Early Childhood Special Education Research Articles

A Qualitative Study on the Writing and Implementation of Individualized Education Plan(IEP) for Beginner Early Childhood Special Education Teachers at Public Kindergartens

본 연구는 공립유치원에서 특수교육대상유아를 가르치는 초임 유아특수교사가 IEP 수립 및 실행 과정에 겪는 어려움을 살펴보고, 이를 개선하고 보완할 수 있는 방안을 모색하여 초임 유아특수교사의 IEP 수립에 대한실질적인 도움을 제안하는 데 목적이 있다. 이를 위하여 5명의 초임 유아특수교사와 심층면담을 실시하였고, 연속적 비교분석법을 사용하여 면담자료를 분석하였다. 연구결과 첫째, 초임 유아특수교사들은 IEP가 특수교사의 중요한 업무이며, 통합학급 교사와 의사소통하는 중요한 문서라고 인식하였다. 특히 통합교육의 방향을 제시한다는 점에서 중요하기에 전문성 있게 실행하고 싶지만, 경험이 짧은 초임교사라서 어려움이 있다고 인식하였다. 둘째, IEP 지원팀은 각자 고유한 역할이 있고, 협의회를 통해 IEP를 작성해야 하지만 구성원들이 공동의시간을 맞추기도 어렵고, 협의회에 참여하는 태도나 치료실과의 연계에 어려움이 있어 결국 유아특수교사가 홀로 IEP를 작성하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 초임 유아특수교사는 현행수준 파악을 위해 직전교육에서 배웠던 교육진단도구를 사용하였으나 목표 수립에 어려움을 느끼고, 교육과정과 연계된 목표를 수립할 수 있는진단도구를 찾기 위해 여러 가지 진단 도구를 사용하고 있었다. 넷째, 학기 초는 바쁜 시기이고 초임이라 모든것에 새로 적응해야 하는 시기이나, 이때 IEP를 작성해야 하고, IEP 작성을 위해 도움받을 곳이 없어 어려움을겪고 있었다. 다섯째, 유아·놀이중심 교육과정 실행으로 통합학급의 일과는 예측 가능하지 않고, 즉흥적으로이루어지다 보니 IEP 실행을 위해서는 초임 유아특수교사가 변화되는 일과에 즉각 대응해야 하는 어려움이 있다고 하였다. 여섯째, 초임 유아특수교사들은 성공적인 IEP를 위하여 유치원 교육과정에 맞는 진단도구 개발, 충분한 작성시간, 지원팀 구성원의 인식개선, IEP 관련 동료장학 및 연수, 사례집을 요구하였다.

A Study on Experience of Implementing the Individualized Education Plan(IEP) of Early Childhood Special Education Teachers at Inclusive Daycare Centers-Based on 「The 2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum」

본 연구는 장애아통합어린이집 유아특수교사의 2019 개정 누리과정 적용에 따른 개별화교육계획 실행 경험을 알아보는 데에 목적이 있다. 이를 위하여 서울 국·공립 장애아통합어린이집의 유아특수교사 3명을 대상으로 심층 면담을 실시하였다. 심층 면담은 면담 지침서를 구성하여 이를 토대로 진행하였으며, 자료 분석은 의미 단위 분석을 통하여개념을 도출하고 이를 범주화하였다. 연구 결과, 2019 개정 누리과정 적용에 따른 유아특수교사의 개별화교육계획 실행 경험은 다음과 같은 4개의 상위 범주로 도출되었다: 1) 놀이 중심 교육과정의 운영, 2) 2019 개정 누리과정과 개별화교육계획의 연계, 3) 2019 개정누리과정 적용의 시행착오와 어려움, 4) 2019 개정 누리과정과 개별화교육계획 연계를 위한 지원요구. 본 연구는 2019 개정 누리과정 적용되는 장애아통합어린이집의 개별화 교육계획 운영을 이해하기 위한 기초자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

Importance of Toy Play in Special Education for young Children: Perspectives and Approaches

Special needs children have different needs compared to typically growing children in various aspects of life. Their learning is hampered due to the difficulties they face in the normal way of learning. Special education practices have been adopting various play-based methods to address special needs children's difficulties and needs. This research reviews toy play as a learning method and its importance in young special needs children's education. The paper takes different perspectives on play and how it is characterized. A study of Toy Play taxonomies is also presented from the perspective of the learning needs of special needs children. Three prominent special education approaches are studied, and a synthesis of how to play fits into these approaches is presented. The future of toy play and further research areas is discussed. Early childhood play is a normal phenomenon that has much use in early intervention, early childhood special education, and early childhood education. Among these areas, there are still many disagreements about how to characterize and use play. These tensions jeopardize evaluation, action, and curriculum planning practices, as well as their links to science and practice. This essay examines play in early learning, early childhood special education, early childhood education, and how play is viewed and used in these settings.

