Early Childhood Intervention Practices Research Articles

The changing narrative of early childhood intervention in Australia: Service providers’ perspectives on the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme

The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) completed its roll-out in 2020 with the objective of addressing the inadequacies of a fragmented and underfunded service system for people with disabilities. Under the scheme, young children with disabilities or developmental delay can now access services through the Early Childhood Approach, which is delivered by a range of not-for profit and for-profit organizations. Considering the significance of the resulting service system changes and the critical role of service providers, the aim of the present study was to examine their experiences in the State of Victoria. Forty-five service providers participated in interviews and focus groups which generated information grouped into four themes: (1) A changed orientation; (2) Early childhood intervention (ECI) practice; (3) ECI workforce; (4) The potential for a new system. Participating service providers reported several challenges in their quest to effectively support children and their families. It is concluded that for the NDIS to fulfil its promise and potential, revisions and adaptations of its systems and policies that incorporate the current ECI evidence-based knowledge and translation into real-world implementation are required.

What We Learn From Listening to Families in Early Childhood Tele-Intervention During the Pandemic

Purpose: Plena Inclusión is the National Federation of Organisations of People with Disabilities in Spain providing services, defending rights, and being an agent of social change. Families who have children with early childhood intervention (ECI) support needs have experienced a changing situation during confinement due to the pandemic. Some of these changes have critically affected some families, whereas others have been able to rely on professional support that has allowed them to develop strengths and improve their functioning as a family. This objective is, precisely, one of the keys to the Family-Centered Practice (FCP) model in ECI. This study aims to explore the narratives of families who have received support in ECI practices during the lockdown in the region of Castilla–La Mancha (Spain) within the frame of Plena Inclusión services. These practices have been directed, in many cases, toward tele-intervention. Method: Data have been collected through ethnographic interviews with families and have been processed through thematic analysis. Results: The results show the perception of families articulated in two thematic network focuses: the personal and family emotions regarding the past and present moment (fear, loneliness, despair, nervousness, uncertainty, anguish, and frustration) and the emotions experienced also in the present but projected toward future (feeling of competence, hope, adaptation, tranquility as they felt supported by professionals, relief for not being alone, trust in their process, or empowerment, among others). Conclusions: In parallel, focus groups with professionals who support these families were carried out, although the results of this analysis will be presented in future reports. The study opens new lines, which evidence the difficulty of the process of transformation toward actual FCPs.

Predictors of Practitioners’ Use of Recommended Early Childhood Intervention Practices

Findings from research syntheses of adult learning and in-service training studies identified the importance of professional development as a factor influencing practitioner use of recommended and evidence-based intervention practices. These relationships were used to test the hypothesis that practice-specific evidence-based capacity-building professional development would be related to early childhood practitioners’ reported use of recommended early childhood intervention practices. The participants were practitioners working with birth to 3-year-old, 3- to 5-year-old, or birth to 5-year-old children with identified disabilities, developmental delays, or at-risk conditions in home-based or center-based programs or both. The predictors included three practitioner background variables (e.g., years of professional experience) and three professional development variables (e.g., evidence-based professional development practices). Results indicated that the three professional development practice variables accounted for significant amounts of variance in the practitioners’ reported use of 10 different practices beyond that accounted for by the three background variables. The findings highlight the importance of evidence-based capacity-building professional development as a factor influencing practitioners’ judgments of their use of recommended practices.

Prácticas de Atención Temprana en el sureste de España: perspectiva de profesionales y familias

Actualmente en España estamos viviendo un proceso de transformación en Atención Temprana hacia un modelo centrado en la familia. Ésta empieza a cobrar un especial protagonismo como eje fundamental de la intervención, participando activamente en el proceso educativo y rehabilitador del niño.La evidencia científica señala que la adecuada interacción del profesional con la familia, a través de la implementación de prácticas relacionales y participativas, es fundamental para el éxito de la intervención. Por ello, resulta interesante conocer cómo se realizan esas interacciones y cómo son percibidas por los dos agentes.Se aplicó el cuestionario de Estilos de Interacción entre Padres y Profesionales en Atención Temprana (EIPPAT) (Escorcia, García-Sánchez, Sánchez-López & Hernández-Pérez, 2016) para analizar las estrategias y estilos de interacción de los profesionales con las familias. El cuestionario fue cumplimentado por 504 familias y 187 profesionales. Los resultados demuestran que los profesionales españoles desarrollan más prácticas relacionales y menos prácticas participativas con las familias. Sin embargo, creen que hacen más prácticas participativas de las que las familias realmente reciben, según la percepción de estas familias. Se concluye sobre la necesidad de mejorar la formación del profesional en las implicaciones de las prácticas centradas en la familia en Atención Temprana.

