The United States is becoming increasingly diverse with the largest growth in Hispanic populations. Diversity also is increasing in rural America. This diversity is reflected in the participants in early care and education programs and K-12 students. Unfortunately, demographics for college and university teacher education programs do not match…

National shortages of qualified personnel in the field of early childhood special education are well documented, with shortages magnified in regions characterized by poverty and rural geography. This article provides an overview of the challenges faced and innovations implemented by an alternate-track, personnel preparation program in Appalachian…

Designed for rural areas in Washington state, the Early Childhood Home Instruction Program for Young Hearing Impaired Children (ECHI) provides an opportunity for hearing-impaired children and their families to receive individual training, acquire information, address concerns, and promote child development within the familiar surroundings of their…

Sums up the contributions of Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) and explains recent changes brought about by Public Law 98-199, which mandates state-level comprehensive service delivery systems and emphasizes interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration. Notes 102 demonstration projects, 28 outreach projects, and…

Describes the Wyoming Infant Stimulation Program (WISP) and its numerous collaborative activities with federal, state, and local agencies including the Agricultural Extension Service and maternal and child health programs. Notes that successful collaboration was informal and involved cooperation on specific, discrete joint projects responding to…

The Sensory Impaired Home Intervention (SKI*HI) Model provides services for rural, hearing impaired children at an average annual cost of $1,400 per child. Weekly home visits are provided by nearby or local part time parent advisors, thus minimizing travel costs and eliminating employment problems associated with long travel hours. (JHZ)

Describes Technical Assistance Centers established by the Virginia Department of Education to provide support services to preschool professionals throughout the state. Technical assistance--provided only at the request of the person who will receive it--includes needs assessments, information services, library services, on- and off-site…

During 1984-85 New York's 14 Early Childhood Direction Centers responded to 10,609 service requests and assisted 5,283 parents, 376 professionals, and 666 agencies in obtaining services for 5,510 handicapped children aged birth to 5. The network operated at a cost of only $218 per child matched to services. (JHZ)

Describes a report on New Mexico's public school services for three- and four-year-old handicapped children, focusing on features of special interest to rural educators. Topics are curriculum selection, program models, and program delivery system alternatives. (JHZ)

Describes a program that trains parents as support personnel in classrooms serving handicapped preschoolers, a program that combines computer technology and professional expertise to assist families without access to early intervention programs, and a program that uses parents to mediate an instructional program for handicapped children from birth…

Describes a program in which a teacher's aide is trained in the components of the Teaching Research Data-Based Classroom Model and then provides individual instruction, under the supervision of a certified teacher, to one or two children with handicapping conditions. Notes curriculum, student assessment, data collection procedures, and program…

The Volunteers in Partnership with Parents (VIPP) program is designed to alleviate the pressing problems of rural families as well as provide early intervention to the children. The use of volunteers as partners in working with parents is the crux of the program. (JHZ)

Examines the importance of including families in the education of young handicapped children and discusses trends in the foci of family involvement programs of recent years. Describes the family involvement component of the Precise Early Education of Children with Handicaps (PEECH) outreach project. (Author)

The Richmond preschool is an innovative partnership between regular and special education. High school students taking a child care course act as aides to the preschool special education teacher and learn to apply and observe classroom-based theory and knowledge of child growth and development in a meaningful and concrete manner. (JHZ)

Describes how the Blackfeet Head Start Program uses professionals to train local residents as screeners and home trainers for preschool handicapped children. Notes that numbers of handicapped children and their families who receive services have increased as a result of using local home trainers and teachers as direct care providers. (JHZ)