Evidence-Based, Empirically Supported, or Scientifically Unsupported? An Overview of the Research to Practice Gap in Early Childhood Special Education

Valid research is crucial for evaluating the effects of utilized practices, strategies, and interventions on learners with exceptionalities. In the United States, for the past several decades, considerable research and policies have focused on developing evidence-based practices (EBPs), evidence-informed programs, and other research-supported initiatives that intend to produce better outcomes for children with disabilities. However, past and current efforts to translate, transport, and close the research to practice gap have not successfully disseminated the growing list of evidence-based interventions, strategies, and programs routinely into practice. The gap between research and practice is particularly problematic in special education and early childhood special education (ECSE). Children and students with disabilities require highly effective instruction to reach their potential. This conceptual review paper provides an overview of EBPs in ECSE and elaborates on the research to practice gap and the related issues. The paper discusses the identification, implementation, and dissemination of EBPs that have been regarded as the challenges the field of ECSE faces in closing the research to practice gap. Finally, implications and recommendations for future research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Job Burnout and Psychological Stress

ABSTRACT Research Findings: All teachers have demanding jobs and work with limited resources. However, working with young children with disabilities may place additional demands on early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers which may impact their well-being. Using the Job Demands and Resources model, the present study aimed to predict ECSE teachers’ job burnout and psychological stress by using their job demands, job resources, and professional internal resources. An online survey was collected from 121 ECSE teachers from a large urban school district in a Western state of the United States. The results showed that job demands (work-related stressors) were positively associated with teachers’ job burnout and psychological stress. Job resources (sense of school community) were negatively associated with their job burnout and psychological stress. Teachers’ job commitment was negatively associated with job burnout. Though their other internal resources (beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices and teaching-efficacy) were not related to their job burnout and psychological stress, their beliefs about social emotional learning were positively related to job burnout. Practice or Policy: These findings offer implications for research and practice regarding the importance of improving ECSE teachers’ well-being and working conditions.

Legal Issues in Early Childhood Special Education

Family and professional collaboration is beneficial to students, families, and educators. The importance of such collaboration was recognized for families of students with disabilities, resulting in provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that mandate parental participation in educational planning. Despite the benefits of family and professional collaboration and the IDEA mandate, many parents disagree with the educational planning decisions provided to their children and request due process hearings. Parents perceive a lack of opportunity to provide input and/or to disagree with schools’ perspectives. Parents of early childhood students report significant concerns about their child’s readiness for the transition to kindergarten and their limited role in transition planning as their children prepared to enter preschool programs. The purpose of this article was to examine the issues identified in parental complaints in early childhood special education (ECSE) through a qualitative content analysis of recent court cases. The results revealed six themes related to current issues in ECSE programs. We conclude with several recommendations for state policy makers to improve services in ECSE based on the DEC Recommended Practices.

Advancing Children’s Learning Through Innovations in the Measurement of Literacy Engagement

Children’s engagement is an important construct often reported in early intervention and early childhood special education. However, its utility depends on its definition, measurement, theory of change, and empirical evidence. Our purpose is to discuss innovations in children’s literacy engagement (CLE) and report empirical evidence demonstrating how these advancements can be used to promote children’s learning and school readiness. We discuss five specific innovations: (1) defining CLE as the behavioral target of intentional instruction, (2) directly assessing CLE using the CIRCLE ecobehavioral observation system, (3) including CLE in a larger framework of instructional decision-making, (4) evaluating new CLE-focused instructional interventions, and (5) supporting children who are not responding to instructional intervention. We describe how these innovations help address the questions of under what conditions and for whom preschool instructional interventions are effective. Implications are discussed.

Preparation of Early Childhood Special Education Personnel: Alignment with Personnel Preparation Guidance

Preparation of Early Childhood Special Education Personnel: Alignment with Personnel Preparation Guidance

A Scoping Review of the Knowledge Base, Landscape, and Trends in Leadership Literature in Early Intervention, Early Childhood, and Early Childhood Special Education

Effective leadership is regarded as pivotal to the vitality of organizations. In early childhood programs, strong leadership is particularly critical because program leaders are the gatekeepers of quality. However, the fields of early intervention, early childhood, and early childhood special education (EI/EC/ECSE) continue to struggle with the challenges of being overlooked regarding leadership research, potentials, qualities, and abilities. This scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize the available evidence by understanding the nature and extent of leadership literature in EI/EC/ECSE between 2000 and 2018. Collectively, 1,416 articles were reviewed. A total of 106 articles that met the inclusion criteria were summarized using a number of variables. The review confirmed the long existing paucity of leadership research in EC and more specifically in EI and ECSE with specific findings in terms of research scopes and approaches. Presentation and discussion of findings along with implications for future research are provided.

