We utilized a survey to explore how early childhood personnel delivered high-quality and inclusive preschool special education and related services to young children with disabilities in one U.S. Western state. We conducted quantitative analyses on 418 participants' survey responses, including t tests and Mann Whitney tests to examine differences…

In this article, we draw on DisCrit to critically analyze how a group of early childhood educators approached assistance with young children of color with disabilities in a Head Start inclusion classroom. Using examples from data collected over one school year, we demonstrate how child-centered assistance advances justice for young children of…

The most recent efforts to promote inclusive education have acknowledged the various contexts in which it takes place, moving away from a placement-focused conceptualization of inclusion. Acknowledging that inclusive education may take place within multiple types of early childhood education programs necessitates the consideration of context as a…

Although considerable progress has been achieved regarding the research and laws supporting preschool inclusion, access to inclusive preschool environments remains intangible for many children with disabilities in the United States. The purpose of this article is to discuss current challenges and solutions to high-quality preschool inclusion. We…

Early learning and development standards (ELDS) describe the knowledge, skills, and dispositions young children should demonstrate before kindergarten. This article describes a review of state ELDS for children from birth to 5 years of age to determine if they included information and guidance about the learning needs of young children with…

Many early intervention systems are focused on "fixing" children to support development and inclusion. However, we need to acknowledge systemic racism and bias to focus on early settings, schools, and practitioners who are ready for all children. Furthermore, knowledge about the existence of bias and its possible harmful effects support…

Whereas the inclusion of children with special needs in regular classrooms has gained increasing advocacy, teachers' attitudes vary. Previous studies examining teacher attitudes have focused on primary and secondary schools in the Western world, and little is known about early childhood settings in Eastern countries. This study used MANOVA to…

We sought to identify, examine, and summarize empirical literature focused on early childhood behavior interventions examined using a single case research designs (SCD) and published between 2001 and 2018. Using systematic procedures, 28 studies that met established inclusion criteria were identified, reviewed, and compared with respect to general…

All children benefit from intentional interactions and instruction to become socially and emotionally competent. Over the past 30 years, evidence-based intervention tactics and strategies have been integrated to establish comprehensive, multitiered, or hierarchical systems of support frameworks to guide social-emotional interventions for young…

Social communication skills are considered a core deficit in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Evidence-based practices that have emerged to address these critical skills in children with ASD have largely been implemented by researchers, teachers, and parents. Only recently have researchers studied paraprofessionals as…

Parents of young children participating in either Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C early intervention or IDEA Part B-619 preschool special education programs were surveyed to obtain a consumer science perspective of the practitioners who were the children's primary service providers. Parents were asked to make judgments of…

The current study evaluated the play behaviors of children with disabilities (e.g., developmental delays, specific language impairment) who participated in a social communication intervention targeting skills such as initiations, responses, name use, proximity, and turn-taking. Three children who were enrolled in an inclusive classroom met the…

Play represents an important component of early childhood education and is linked to the development of communication and social skills, particularly for children with developmental disabilities who often lack play skills. Structured teaching is a systematic method that entails visually arranging and organizing the learning environment. Although…

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) academic skills supports their future opportunities. For example, early number sense skills are predictive of future mathematical success for all children including children with ASD. Yet, research on foundational early childhood mathematics skills of children with ASD is limited. This study…

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) is a frequently studied construct due to its positive relations with student outcomes. However, TSE of teachers in inclusive early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms has seldom been studied. To fill this gap, we examined the extent to which (a) teachers exhibited differing levels of TSE for students; (b)…