Little Lions Join Two-Year Pilot Program

The Linn-Mar Little Lions program was excited to be asked to join a two-year pilot program funded by the state and supported by Grant Wood Area Education Agency recently.

Friday, February 3, the preschool team joined two other preschool teams from the Cedar Rapids Community School District and administrators and coaches from Grant Wood AEA to share each classroom’s journey and progress. Participants included the Grant Wood Regional Directors and Board of Education who joined via Skype. Each teaching team shared specific Learning Experiences: An Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Parents (LEAP) strategies they have been working to implement and how this model is impacting child outcomes including Individualized Education Program data.

The LEAP Preschool Model was founded by Dr. Phil Strain in 1981. The LEAP Preschool model: targets children on the autism spectrum served in inclusive settings; uses a variety of naturalistic, evidenced based teaching strategies; is grounded in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis; implements Peer-Mediated Strategies; and has a parent skills training curriculum (Strain & Cordisco, 1993). Peggy’s classroom has been implementing the LEAP model as a replication site since August 2016. A consultant from the University of Colorado comes in every 5-6 weeks for two days to coach the teachers on implementing strategies with fidelity with support from GWAEA.