Developing Evidence-Informed Early Childhood Intervention E-Learning Lessons, Performance Checklists and Practice Guides

Developing Evidence-Informed Early Childhood Intervention E-Learning Lessons, Performance Checklists and Practice Guides

Research Foundations for Evidence-Informed Early Childhood Intervention Performance Checklists

The research evidence for early childhood intervention practices performance checklists is described. Performance checklists include lists of the tasks or steps required to complete a practice competently. The checklists were developed using a conceptualization-operationalization-measurement framework where findings from research syntheses and empirical studies informed the selection or development of checklist indicators. This paper includes a meta-review of empirical evidence demonstrating practice-outcome relationships consistent with the purposes and goals of each of the performance checklists. Findings from more than 200 narrative reviews, meta-analyses, integrative reviews, and other types of research syntheses were the sources of evidence and foundations for 26 early childhood intervention performance checklists. The research evidence, taken together, indicates that the checklist indicators have a substantial evidence base for each of the performance checklist practices. Strengths and limitations of the meta-review are described.

Practitioner-informed improvements to early childhood intervention performance checklists and practice guides

Results from four early childhood practitioner field tests of performance checklists and early intervention practice guides are reported. Findings from the first field test were used to make changes and improvements in the checklists and practice guides evaluated in the second and third field tests, and findings from the latter two field tests were used to improve the checklist and practice guide evaluated in the fourth field test. Results indicated that changes made in response to practitioners’ suggestions and feedback were associated with (1) progressive increases in the practitioners’ social validity judgments of the checklists, practice guides, and checklist-practice guide correspondence, and (2) progressive decreases in the number of practitioner suggestions and feedback for improving the early intervention materials. The field-test research demonstrates the importance of practitioner input, suggestions, and feedback for improving the usefulness of early childhood intervention practices.

Parents’ Social Validity Appraisals of Early Childhood Intervention Practice Guides

Findings from three field-tests of parents’ ratings of early childhood intervention practice guides are reported. Results from the first field-test were used to inform changes to the practice guides in the second field-test, and results from the second field-test were used to inform changes to the practice guides in the third field-test. Parents’ judgments of the practice guide designs and their social validity appraisals of the practice guide intervention activities and child outcomes were correlated with parent-informed improvements in the intervention materials. The results add to the knowledge base in terms of how parent-informed improvements to the practice guides are related to product design judgments and the social validity appraisals of the importance and acceptability of early childhood intervention materials.

Procedures for Developing Evidence-Informed Performance Checklists for Improving Early Childhood Intervention Practices

A conceptualization-operationalization-measurement framework is described for developing evidence-informed early childhood intervention performance checklists. Performance checklists include lists of practice indicators where the indicators, taken together, operationally define particular types of intervention practices that, when used as intended, can be expected to have desired outcomes and benefits. The use of the framework for operationalizing recommended practices is described to illustrate its applicability for developing tools for improving early childhood intervention.

Predictors of the Social Validity Judgments of Early Childhood Intervention Performance Checklists and Practice Guides

Early childhood intervention practitioners (N = 42) reviewed three early intervention performance checklists and three intervention practice guides and made social validity judgments of the acceptability and importance of the products. Both the checklists and practice guides included evidence-based characteristics and indicators that are known to be related to improved child learning and development. Hierarchical regression analyses of the relationship between five predictor variables and the study participants’ social validity judgments and found that only practitioners’ cognitive appraisals of the checklists and practice guides accounted for significant amounts of variance in their social validity judgments beyond that accounted for by the other predictors (education, years of experience, primary role, and type of program). The importance of cognitive appraisals for understanding their influence on practitioner social validity judgments are described as are the limitations of the study.

