Early Childhood Special Education Research Articles

Lessons learned from family-school relationships during COVID-19: the experiences of early childhood special education professionals

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic caused shifts in the educational landscape and revealed gaps in educational processes, including the practices of education professionals. The present study used a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to explore the experiences of 10 early childhood special education professionals who supported racially and ethnically diverse families of preschoolers with disabilities to gain insight into family–school relationship dynamics during COVID-19. Through interviews, education professionals shared their firsthand experiences in relation to navigating home–school relationships during the pandemic. Education professionals described shifts in their relationships with families, as well as their observations of family factors such as hardships and engagement. They also discussed strategies they used to support families during the pandemic. Later, reflections from professionals in the study’s CBPR advisory board revealed lessons learned from the pandemic. Findings highlight the voices of early school professionals during COVID-19 and offer insights into how these experiences informed their adjustment and practice in modern day. Results reveal how early childhood special education professionals and families can be better supported by the education system moving forward, as well as suggestions for fostering home–school relationships throughout the early childhood years.

Early Childhood Practitioners' Use of Language Facilitation Strategies During Informational Book Reading: Relation to Language Skills of Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

The primary aim of the study was to examine the association between early childhood practitioners' use of language facilitation strategies during interactive book reading of informational texts related to science and the language skills of preschool children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Twenty-four practitioners (12 early childhood special education teachers and 12 speech-language pathologists) and 33 preschoolers with DLD participated. Practitioners received training and implemented an informational book-reading intervention for 19 weeks. Practitioners' use of language facilitation strategies (i.e., activating thinking by setting the informational text structure, asking target questions, asking inferential questions, and providing support) was coded using an observational tool. Children with DLD were assessed with a battery of language assessments at pre- and post-intervention. Providing support significantly predicted the receptive academic vocabulary and receptive understanding of signal words of preschoolers with DLD. Practitioners asking target questions (direct questions related to targeted academic vocabulary and signal words) significantly predicted the receptive academic vocabulary of preschoolers with DLD. By contrast, these two types of language facilitation strategies were not related to expressive academic vocabulary or signal words. The other language facilitation strategies (i.e., activating thinking by setting the informational text structure and asking inferential questions) did not contribute to receptive or expressive academic vocabulary or signal words. Our findings suggest that asking direct questions and providing support may be effective mechanisms for supporting children's understanding of academic vocabulary and signal words during interactive book reading of informational texts.

Supporting all learners through high quality early childhood curricula: STREAMin3 implementation across Virginia

IntroductionCurricula are an essential component of high-quality early learning experiences. Unfortunately, many early childhood educators face challenges in accessing evidence-based curricula, and implementation fidelity to curriculum is often poor without aligned support, including professional development for educators. This is especially true for educators within family day homes and private programs, who receive the lowest pay, struggle to access meaningful support, and leave the profession at high rates, compared to publicly funded programs.MethodsIn this paper, we describe the STREAMin3 birth-to-five curriculum model. We focus on describing how the curriculum model is intended to be used program-wide in infant, toddler, and preschool classroom, how the curriculum components support social, emotional, and academic skills, and how the aligned and embedded professional development model is designed to build educator capacity. We then present implementation data from the scaling of STREAMin3 during 2022 to 2023 in over 2,000 early childhood education classroom settings in Virginia that received state or federal funding.ResultsWe found that educators used and enjoyed the curriculum. Educators at private programs and family day homes reported higher satisfaction, compared to those at public programs and in early childhood special education settings. On average, educators reported implementing curriculum components two to three days a week.DiscussionWe discuss implications, including the need to support educators across settings as curricula and other initiatives are implemented at-scale across states. We discuss the need for future research to explore approaches to increase educator engagement and implementation, with attention to the unique needs of different program types.

Selective Mutism in the Context of Autism and Bilingualism.

