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The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention for enhancing the language development of young children enrolled in home visiting programs. The participants were 59 children (18-30 months old) enrolled in one of three types of home visiting programs. Children's language skills were assessed pre- and post-intervention with the Preschool Language Scale. To estimate the impacts of the intervention on children's language scores, we conducted a two-level hierarchical linear model. Results from this model provide promising evidence for the benefits of using systematic parent-implemented language interventions.

This study examined professional comfort of 84 early intervention professionals in providing consultation about children with varying types, severity levels, and combinations of disabilities. Analysis suggested that more discomfort was reported if the child had severe disabilities or difficulties in communication and behavior. Additional training predicted professional comfort in providing consultation. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

As an initial step toward improving the outcomes of learners with disabilities, special educators have formulated guidelines for identifying evidence-based practices. We describe the Council of Exceptional Children's new set of standards for identifying evidence-based practices in special education and how they (a) were systematically vetted by expert special education researchers through a Delphi study, (b) demonstrated adequate inter-rater reliability in a pilot study, (c) delineate specific criteria in many areas and provide flexibility to tailor other criteria, (d) provide an integrated set of standards for classifying the evidence base of practices based on findings from both group comparison and single-subject studies, and (e) can be applied by independent special education researchers. We conclude by noting limitations to the standards, briefly comparing these new standards with other evidence-based practice standards, and providing recommendations for future research and for refining the standards.

The movement toward evidence-based practice has had a tremendous impact on the early childhood field over the past decade. The authors describe the origins of the evidence-based movement for the early childhood profession and various definitions associated with it. They provide resources for identifying programs and practices that have been evaluated through research and found to be effective, and they share an application of evidence-based practice that has led to a recent innovation in professional development in early childhood.

Issues affecting inclusion of young children with disabilities over the last 25 years are discussed. A brief history of early childhood inclusion is followed by a discussion of definition, terminology, and models for inclusive services. A summary of synthesis points derived from the research literature focuses on critical outcomes for children with disabilities, the role of specialized instruction, collaboration among professionals, necessary organizational supports, and benefits for typically developing children. Two recent directions affecting the implementation of inclusion, assessment of quality and Response to Intervention (RTI), are discussed. In addition, factors that may affect early childhood inclusion in the future are summarized. (Contains 1 table.)

This article describes current knowledge about early childhood inclusion, summarizing research and the DEC/NAEYC joint position statement on inclusion. The article also describes effective or promising educational practices that promote access, participation, and supports--the defining features of high-quality inclusion. Future efforts to improve the quality of inclusion must begin to connect these research-based practices in early care and education settings with systems-level supports related to the broader program quality movement.

Some young children show signs that they may not be learning in an expected manner, even during the prekindergarten (PreK) years. These children may exhibit learning challenges in areas such as developing language, counting objects, hearing differences in letter sounds, paying attention during story time, or learning how to write. Teachers, specialists, and parents are often the first to recognize that some young children need additional supports to learn academic skills in language, literacy, and math, but many lack specific guidance about the best way to respond to these children. This article describes an emerging early childhood practice called recognition & response (R&R), which is designed to help early educators address each of these issues. The authors first present the origins of R&R, then identify its major components, and finally, describe several steps to help early educators begin applying the principles of R&R in practice settings. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

A randomized, controlled study was conducted to assess the effects of the Nuestros Ninos professional development program on classroom practices and child outcomes related to language development and early literacy skills in both English and Spanish. Fifty-five teachers and 193 Latino dual language learners (DLLs) enrolled in the North Carolina More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program participated in the study. The content of the professional development program consisted of research-based instructional practices designed to complement the core curriculum and scaffold learning for DLLs, and the format included professional development institutes, individualized consultation, and community of practice meetings. The results showed that the intervention led to measurable improvements in both the overall quality of teachers' language and literacy practices as well as those specific to working with Latino DLLs, and greater gains in children's phonological awareness skills in their primary language. (Contains 5 tables.)

Reaching consensus on the meaning of professional development is needed to integrate professional development across various sectors of the early childhood field, distinguish various professional development approaches, match learning opportunities to learner characteristics, and evaluate its effects on professional practices and child and family outcomes. This article proposes a definition and conceptual framework for professional development across all sectors of early childhood and describes methods used to validate them. A case example illustrates how the definition and framework can be used to organize and plan professional development. Future directions for how a shared definition could move the field closer to a shared vision for planning, implementing, and evaluating professional development are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)

This article advocates for the need to link early childhood program quality and professional development, with a particular focus on how this topic relates to early childhood inclusion. There is consensus in the early childhood field about various components of program quality for young children in general, and a number of states now have program quality improvement systems in place to guide professional practice in this regard. However, there is a need to reach consensus on dimensions of program quality that define high quality inclusion and to reflect these dimensions in both program standards and professional development efforts. This article provides recommendations for how components of quality inclusion can be incorporated into professional development to ensure that practitioners are highly effective in serving every child and family, including those with disabilities. (Contains 1 figure.)

