South Carolina Partnerships for Inclusion (SCPI) is an early childhood technical assistance (TA) center focused on increasing inclusive opportunities and programs readiness for preschool children with disabilities. SCPI understands that the path to successful adulthood begins with positive early childhood experiences. We reinforce this by partnering with school districts to build local capacity to support all young children and their families to belong and thrive within their communities. We use a professional development model of technical assistance, training, and ongoing support to meet the needs of districts, schools, and educators.
As part of the Technical Assistance Network, SC TEAMS, SCPI supports the South Carolina Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Services (OSES) to increase the local capacity of districts and schools to support the implementation & scaling up of evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for children ages three to twenty-one with disabilities in the state.
How Did We Get Here?
Our work took root in 2016 as the SC Preschool Inclusion Initiative, a project under the SC Gateways: Cradle to Career grant, to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to increase inclusive opportunities and improve school readiness outcomes for preschool children with disabilities in selected districts. Upon expiration of the SC Gateways contract, the South Carolina Department of Education's OSES committed to supporting the continuation of this work.
What Is Our Mission?
Our mission is to increase inclusive opportunities and programs readiness for preschool children with disabilities to lead to more positive outcomes for children and families. Our goal is for local education agencies (LEAs) to be better positioned to increase access to the general education curriculum for preschool children with disabilities. We support school districts across the state and offer tiered technical assistance to assist them in meeting state SPP/APR targets for Early Childhood Indicators.
While we partner with many organizations across the state, we collaborate closely with Pyramid PIECES and the Inclusion Collaborative to support inclusive early childhood practices across the mixed-delivery system.”
Pyramid PIECES is an umbrella organization of partnerships to support Pyramid Model implementation across the early childhood landscape in our state. The Pyramid Model promotes educators' competence and confidence to address the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children birth to five.
Pyramid PIECES collaborates closely with SCPI TA providers to work directly with district early-learning programs
SCIC provides individualized training and coaching for child care providers to support the inclusion of children with disabilities/developmental delays in child care programs.
Their inclusion specialists work directly with child care staff and program administrators to increase the use of evidence-based practices that lead to access and meaningful participation for all children.