Juan is a 5-year-old boy who has been followed by a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and pediatric neuropsychologist since being diagnosed with language delay and autism spectrum disorder at age 2 years. He is otherwise healthy and was born at term after a healthy pregnancy. His primary language is Spanish, and he has minimal interactions in English. His first words were at 20 months; they were not functional but rather words related to his interests such as "train." He began using 2 to 3-word phrases shortly after but only to request needs. He began speaking in complete sentences at age 4 years.A neuropsychological evaluation was conducted at age 2 years during which Juan demonstrated repetitive behaviors such as hand-flapping, toe-walking, body rocking, and head banging. He displayed sensory seeking behaviors such as rubbing items on his face and close visual inspection. He did not respond to his name and his use of eye contact was inconsistent. He demonstrated rigidity and difficulty transitioning between activities. He did not engage in social reciprocity, and his facial expressions were limited. Minimal spontaneous language was observed, and expressive language largely consisted of echolalia in both languages. Juan was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and applied behavior analysis, speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy were recommended.Developmental-behavioral follow-up over the next 2 years noted improvements in behavior, transitions, and social interactions. He participated in early childhood intervention and early childhood special education with significant advances for speech and language in English and Spanish, demonstrating a large vocabulary. At 4 years, parents noted Juan to have reluctance to speak in English. He stopped speaking in English entirely for 3 weeks, though he continued to speak in Spanish. When he resumed speaking in English, it was only with people he knew well (e.g., parents, teachers, babysitter). In clinic, he did not speak to the English-speaking developmental-behavioral pediatrician but spoke in short sentences to the Spanish-speaking neuropsychologist.A repeat neuropsychological evaluation completed at age 5 years revealed that Juan had stopped speaking in English completely, even among those previously deemed "safe." Results were consistent with average cognitive abilities with a strength in verbal skills. Juan's single-word vocabulary in Spanish was exceptionally high. He did not provide expressive responses in English, but his receptive English vocabulary was high average. He responded to English language with nonverbal gestures or spoken language in Spanish. Parents reported Juan to display increased anxiety accompanied by extreme school refusal, behavioral difficulties, and reluctance to leave the home.Given this information, what are your diagnostic considerations and treatment recommendations?

Complex Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in a 4-Year-Old With Repaired Critical Congenital Heart Disease and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a risk factor for developmental delay and for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative has developed recommendations for ongoing monitoring of this at-risk population to be able to detect developmental, learning, and behavioral concerns, as they become apparent as a child ages. A 4-year-old boy with tetralogy of Fallot with a ventricular septal defect repaired in infancy was followed periodically in the cardiac neurodevelopmental follow-up clinic and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as well as additional developmental and medical issues. He received early childhood special education and therapeutic interventions as well as social skills training and applied behavior analysis. At age 4 years, Alex presented with symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention, impulsivity, and immediate safety concerns for elopement. The clinician diagnosed him with ADHD-combined type. He was recommended to start medication in addition to behavioral and developmental supports. Managing medications in a child with CHD and ADHD presents unique challenges, and medication decisions were carefully made in collaboration with the child's cardiologist. After some medication adjustments and ongoing behavioral therapy to address behaviors associated with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, the child is doing well academically and socially. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medications can be safely prescribed in patients with CHD. However, pharmacotherapy for co-occurring ADHD and CHD needs an additional level of oversight and collaboration between cardiology and prescribing clinicians. Behavioral therapies can be transdiagnostic and address challenges associated with autism and symptoms related to ADHD.

Professionals’ Reported Practices to Involve Families in Initial Evaluations for Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education

It is well recognized and codified into law that families are an important part of early childhood evaluations; how families are included in evaluations in practice is less clear. To learn about family involvement, a nationally distributed survey focused on early childhood professionals’ (n = 1,118) use of family-centered practices before, during, and after the initial evaluation for early intervention (EI) and preschool special education. A mixed methods design was utilized to explore how professionals reported to involve families before, during, and after initial evaluations. Results varied for professionals involved in initial evaluations for EI versus preschool special education. Qualitative analyses revealed the challenges professionals identified when attempting to engage families in the initial evaluation process. Implications of the study findings are discussed for policy, practice, and research related to family involvement in the initial evaluation process.

