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Foundational thinking for later use of technology, particularly coding, is necessary for an inclusive and sustainable future. Inclusive practices beginning in early childhood recognize children’s innate development of computational thinking—sequencing, repetition and looping, debugging, decomposing and composing, representation, and causality. This qualitative research describes processes of developing and evaluating hypothesized developmental progressions. Inclusive engagement of children with and without disabilities is described in examples for each level of each developmental progression. Implications for teaching and learning with inclusive practices are described for children with and without disabilities.

Early science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning experiences often exclude children with disabilities and intersecting identities. To promote learning in STEM for all children, the Curriculum Research Framework (CRF) was applied to build learning trajectories of STEM for children from birth to age 5. The CRF was extended and enhanced to generate explicitly inclusive learning trajectories for children with and without disabilities. The process of generating a priori foundations, building learning trajectories, and testing the results in inclusive settings led to new resources for early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE) practitioners and generated implications for creating and evaluating learning trajectories in ways that affirm that all children belong in STEM. Challenges faced and lessons learned in this process are presented to guide future research and development using the revised and enhanced CRF.

The importance of early science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning opportunities for all young children has become increasingly documented by research and recommended practices. In addition, high quality inclusive settings where all children can access and benefit from learning activities continues to demonstrate optimal outcomes for all children. This manuscript reports findings from a survey broadly disseminated related to early childhood practitioners' and directors' perceptions related to STEM and inclusion and explores what practices related to STEM and inclusion are currently being used by early childhood practitioners and directors. While the majority of respondents supported the importance of both STEM and inclusion, there were varied responses related to relevance for infants and toddlers and inconsistent reports of specific practices being used. The findings suggest the need to emphasize and provide professional development opportunities focused on STEM and inclusion for our early childhood workforce more explicitly. Additional implications for research and practice are discussed.

The article focuses on promoting inclusive STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education in early childhood settings. Topics include the benefits of STEM activities for enhancing curiosity and long-term skills in all children, addressing disparities in STEM access and quality, particularly for historically underserved and disabled children, and improving teacher preparation and confidence through professional development to better support STEM learning.

Ethical considerations are integral to our professional lives when we are faced with difficult choices regarding services and supports for children and families. Often, the right choice in service delivery for young children with disabilities ages birth to 5 years is unclear due to a myriad of factors potentially creating ethical dilemmas. This article reports the results of a focus group study with 82 early intervention (EI) professionals serving young children ages birth to 5 years designed to determine EI practitioners' ethical concerns in daily practice and how they are resolved. Professionals shared dilemmas they have experienced related to family-professional and interprofessional conflicts as well as those related to policy and programmatic issues. In addition, resolution strategies used by EI practitioners are highlighted. Guidelines for systematic ethical reflection and problem solving are recommended on the basis of professional Codes of Ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality engagement in early childhood programs is critical to the development and learning of young children, particularly those with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of engagement and interaction of children with disabilities in inclusive kindergartens in China. Specifically, the study aimed to examine the engagement and interaction levels children with disabilities had across 5 types of activities (i.e., group teaching, mealtime, self-care, play, outdoor activities) and subject matter for whole-group lessons (i.e., music, storytelling, art, language art, math and science, and general knowledge or life skills). Participants in this study included 13 children with varying disabilities from 5 inclusive kindergarten programs in Beijing. A total of 127 observation sessions were collected across the 5 activities, with a mean of 104.27 min of observation per child. The sessions were then analyzed using the Individual Child Engagement Record (Y., Kishida; C. R., Kemp, & M., Carter, 2008). Results indicate that there were differences in the level of engagement and interaction for children with disabilities across activities and subject areas. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The complexity of the Child and Youth version of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, the ICF-CY, is a challenge for occupational therapists and other professionals in clinical work. Code sets including only essential categories help to make it more user-friendly. Thus far, code sets have been developed to reflect functioning for children in different developmental periods. However, there are no code sets that support screening of participation in everyday life situations and can be used across diagnoses. This exploratory study is the first attempt to develop code sets for preschoolers' (age 0-6 years) everyday life situations. Method: Using sequential Delphi processes with expert panels consisting of 35 professionals in five interdisciplinary early intervention teams and six parents of children, the study identified content in three code sets: Sleeping, Mealtimes and Play. Results: A limited number of relevant categories were identified for three code sets: Sleeping (12), Mealtimes (21) and Play (30). Findings suggested a professional focus on Environmental factors compared with a parental focus on Body functions. Conclusion: It is important to consider the opinions of all involved when developing code sets to provide a common framework for screening of children's everyday functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement toward evidence-based practice has had a tremendous impact on the early childhood field over the past 6 years. In this article, the authors describe the origins of the evidence-based practice movement for the early childhood profession and various definitions associated with it. They provide resources for identifying programs and practices that have been evaluated through research and found to be effective, and they share an application of evidence-based practice that has led to a recent innovation in professional development in early childhood: the CONNECT S-Step Learning Cycle TM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]