A Narrative Inquiry Study on Curriculum Implementation of Early Childhood Special Education Teachers in an Inclusive Setting during COVID-19

본 연구는 코로나19(COVID-19) 상황에서 통합학급 유아특수교사의 교육과정 운영 경험을 내러티브 탐구를 통해 이야기하고자 하였다. 이를 위하여 통합학급 유아특수교사 3명을 대상으로 심층 면담을 진행하였으며 면담자료, 교육문서, 연구자 노트 등을 토대로 자료를 수집하였다. 수집된 자료는 내러티브 탐구의 절차에 따라 분석하였다. 연구 결과 코로나19 상황에서 통합학급 유아특수교사의 교육과정 운영에 대한 이야기 줄거리는 ‘변화와 함께 찾아온 혼란’, ‘새로운 시도, 언택트 교육’, ‘만남으로 가능한 통합교육’, ‘기관 중심의 프로그램에서 가정 중심의 프로그램으로’, ‘지원해야 할 관계, 협력해야 할 관계’로구성되었다. 본 연구는 코로나19 상황에서 유아특수교사의 교육과정 운영 경험을 이해하고, 이들을 지원하기 위한 방안을 마련하는데 기초자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.The purpose of this study is to show the curriculum implementation of early childhood special education teachers in an inclusive setting during COVID-19 through narrative inquiry. To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted with three early childhood special education teachers and data were collected based on qualitative data, curriculum documents, and researcher s notes. The collected data were analyzed according to the procedure of narrative inquiry. As a result of the study, the story flow of the study participants was derived as ‘The chaos that came with change,’ ‘New Attempt,’ ‘Un-tact education,’ ‘Inclusion available only through meeting,’ ‘From institution-centered programs to home-centered programs,’ ‘Relationships to support, relationships to cooperate . This study will be used as basic data to understand the curriculum implementation of early childhood special education teachers in the inclusive setting during COVID-19 and to prepare a plan to support them.

유아특수교사의 교권침해 관련 경험과 개선 방안 탐색

The purpose of this study is to investigate both the experiences and perceptions on infringement of early childhood special education teachers’ rights, and to suggest an improvement measure. This study uses a qualitative research design and individual in-depth interviews that were conducted with 10 early childhood special education teachers. Each interview took approximately one hour and a continuous comparative analysis method was used in order to analyze the data collected. As a result, 46 sub-themes, 10 themes, and 3 categories were classified. 1) the type of infringement of teachers’ rights; 2) the causes and effects of infringement of teachers’ rights; and 3) the improvement measure of infringement of teachers’ rights. Based on the results, we suggested an improvement measure for preventing the infringement of teachers’ rights, as well as respecting teachers’ rights of early childhood special education teachers. This improvement measure includes the expansion of training opportunities, improving awareness of special and inclusive education; strengthening the competence of early childhood special education teachers; establishing a one-stop support system for post-treatment; the establishment and operation of legal organization, in order to mediate infringement of teachers’ rights; the operation and promotion of programs to recover from infringements on teachers’ rights; teacher evaluation and promotion structure improvement among others.

A Study on the Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Perception toward Educational Policy for Young Children with Special Needs: With a Special Reference to the Importance & Performance Analysis(IPA)

A Study on the Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Perception toward Educational Policy for Young Children with Special Needs: With a Special Reference to the Importance & Performance Analysis(IPA)

Preschool teachers' selection of social communication interventions for children with autism: An application of the theory of planned behavior.

Preschool special educators' are more likely to choose an educational practice to teach a young child with autism a social communication skill if they have positive beliefs about it. We asked preschool special educators to read a description of an autistic student and their social communication goal and imagine they were the student's teacher. We then asked them to pick one of five practices to teach the student. We also asked them questions to understand their attitudes about, confidence in their ability to use, and their perception of their coworkers' support of each practice. There are many research-based practices that a teacher could use to help children learn, and preschool teachers often make these decisions for their students. Teachers' beliefs varied in how supportive they were of each practice, and research shows people are more likely to do something that their beliefs support. In this study, they had more supportive beliefs and were more likely to use some practices, like naturalistic intervention, than other practices, like discrete trial teaching. By knowing this, researchers can help teachers use practices that their beliefs support and help change teachers' beliefs to be supportive of a practice they may need to use.

Shifting to Remote Learning During COVID-19: Differences for Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education Teachers.