Factors affecting sustainable tourism development in Vietnam

With a rapid growth rate, in just a short time, the tourism industry has become a type of industry that attracts a lot of labor, contributes a high proportion to GDP, and has a great influence on the economy. To ensure sustainable tourism development, identifying influencing factors is an urgent matter today. Therefore, this article presents a number of factors affecting sustainable development in tourism activities from a personal research perspective. In Vietnam, tourism has long been of interest to the Government, creating favorable conditions for development, and considering it a key industry compared to other economic sectors of the country. From the important reality of the tourism industry, many localities across the country pay great attention to tourism development with the desire to generate large revenues from this field. However, strong tourism development in localities can lead to many consequences. Therefore, studying the relationship between factors to sustainable tourism development is necessary. The requirement for countries and economies around the world is to conduct research to be able to move towards sustainable tourism development, achieving efficiency in all three aspects: economy, society and resource and environmental protection. Therefore, sustainable tourism development is the right direction for the tourism industry in Vietnam as well as all countries in the world. The study "Factors Affecting Sustainable Tourism Development: Survey in Quang Ninh province" by Bui Thi Quyen, Nguyen Thi Mai Huong and Phuong Huu was published in the International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education Vol. 14, Iss. 1 (2022) to support the planning and development of sustainable tourism to provide high quality services, improve the competitiveness of destinations, and ensure simultaneous development of the environment and society in Quang Ninh. Currently, Vietnam is having many positive economic changes. Agriculture is considered the main economic sector, with the second largest export turnover in the world, but has not yet brought high income to the people; The industrial sector requires a large amount of scientific and technical investment capital and a long payback period; meanwhile, the tourism sector is considered a smokeless industry, does not require too much investment and has a quick return period, and is gradually becoming one of the important economic sectors of Vietnam. From there, propose some solutions to promote sustainable tourism development for localities. Keywords: Tourism, Sustainable Development.

Early Childhood Special Education STARS: A Five-Point Model for Addressing the Teacher Shortage

There is currently a crisis-level shortage of qualified early childhood educators, including early childhood special educators. Teacher preparation programs must address the shortage through effective teacher recruiting, training, and retention strategies. We recommend a five-point STARS model that includes: (a) Supplemental funding during field placements, (b) Teacher preparation that leads to early childhood education and early childhood special education dual licensure, (c) Advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, (d) Relationships between teacher training programs and local public and private early learning centers, and (e) Supportive and ongoing mentoring for in-service early childhood special educators. This manuscript provides an overview of this STARS model with specific recommendations for teacher educators.

Preparing Teacher Candidates for Inclusive Practice: A Program Overview

This paper provides a programmatic overview of an early childhood education (ECE), dual-licensure personnel preparation program in the Midwest. The foundation of the ECE program includes blended faculty from general and special education, a cohort model, field placements every semester, and continual review and innovative practices. The ECE Program is offered in both campus-based and online delivery models to meet the needs of prospective students across the state and region. Faculty have recently expanded the program array to include two additional online programs to meet the changing needs of the workforce: a non-license credential-based bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public policy. The ECE program’s unique components and multiple offerings position it well to prepare teacher candidates to educate all children within inclusive settings. Future directions include developing a master’s degree in early childhood special education. Key words: early childhood, personnel preparation, dual-licensure

Reimagining Preparation for Early Intervention Providers

Preparing highly qualified Part C early intervention providers to serve eligible infants and toddlers and their families is crucial. Currently, there is no licensure for early childhood special education in the state of New Mexico, leaving many Part C providers without the necessary preparation. Project RISE, Reimagining Intervention to Support Early Childhood, a grant funded through the Office of Special Education Programs, will create a Multicultural Early Intervention Concentration within the existing Early Childhood Education Birth-Four non-licensure program. The aim of this project is to reimagine the preparation of early intervention providers through the infusion of culturally sustaining practices, strengths-based practices, and Yosso's community cultural wealth model. This manuscript will describe Project RISE, including the relevant New Mexico context; the development of Project RISE competencies, courses, and practicum experiences; the development of and collaboration with our affiliated faculty team and advisory board; scholar recruitment; and lessons learned thus far.