THE REALIZED AND EXPECTED EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION PRACTICES IN LITHUANIA

Inclusive early childhood practices are at the forefront of the research and practice efforts in many European countries. Inclusion in early childhood programs can set a trajectory for inclusion across the life course, making it critical that we include individuals with special educational needs in all facets of society from birth. In many European countries, including Lithuania, children with special educational needs and their families continue facing significant barriers to accessing inclusive high-quality early childhood practices and too many pre-school children with special educational needs and disabilities continue receiving special education services in separate settings, as opposed to the least restrictive environment. The aim of the research was to assess the realized and expected early childhood intervention practices while educating children with diverse needs in inclusive pre-school settings. The study was based on a survey using the instruments of Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education. The instrument includes the following topic areas: leadership, assessment, environment, family, instruction, interaction, collaboration, and transition.

Exploring Professional Boundaries: A Shift to Inter-Professional Early Childhood Intervention Practice in Lithuania

<p><em>A vast body of literature is focusing on the interdisciplinary approach in the field of early childhood intervention (ECI) practice,<strong> </strong>however inter-professional relations challenge traditional understanding of professional role and identity. The article contributes to the discussion about the value and the pitfalls of inter-professional cooperation in the field of ECI and its possible effects on family and child life. The aim of the research was to explore what competences professionals representing different fields perceive as most important for successful inter-professional collaboration. The study was based on experts’ evaluation (questionnaire). </em><em>An analysis of the data revealed the importance professionals allocated to opinion-sharing in the emerging early childhood intervention inter-professional teams as well as a lack of attention to the parents’ voice, which indicates the need for further cohesiveness – a shift from a polylogue of different disciplines to an inter-professional culture.<strong> </strong></em></p><p> </p>

Conventional Tests and Testing for Early Intervention Eligibility

Conventional tests and testing procedures are used predominately to determine eligibility for early intervention and early childhood special education programs and services. Such traditional tests must have critical attributes to ensure accurate and representative measurements of the capabilities of infants, toddlers, and preschool children who have developmental delays and disabilities. Researchers and critics have questioned the presumption that conventional tests have the requisite practice-based evidence to justify their use for early intervention eligibility. In this updated research synthesis, we reviewed the available research literature on the most frequently used conventional tests and found 44 studies exploring their technical adequacy related to eligibility determination; then, we identified and applied well-known early childhood professional standards for developmentally appropriate assessment to the research literature on these conventional tests/editions to determine their fit with early childhood intervention philosophy, purpose, and practices. The results of our qualitative study and research synthesis raise serious questions about the lack of critical qualities, field validation, and evidence base of conventional tests and testing to fulfill the purpose of early intervention eligibility determination. Implications for professional practices in early childhood intervention, particularly eligibility determination, are discussed with relevant perspectives on policy and research issues.

Relationships between Family Risk and Opportunity Factors and Parent and Child Functioning

The effects of socioenvironmental conditions that impede or undermine development (risk factors) and the conditions that promote or enhance development (opportunity factors) were examined in a study of 192 mothers and their one-year-old children. The outcomes constituting the focus of investigation were maternal psychological well-being (positive and negative affect) and child cognitive development. Results showed that the presence of multiple risk factors in the absence of opportunity factors had negative consequences on both the maternal and child outcomes, and that the presence of multiple opportunity factors in the absence of risk factors had positive consequences on both outcomes Implications for improving early childhood intervention practices are described.

