Athough positive behavior support (PBS) has been established as an effective approach for resolving the challenging behaviors of many populations, little research has evaluated PBS with children under the age of 4 years. In addition, few studies have considered the effectiveness of PBS delivered via consultation in typical childcare and preschool…

Researchers in 2 studies investigated the effectiveness of a general education/special education collaborative teaming process in increasing the engagement, development, and learning of preschoolers with severe disabilities who were placed in general education early childhood programs that operated under a team-teaching model. The process included…

This study focused on the practices used by specialists and early childhood education personnel that contributed to the successful inclusion of 7 young children with significant disabilities who were served in typical community settings, such as preschools and childcare centers. Analysis identified 4 elements common to each of the research sites:…

Providing appropriate educational services to young children with autism may be one of the defining challenges of the 1990s and early 2000s for early childhood special education. The number of children with autism is increasing dramatically, the research literature is rich with evidence-based instructional strategies, and the Internet is even more…

Although in the last 20 years much progress has been made on understanding the challenging behaviors of young children and providing effective prevention and intervention, it is not at all certain that recommended practices have been widely adopted across early care and education programs. In this article, the authors argue that a major impediment…

The presence of deafness in a family has the potential to affect all areas of family life. An understanding of the impact on family life is critical to addressing all components of the family system in early intervention. This review synthesizes the literature on deafness as it relates to four domains of family quality of life, including family…

One of the goals of a family-centered approach in early intervention is to equally involve family members as active partners with professionals. This article describes one state's model of family involvement using parents of young children with disabilities as parent educators in the Part C system. Qualitative focus group data were collected with…

This study examined the effects of mothers' style of interaction on children's interactive engagement. The study consisted of a sample of 30 children from Korea, including chronologically age-matched groups of children with disabilities (n = 13) and children without disabilities (n = 17). Parents were videotaped while playing with their children…

In a sample of 74 university students studying early childhood and pre-kindergarten education, researchers assessed the relationships between child development knowledge, complexity of reasoning about development, prior work experience with children, and teacher-preparation content courses and laboratory courses. There was no statistically…

In our graduate programs in early childhood education, we model constructivist practice in the belief that teachers are better able to understand and implement constructivist principles having experienced them in their work. In this practice we attempt to be explicit about constructivist practice in our program and in elementary classrooms. As we…

The qualitative study examined the processes and approaches to collaboration, reflection, and dialogue of preservice and mentoring teachers who were engaged in a yearlong internship experience. Within the context of a university course grounded in constructivism, social constructivism, and the concept of teacher as researcher, the study explored…

The Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) professional development movement, community college students' emerging intentionality, and the role of two- and four-year higher education faculty intersect in a proactive model proposed by the author that advocates ECEC community college programs separate from the vocational tradition and establishes…

This narrative chronicles the continued evolution and development of the Rhode Island Early Childhood Summer Institute, an intensive 5-day inservice professional development program designed for educational leaders from various sectors of the early care and education field. The goal is to review the continued use of successful practices…

This article presents the theoretical basis and methods for the process and outcome evaluations of the Rhode Island Early Childhood Summer Institutes held in 2000 and 2001. The article also discusses the evaluation results that demonstrated the institutes were received as high-quality inservice professional development programs in which…

This study explored early childhood teachers' views relating to culture and play by collecting information from them on cultural differences and parental perceptions of play, culturally appropriate play (CAP) practices and barriers in its implementation. The participants of the study were 14 early childhood educators working in long day care (LDC)…