Consultative roles of early childhood special education teachers: A modeler, an advisor, and a spontaneous practitioner

This study focused on the ways in which early childhood special education teachers (ECSETs) perform their consultative work and the prevailing structural factors that are connected to it. The significance and centrality of ECSETs’ consultative work have increased as a growing number of ECSETs provide consultative support to other personnel with the aim of enhancing support for children's daily lives in early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, we have limited research-based knowledge about the consultative work done by ECSETs. Therefore, a more comprehensive examination of consultative practices and the factors influencing them is needed. We administered a survey on ECSETs’ (N = 207) consultative work focusing on ECEC in Finland. Using cluster analysis, we identified three consultative work profiles in ECSETs’ practices: a modeler, an advisor, and a spontaneous practitioner. This exploratory study contributes to understanding ECSETs' consultative work, creating potential for further development in this area.

Mapping Global Research on Early Childhood Special Education: A Bibliometric Analysis

Early childhood special education is a scientific field that is gaining worldwide attention. This study uses bibliometric and social network analysis methods to analyze early childhood special education research published in international journals. Therefore, the articles in the WoS database were accessed. WoS is a database of the most prestigious journals indexed SSCI, SCI-Expanded, AHCI, and ESCI. A total of 2051 articles meeting the determined criteria were included in the research. We used the VoSviewer software to perform the analyses and then interpreted the results. According to the research findings, the number of works published in the related field has increased significantly. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders has emerged as the most prolific publisher of articles on this topic. The United States stands out as the most productive country. Dawson, G. is the most effective and cited author. The most frequently used word in the studies examined was autism. It appears that political developments in the field of early childhood special education may contribute to this increase. In addition, the analysis revealed that a certain number of leading countries and researchers have made significant contributions to the field. İnfluential journals in the field of early childhood special education studies, it is noted, focus on special education.

Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs: Finnish Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Views

Abstract In today’s society, the need for functional communication is essential from an early age. However, many children struggle with speech, language, and communication during their time in early childhood education and care (ECEC). This paper examines early childhood special education teachers’ (ECSETs) views on how children with speech, language and communication needs are supported in regular ECEC. The empirical data comprised four focus group interviews with 14 itinerant ECSETs. A thematic analysis was used to examine the teachers’ support strategies. The following four themes related to the research question were identified after an iterative process of coding and close reading of data: (a) cooperation and professionalism as prerequisites for providing support; (b) processes and procedures for providing support; (c) consultation for personnel enabling support for children in a group; and (d) adjusting support based on each child’s individual needs. The study provides insight into providing support for children with speech, language and communication needs and related challenges. The results indicate several areas that work well in providing support during specific activities and for certain group compositions. However, potential pitfalls include ECSETs’ workload and lack of knowledge and motivation among personnel to support children in need of support.

Family and Staff Cooperation in Early Childhood Special Education

Introduction: Early childhood is a critical period for supporting children's development. The role of families and the staff responsible for the services is crucial in supports to be provided in the development of children with special needs. In this study, stakeholders' cooperation processes were examined in the context of family-staff and staff-staff cooperation. Method: The participants are 12 staff and seven parents at a special education center. The data of the study, which was conducted in the phenomenological design of qualitative research methods, were obtained with the semi-structured interview technique and analyzed with content analysis. Findings: Findings were discussed under the titles cooperation experiences, family participation and needs, early childhood special education, staff, institution features, opinion and suggestions. Six main themes and 18 subthemes were reached. Discussion: The findings of the study were consistent with the findings of the studies examining the cooperation process in special education services in the literature. Physical features of the institution, its operation in accordance with legal regulations and the staff's efficiency are effective in meeting families' needs of information and social support. Families need cooperation with staff expert in different fields in the process of starting education of children with special needs after early diagnosis and evaluation. The role of families and the directors and staff of the special education institutions are critical in maintaining the cooperation. Parents' needs such as information, social and psychological support must be met in line with the family participation. Family participation should be supported through accessible digital-based cooperation programs, professional skills of staff must be developed, and the physical features of institutions must be improved.

