Parent–Professional Partnerships in Early Education: Relationships for Effective Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

Abstract

The increasing enrollment of children with disabilities and developmental delays in inclusive settings requires reconsiderations of the scope and depth of early childhood professional development. In this study, a phenomenological research design was used to gain the perspectives of 13 parents and child care providers about their participation in an in-service training guided by the Partnerships in Early Education: Relationships with Supports (PEERS) model, which was designed to promote inclusive practices in early childhood child care settings. The analysis of collected interview data indicates that the training model has various components that participants found useful for the implementation of inclusive practices. Implications for the development of statewide collaborative in-service trainings on inclusive education for young children with special needs are discussed.