Adult support of 12 specific friendship dyads involving 3- to 5-year-old children with and without developmental delays was investigated through semi-structured interviews with the children's parents and teachers. Most respondents described these friendships as harmonious and important for the emotional benefits that these relationships provided children. Parents and teachers reported supporting the friendships through a variety of strategies, ranging from setting up the social environment to helping friends interact with each other and engaging in home-school communication on the topic of friendship. Findings also indicated that some of these strategies may have been implemented incidentally, rather than being intentionally focused on friendship support. Teachers reported giving information and being asked about or provided with information but did not report asking parents for information relating to specific friendships. (Contains 3 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to examine the social participation of young children with disabilities in inclusive preschool programs. One hundred forty-three preschool-aged children with disabilities were observed in classrooms representing four organizational contexts: community-based, Head Start, public school, and blended. Children's and adults' social behavior was positive across settings, and children in blended programs engaged in significantly more positive social behavior with adults. Peer social engagement did not differ across organizational contexts. Activity initiator was an ecological variable that affected children's social engagement in that children engaged in significantly more interaction with peers in child-initiated activities and significantly more interaction with adults in adult-initiated activities.). (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

The concept of evidence-based practice is helping early educators, special educators, early interventionists, child care professionals, mental health professionals, social workers, health care professionals, and others to transform the services provided to children and families. The authors discuss the emergence of the evidence-based practice movement and the challenges of integrating what we know from scientific research into daily practice with children and families. The authors define evidence-based practice for the early childhood field as "a decision-making process that integrates the best available research evidence with family and professional wisdom and values" and suggest that evidence-based practice is essentially a process or way of empowering professionals and others to integrate various sources of knowledge to make informed decisions that directly benefit children and families.

The growing use of the term "evidence-based" in conference presentations, web sites, journal articles and grants announcements suggest definitive answers to a host of practice-related issues. The purpose of this paper is to address the questions of: (1) defining evidence-based practice; (2) how evidence-based practice differs from other practices; (3) the emergence of the current evidence-based practice movement; and (4) impact to the early childhood field. The authors propose defining evidence-based practice for the early childhood field as a decision-making process that integrates the best available research evidence with family and professional wisdom and values. Evidence-based practices are distinguished from guidelines or other practices by being decision-making processes rather than tangible written recommendations; and by focusing more on local circumstances, consumer values, and knowledge about individual children and families. Although acknowledging challenges in adopting an evidence-based practice approach to early childhood, the authors conclude that promoting the systematic dissemination of the known, drawing attention to the need for more scientific rigor, and advocating for increase participation among consumers, will respond to many significant problems in the field. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

The evidence-based practice movement in the early childhood field has stimulated efforts to synthesize and disseminate research findings related to direct services, such as child interventions and classroom teaching practices. This article describes the need to use an evidence-based process to make decisions about indirect services, specifically consultation, that include not only the best available scientific research but also professional and family wisdom and values as sources of evidence. Three scenarios are presented that illustrate various ethical issues related to early childhood consultation. Among four concluding recommendations for the early childhood field is the need to amend codes of ethics in general and special early childhood education to reflect values and practices related to indirect service delivery models involving collaborative relationships with other adults.

Drawing on the perspectives of itinerant early childhood special education (ECSE) consultants reported in previous research, this article identifies issues and challenges specific to early intervention and education that must be considered for itinerant ECSE consultants to engage in productive consultation with personnel in child care or other center-based programs. The article concludes with recommendations for professional development and standards in consultation practice for early intervention and education personnel. The authors also suggest future directions for consultation research.

