eligible for special education services. Inclusive options for these children may consist of placement in preschool programs operated by public agencies (i.e., Head Start or Chapter 1) and in private community-or school-based preschool programs that normally serve children without disabilities (34 CFR § 300.552). The legal rationale for the development of community-based preschool options has recently been strengthened by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which supports the rights of children with disabilities to participate in public and private preschools with their typically developing peers. Hence, both education legislation (IDEA) and civil rights legislation (ADA) underscore the responsibility of communities Fiserman,
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