Paraprofessionals (also referred to as paraeducators or instructional assistants) who work in inclusive early childhood classrooms are facing increasing responsibilities in supporting teachers and children with diverse learning needs (Deardorff, Glasenapp, Schalock, & Udell, 2007; Downing, Ryndak, & Clark, 2000; Giangreco, Broer, &…

Teachers of young children can plan proactively so that they avoid some of the serious problem behaviors in the classroom. The strategies presented in this article are part of a problem solving approach to challenging behavior based on the principles of positive behavioral support. Although these methods presented here have research-based…

The purpose of this article is to provide tools for preschool professionals to plan for transitions between daily routines, to identify challenging transitions during the day, and to offer strategies to support transitions in classrooms to prevent challenging behaviors from occurring due to frequent changes. Specifically, the authors answer three…

Educational research will likely never be able to keep pace with technological innovation. It therefore will become increasingly important that early childhood professionals rely on existing knowledge to effectively evaluate and integrate emerging technology in the natural environment rather than waiting for a broad platform of research to inform…

Research has shown that strong school-home partnerships are critical to the success of intervention efforts aimed at improving the developmental functioning of young children (Dunst & Dempsey, 2007). Accordingly, family-professional partnering has been a recommended practice in effective intervention delivery for young children with special needs…

Inclusion, promoted internationally by both legislative mandate and societal values, is a practice in which early childhood educators are encouraged to explore new methods for serving children with disabilities and developmental delays in typical early childhood programs. The belief that children with disabilities should participate within natural…

Prior to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990), services for a child with special needs were limited in the typical preschool setting. Traditional early intervention approaches often relied on a normative assessment perspective that focused on the attainment of typical developmental milestones and tended to emphasize the concept…

Transitions--from hospital to home, early intervention to preschool, child care to school--are times of major change for children and families. The resources presented in this article can be used to build the capacity of family members, professionals, and administrators to understand and support transition practices that are thoughtful,…

Curiosity, wonder, creativity, questions, initiation by the child, and framing by the teacher--all these characterize the project approach. Projects can be an invaluable part of any curriculum, providing opportunities for children to study subjects they find interesting in detail. Project work is not a method one uses after the "real" teaching has…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association whose responsibility is to develop and disseminate standards of practice related to young children with special needs and their families. The intention is to identify practices that result in high-quality early intervention/early childhood…

Inclusive programs and community settings are important contexts to help foster acceptance and understanding among all children. Research has shown that children enrolled in inclusive programs become more accepting of people who are different from them. Inclusion of children with disabilities in classroom activities requires the involvement of…

The authors describe a zone defense schedule (ZDS), a system for organizing the staff and environment of a preschool classroom. Specifically, it is used to organize the roles of adults in the classroom so that transitions between activities are easier for children and provides greater opportunity for teaching (both during the transition and…

The global appeal of puppets makes them especially appropriate and useful for teaching and learning in inclusive early childhood classrooms where instruction must address the diverse needs of young children across a wide range of abilities (Gronna et al., 1999). Through the use of puppets, teachers (as well as peers) might demonstrate a skill in a…

Emergent literacy can be viewed as skills that are precursors to later reading and writing (Sulzby & Teale, 1991) or can be more broadly conceptualized as literacy acquisition that occurs along a developmental continuum. Because children with disabilities, such as visual impairments, can be at risk for later reading difficulties, it is critical…

This article describes PIIE (identify Preference, choose Intervention, Implement, and Evaluate), a new approach designed to promote the communicative behaviors of young children with autism and pervasive developmental disorder. Two case examples are included to illustrate the process and its utility with toddlers and preschool age children.…