This study explored similarities and differences in how early childhood education (ECE) teachers (n = 947) and early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers (n = 160) provided remote learning to young children and their families following COVID-19 shelter in place orders in the spring of 2020. The most utilized remote learning activities for both ECE and ECSE teachers were the provision of activities for families to use at home, communication with families, online lessons, and singing songs and reading books. Both types of professionals spent more time planning and communicating with families than providing instruction to children. Results of chi-square tests of independence revealed differences in activities provided, how time was spent, and training received by professional role. Open-ended responses revealed particular challenges for ECE and ECSE teachers. Findings are discussed in the context of how the early childhood field adapted quickly to remote learning during COVID-19 and the implications for ongoing technology support for early childhood personnel based on their professional role.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10643-021-01218-w.

The Role of Early Care Providers in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education Systems

The Role of Early Care Providers in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education Systems

The Effect of Different Types of Feedback Statements on Educators’ Use of Naturalistic Instruction

We used an adapted alternating treatment single-case design to compare the effect of affirmative feedback to affirmative plus suggestive feedback on educators’ use of naturalistic instruction. Three early childhood special educators and a focus child within their preschool classrooms participated. Visual analysis of our data suggest that affirmative plus suggestive feedback produced stronger effects compared to affirmative feedback. Based on these data, faculty and professional development providers should plan to provide their educators with both affirmative and suggestive feedback to strengthen educators’ practice. Implications for practice and research are included.

Preterm Infants: Parenting Implications and Perspectives in Early Childhood Special Education

Preterm birth is an event that affects about 30,000 children a year, only in Italy. The great progress carried out in the context of neonatology (especially in recent decades) drastically reduced the risk of mortality. However, it should be reminded that these children may have a high risk of developing such serious complications which could potentially lead to permanent pathologies or disabilities, especially for those born to lower gestational ages (WHO, 2015). This contribution intends to analyze the phenomenon of prematurity according to the parenting and educational-teaching dimension. Premature parents, in fact, are immersed in a situation to which they were not prepared and which could interrupt or threaten the harmonious relationship with the newborn. For this reason, interdisciplinary synergistic actions should also be promoted in a way which calls Special Education both in direct support to families and in the preparation of generative welfare actions affecting educators and teachers, as valuable allies in early intervention and in the implementation of fully inclusive and efficient educational services for early childhood.

A Retrospective Review of Communication Evaluation Practices of Young Latinx Children

A retrospective review of initial early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) evaluation reports was completed to identify practices specific to the evaluation of Latinx children’s communication development. A records abstraction approach employed entailed a random selection of 294 EI/ECSE evaluation reports completed in Oregon with Latinx children with communication concerns. The reports were coded for documentation of background information, evaluation procedures, and eligibility decisions. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were completed to identify common evaluation practices. Adequate evaluation practices documented included the use of a multidisciplinary evaluation team, administration of multiple evaluation measures, and provision of basic information on children’s language background. EI/ECSE providers did not consistently specify children’s language exposure/use, denote the language of the evaluation, prioritize appropriate assessment measures, and indicate attention to cultural and linguistic differences when determining eligibility. Recommendations for decreasing bias in the evaluation of Latinx children and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) populations more broadly are offered.

An Examination of Current Leadership Practices in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education: A Mixed Methods Study

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Effective leadership is one necessary element of achieving high quality in early childhood (EC) and early childhood special education (ECSE) programs. To date, little leadership literature and research are available for EC/ECSE professionals. Using a mixed-methods research approach, this study investigated local leadership practices in one western state in the United States. A hundred forty-three leaders from state or federally funded EC/ECSE programs participated in an online survey (phase I). Four state-level EC/ECSE leaders participated in individual interviews (phase II). The findings of phase I provided valuable insight into local leadership implementation status, implementation challenges, and professional development needs and were well-aligned with the phase II state-level leaders’ perceptions. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that the local leaders need more targeted support opportunities to improve as a leader than a manager. The need for EC/ECSE leadership licensure, endorsement/certification, specific leadership performance standards, and credentials are discussed.

Designing a Model of Practice for Australian Teachers of Young School-age Children on the Autism Spectrum

Abstract Extensive work has been undertaken in North America on effective practices in early childhood education, early childhood special education, and autism-specific interventions. Much of this work, however, has not been disseminated in teacher-friendly ways nor has it been translated into useable formats that support teacher uptake and incorporation into everyday classroom practice. The research presented here drew on practice literature from North America and a Design-Based Research approach to produce a Model of Practice (MoP) for Australian classroom teachers working with students on the autism spectrum in their first year of primary school. This practice model aims to support pedagogical decision making in relation to the effective and inclusive education of this student cohort. Iterative cycles of design involving generation of educational practices from the literature, content validation by experts, and social validation by classroom teachers were undertaken. These cycles were guided by MoP design principles and resulted in a prototype Early Years Model of Practice (EY-MoP) comprising 29 empirically-supported practices, which were highly endorsed by Australian teachers. The field testing of the EY-MoP should provide preliminary evidence of the applicability of this tool in Australian early years classrooms.