Professionals in early intervention and early childhood special education often do not feel that they are adequately prepared to provide indirect services in the form of consultation to general early childhood educators. In this article, the authors propose a framework for the practice of consultation in early education and intervention. Although they recognize that a thorough knowledge of child development and recommended practices in early intervention constitute the "content" of consultation, it is not a sufficient foundation for understanding the consultation "process." Because research examining the consultation process in early intervention is limited, they look to the larger body of knowledge about consultation from other disciplines, most notably reputable sources on school-based consultation. The consultation framework the authors propose incorporates key elements shared by models of consultation practiced outside the early intervention field and is best characterized as a collaborative approach that involves shared responsibility between the consultant (an early interventionist or itinerant teacher) and consultee (a family member or classroom teacher) during all stages of the consultation process. The authors begin with a brief vignette illustrating consultation in an inclusive early childhood classroom. The authors then explore this example in each stage of an eight-stage consultation process that is a modification of one proposed by Brown, Pryzwansky and Schulte (1998) and others for providing consultation in schools. Because the process of consulting essentially involves a series of conversations between a consultant and a consultee, they include sample excerpts of dialogue, emphasizing the consultant's role in supporting and influencing the consultee. (Contains 1 figure.)

The purpose of this study was to examine how total duration of social play of preschool children with disabilities varied as a function of both chronological and developmental age of their social partners. Fifty-five 33- to 60-month-old children with mild to moderate developmental delays were observed in dyadic play situations with four different partners. Partners ranged from same age as the focal child to 23 months difference in age, and ranged in developmental status from typical to moderate delay. Results indicated that the influence of partner?s developmental age on social play was different depending on the developmental age of the focal child. This interaction effect suggests that advantages accrued to preschoolers with disabilities from mixed-aged play groupings depend on the child?s developmental age and those of available social partners.

This study examined strategies teachers reported using to support friendships among young children in inclusive early childhood classrooms. The teachers included 25 general early childhood educators from 9 child care centers and 20 early childhood special educators from 9 specialized programs. The Playmates and Friends Questionnaire for Teachers documented the number and nature of children's friendships and teachers' reported use of 11 different strategies to support individual friendships. Overall, the friendship strategies that teachers reported using most frequently included providing sufficient free choice time, allowing children to form their own friendships, and commenting on the play between friends. The majority of teachers reported rarely using two strategies: arranging for children to play together outside of the classroom and allowing two friends to exclude other children from their play. Teachers reported using more active friendship strategies to support dyads in which one or both children had special needs. Implications of these findings to support friendship formation in inclusive early childhood settings and directions for future research are presented.

Explored perceptions of school readiness among preschool and kindergarten teachers, principals, and parents. Found participants experienced tensions related to their readiness views: conflict between personal teaching/learning philosophies and state expectations; pressure placed upon children, teachers, and families for children to perform; and inconsistency of defining kindergarten eligibility by chronological age and required entry skills. Devised recommendations for promoting strategies that foster readiness, increase professional accountability, and promote social/emotional development. (Author/KB)

A study of 8,696 infants and toddlers eligible for early intervention services in North Carolina from 1991-1996 found the majority were identified as having a developmental delay, with the mean age of entry into the system at approximately 17 months. Notable trends included an increase in parent referrals. (Contains references.) (CR)

A study examined the effects of social setting on the friendship formation of 333 preschool children (120 with disabilities) enrolled in inclusive early childhood programs. Typical children in specialized classrooms had significantly more friends. In child care settings, however, there were no statistically significant differences in number of friendships. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Interviews were conducted with 92 parents and practitioners to examine their views of quality inclusive child care. Findings confirmed the two-dimensional view of quality inclusion to encompass both general early childhood practices and individualization. For each dimension, program features, resources, strategies, and outcomes associated with high-quality inclusion are identified. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Content analysis of focus groups attended by 86 early intervention specialists revealed six factors affecting professional comfort with consultation: (1) child characteristics, (2) consultee characteristics, (3) program characteristics, (4) consultant characteristics, (5) available resources, and (6) consultant's history with the program. No shared conceptual framework for consultation was found. (Contains references.) (DB)

This article on professional roles in early intervention introduces the concept of expanding roles to include collaborative reflective inquiry within communities of practice as one way to reform professional practices. It suggests that reflection within communities of practice extends the understanding of individual professionals but also holds potential to advance the field as a whole. (Contains references.) (DB)

This article discusses the outcomes of a project that used a community development framework to implement change in early care and intervention services in two culturally diverse communities. It describes how community forums and parent leadership training assisted in change efforts and lessons learned from implementation and evaluating reforms. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This study assessed factors contributing to global program quality in 180 community-based child-care centers in North Carolina. Inclusive early-childhood programs scored higher on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Other predictors of global program quality included teacher education, professional experience, and teacher self-ratings of knowledge and skill. (Author/CR)

Examined the underlying factor structure of a rating scale to assess perceived barriers and supports for early childhood inclusion. Identified a single support factor and three barrier factors with adequate internal consistency: (1) program quality; (2) community resources; and (3) coordinating and integrating services for children with disabilities and their families. Barriers were similar for parents and professionals. (Author/KB)