Early childhood education and early childhood special education teachers’ perceived stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms

The current study examines the relationships between teachers’ job demands and resources, perceived stress, job burnout, and depressive symptoms through an online survey administered to early childhood education (ECE: n = 143) and early childhood special education (ECSE: n = 121) teachers in a western state of the United States. Results showed no difference between ECE and ECSE teachers in their levels of job demands, resources, perceived stress, job burnout, and depressive symptoms. Both ECE and ECSE teachers’ job-related stressors were positively related to their perceived stress, and their job commitment was negatively associated with job burnout. However, there were some differences in the correlates of job burnout between ECE and ECSE teachers. For ECE teachers, the number of children with disabilities and their teaching efficacy predicted their job burnout, whereas with ECSE teachers, job-related stressors and the supportiveness of school climate (or the lack thereof) were indirectly related to their job burnout through their perceived stress. The current study suggests that providing professional development for these teachers and enhancing a school’s supportive climate will promote the well-being of both ECE and ECSE teachers.

A Team-Based Approach to IEP Data Collection in the Early Childhood Special Education Classroom

A Team-Based Approach to IEP Data Collection in the Early Childhood Special Education Classroom

Collaboration Is the Key: A Conversation With Dr. Vivian I. Correa

Dr. Correa is a professor emerita in the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Throughout her career, Dr. Correa’s research focused on young children with disabilities, bilingual special education, teacher education, and the intersection of early childhood special education with early childhood education. These foci resulted in research that crosses boundaries, involving strong collaborative partnerships across special education and general education within school settings, departments within universities, and multiple universities nationally.

Current and preferred services of specialized professionals in childcare settings in Quebec, Canada: A descriptive survey of childcare administrators' perspectives.

Many challenges exist in promoting inclusion in childcare settings. Adequate support from specialized professionals is necessary to create inclusive childcare settings. Understanding which services are being delivered by specialized professionals in childcare contexts is an important first step. The aim of this study was to (1) describe the services currently being delivered by specialized professionals in childcare settings in Quebec (Canada) and (2) seek childcare administrators' perspectives on their preferred services. An online province-wide descriptive survey was conducted with childcare administrators (n = 344). Questions focused on 11 service delivery dimensions (e.g. professionals involved, children served). Descriptive statistics were calculated. Childcare settings received services from a median of two specialized professionals (IQR [1-4]). Most services were delivered by early childhood special educators (61.3%), speech-language pathologists (57.6%), psycho-educators (43.6%) and occupational therapists (43.3%). Childcare administrators identified these four services as being particularly supportive. Professionals delivered a median of 0.4h of service per week in each childcare setting (IQR [0.1-3.0]). A high percentage (91.2%) of administrators reported unmet needs for professional support in at least one developmental domain, with a high percentage (57.3%) of administrators identifying needs in the socio-emotional domain. Most (63.3%) expressed a desire to prioritize services for children without an established diagnosis but identified by early childhood educators as having needs for professional support. Most administrators (71.4%) also preferred in-context services. Childcare administrators perceive an important role for specialized professionals in supporting inclusion in their settings. Recommendations emerging are based on the four main professional service needs identified: (1) increasing the intensity and stability of services; (2) providing services for undiagnosed children identified by early childhood educators as having unmet needs; (3) ensuring that services encompassing all developmental domains with a focus on the socio-emotional domain; and (4) prioritizing of in-context services.

The Perception of Instructional Design Principles for Metaverse in Education Among Pre-service Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

The Perception of Instructional Design Principles for Metaverse in Education Among Pre-service Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

Survey on early childhood special education teachers’ needs for inclusive education for young children with disabilities using borich’s needs and the locus for focus model analysis

Survey on early childhood special education teachers’ needs for inclusive education for young children with disabilities using borich’s needs and the locus for focus model analysis