Treatment Fidelity in Early Childhood Special Education Research

Although this special issue on treatment fidelity is extremely timely for the field of early childhood special education (ECSE), this issue comes somewhat late in the history of conversations about the importance of information about treatment implementation. In 1980, Billingsley, White, and Munson discussed the need for treatment fidelity reliability in single case design studies. Blase, Fixsen, and Phillips (1984) pointed out the need to discriminate implementation outcomes from effectiveness outcomes in single-case and group design studies. In the two decades that followed, Fixsen, Blase, and others argued that only when effective practices and programs are fully implemented should we expect positive outcomes (Bernfeld, 2001; Fixsen & Blase, 1993; Institute of Medicine- Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, 2001; Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2002; cited in Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). Discussion of treatment fidelity has become more frequent in the last decade, fueled by changing standards for methodological rigor in educational research and public concern for implementing evidence-based practices in school and community settings (e.g., Borrelli, 2011; Elliott & Mihalic, 2004; Kratochwill & Stoiber, 2002; Stockard, 2010).The current issue provides representative sample of where the field of ECSE stands in the evolving consideration of implementation fidelity. These six articles link emergent conceptual frameworks in treatment implementation fidelity to the training and coaching process used for professional development (PD) in ECSE and to measuring fidelity of interventions in literacy, behavior disorders, social emotional support, and family interventions. Two articles report specifically on the progress toward reporting implementation fidelity in the field of ECSE.Dunst, Trivette, and Raab (p. 85) introduce an implementation science framework and provide specifications for measuring fidelity in ECSE research. In introducing this framework, they propose the use of the term implementation to refer to a specific set of [professional development] activities designed to put into practice an [intervention] activity. They argue that the use of any type of early childhood intervention practice requires attention to not only the fidelity of the intervention practice but also the fidelity of the methods used to promote the use of that practice. They also point out the need for understanding the active ingredients of implementation practices and interventions. Essentially, measurement of fidelity should index the active ingredients of implementation and intervention; further, the determination of active ingredients should be linked to research-based evidence of effectiveness. Dunst et al. provide conceptual model and analytical framework for linking variations in implementation fidelity, variations in the intervention as delivered, and practice outcomes for children and families. They illustrate the application of this model using data from Head Start research project in which teachers were taught to implement early literacy practices.Powell and Diamond's (p. 102) argument for the application of implementation science principles in examining PD in experimental studies of language and literacy instruction for preschoolers follows the logic offered by Dunst et al. Powell and Diamond propose that critical link in the PD pathway, the individualized coaching provided to teachers as means of training them to use new intervention procedure, is largely black box. They use their conceptual framework for coaching (Powell & Diamond, 2013) that emphasizes structure, content, and process to describe the impact of coaching on teachers' implementation of evidence-based literacy practices. The procedures for coaching were derived from series of iterative experimental PD studies. In this issue, they report data from hybrid coaching-based PD program offered to Head Start teachers. …

Early Childhood Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education in Turkey Within the Scope of the Developmental System Approach

The purpose of this article was to provide an overview of early childhood intervention and early childhood special education (ECI/ECSE) services and practices in Turkey by using the Developmental System Approach (M. J. Guralnick, 2001). After pointing out the history of early childhood and ECI/ECSE services and current legislations with regard to ECI/ECSE in Turkey, the article focuses on ECI/ECSE practices in Turkey. Although ECI/ECSE legislative acts have been in place since 1980s, there are critical issues regarding the provision of systematic ECI/ECSE both to young children with developmental delays or at risk for developmental delays and to their families. These issues include lack of a model system approach, lack of assessment tools and curricula, and lack of qualified personnel. Future recommendations for ECI/ECSE are provided.

Early Head Start and African American families: Impacts and mechanisms of child outcomes

Abstract Persistent disparities exist between African American children and their European American counterparts across developmental domains. Early childhood intervention may serve to promote more positive outcomes among African American children. The current study examined whether and how the Early Head Start (EHS) program benefited African American children at the end of the program, when they were 36 months of age, as well as the parenting these children experienced and how this affected their developmental outcomes. The data show a wide and strong pattern of impacts of EHS for African American children and families. Path analysis yielded findings that suggested a direct effect of EHS on specific child outcomes and parenting processes within this group of African American families. Parental supportiveness and cognitive stimulation emerged as important direct influences on African American children's outcomes and as pathways through which Early Head Start benefits these children. These findings are discussed in the context of early childhood intervention practice.

An Evidence-Based Approach to Professional Development in Head Start Classrooms

An evidence-based approach to professional development used to promote Head Start teacher adoption of evidence-based early childhood intervention practices is described. The article, includes a summary of findings from a meta-analysis of adult learning methods, a description of an approach to professional development informed by the meta-analysis results, and a description of how the approach was used to provide training to teachers in 18 Head Start classrooms. An evaluation of the professional development approach in the Head Start classrooms found that it was associated with differences in teacher adoption and use of the child learning opportunities and teacher instructional practices constituting the focus of training. Implications for professional development in early childhood programs are described.

From the Editor

From the Editor

Using Research Evidence to Inform and Evaluate Early Childhood Intervention Practices

This article includes descriptions of a process used to conduct practice-based research syntheses and the manner in which synthesis findings are used to inform and evaluate early childhood intervention practices. The main focus of a practice-based research synthesis is the unbundling of an intervention practice to identify those practice characteristics that are associated with desired outcomes and benefits. Also described are how the characteristics identified as most important are used to develop evidence-based practices and how the characteristics can be used as benchmarks to assess the likelihood that an untested practice will be effective. The article concludes with a discussion of the tension between research and practice and how that tension might be mitigated.