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Early childhood special education (ECSE) professionals were forced to drastically change their methods of providing services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative study, we conducted interviews to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted ECSE professionals both personally and professionally. ECSE professionals described challenges as well as unexpected positive outcomes associated with continuing to work in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Professionals also explained the importance of increasing parent interaction through coaching interventions while engaging in remote service delivery. The findings conclude with professionals' discussions of how the field may be impacted by the pandemic in the future. Results were discussed in the context of service provision and implications for supporting professionals who work with young children with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, there are political, social, and financial obstacles to providing high quality, inclusive early childhood education to young children with disabilities and their families. Many teachers are able to identify the systemic issues that negatively impact their work; however, many early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers do not have the competence or confidence to advocate for systemic change. In the U.S., one reason for ECSE teachers not engaging in advocacy is an absence of content, practice, and opportunities to learn about advocacy in traditional teacher preparation programmes. This mixed methods study explored how an 8-week graduate level course focused on advocacy for ECSE trainees influenced their knowledge, skills, and dispositions towards advocacy. The course content, assignments, and activities are described as well as pre- and post-course evaluation data. Implications are discussed regarding the course outcomes, lessons learned, and future directions for infusing advocacy content and experiences in ECSE training programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are recognized as having a significant impact on their young child's learning and development. Parent-implemented intervention (PII) is an evidence-based practice that provides parents with ample opportunities to learn and implement new strategies that support their child's development. However, implementation of these training programs in the field of early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) is often practitioner-driven, which may diminish positive outcomes for children and families and negatively impact the effectiveness of PII. Delivering PII without careful attention to the family's strengths and resources can compromise parents' sense of agency and create barriers to parent–practitioner collaboration. In response, this paper describes a framework for PII in EI/ECSE that moves toward a more holistic parent–practitioner relationship and supports family-centered PII partnerships that emphasize the cultural contexts of families and practitioners. A thorough description of the framework and its key constructs are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Childhood Program for Language Acquisition and Community Engagement (EC PLACE) is a program designed to support language, communication, and social development of children with significant disabilities within a public preschool setting. This article describes program design and eight effective program practices which contributed to remarkable gains in children's skills and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been well documented that experiencing trauma impacts all aspects of child development. Young children experience trauma at high rates, and children with disabilities are at an increased risk of experiencing trauma. One way to mitigate the effects of trauma is through the implementation of trauma-informed care, which requires a well-trained workforce. Yet, to date, minimal research has been conducted about the professional development needs of early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers related to trauma. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand ECSE teachers' professional development needs related to trauma and trauma-informed care. Eighteen ECSE teachers participated in interviews. Results indicate that while ECSE teachers are familiar with the basics of trauma-informed care, more training is needed, specifically in the areas of working with families, implementing trauma-informed classroom strategies, and supporting children with disabilities who have experienced trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children and adults are frequently engaging in shared reading activities and storytelling within early childhood settings. This includes children with varying abilities and intersecting identities learning in inclusive or special education settings. Researchers recognize the importance of representation in children’s stories, and stories that reflect young readers, their families, and broader community (Bishop, 1990; Bishop, 2012; Oxley, 2006). However, minimal empirical evidence of disability representation in children’s literature exists (Tondreau & Rabinowitz, 2021). Thus, this empirical study investigates favorite classroom picturebooks in active early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms. The study aimed to gain insight about the frequency and quality of inclusive literature, by investigating disability representation in active ECSE classrooms. The research surveyed active ECSE teachers to generate a data corpus of 50 unique favorite classroom stories. Using qualitative semiotic analysis, the study analyzed the texts and visuals for elements of inclusion, to discern elements of inclusion within each story. Within the data corpus, 7 out of 50 favorite stories included disabled and non-disabled characters. This analysis highlighted the absence of disability within the data set, and variations between strong, some, and limited disability representation. The data suggests a need to increase young children’s exposure to inclusive stories and strength-based representations of disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent review of literature indicated limited research about the preparation of doctoral students in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). The purpose of this pilot study was to address this gap in research and investigate the mentorship of doctoral students who participated in the Division for Early Childhood's Consortium for Innovations in Doctoral Excellence (DECIDE). Mentors and mentees who participated in the DECIDE Mentoring Initiative participated in focus groups and interviews to share their mentoring experiences and provide suggestions for the mentorship of doctoral students. Qualitative research methods were used to analyze themes. Findings indicated (a) shifts in power dynamics occurred between the mentor and mentee dyad, (b) mentoring infrastructures may be beneficial, (c) mentoring relationships are unique for each dyad, and (d) further research is needed to investigate the mentoring needs of students from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over one-third of preschoolers with disabilities are fully included in the classroom with their typically developing peers and another large percentage receive some instruction in the inclusive classroom. In order to support young children and increase the likelihood of the desired learning and behavior outcomes, teachers must use individual data for each child to guide decisions regarding instructional and behavioural interventions. Many early childhood special educators are busy and struggle to find an efficient way to collect data on a regular basis. One solution is the use of smartphone or tablet tools. This article provides early childhood special educators with recommendations for individual child data collection through the use of easy-to-use tools that can be customized to meet teacher and classroom needs. Specifically, we recommend the use of: (a) Google forms, (b) video and audio recordings, (c) speech-to-text technology, (d) counter apps, and (e) the smartphone stopwatch function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the field of early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) focuses intently on building, supporting, and sustaining leaders across varying contexts and roles, this study introduced the concept of self-leadership to EI/ECSE self-identified leaders. The research explores differences in self-rated skills based on role, analyzes themes of goals for developing self-leadership skills, and analyzes the measurability of goals set by participants. Fifty-six participants completed the Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire (ASLQ) (Houghton, Dawley, & DiLiello, 2012), self-rated their own skills, and identified leadership goals. Results show that participants scored themselves highest on evaluating beliefs and assumptions about self-leadership. Selfidentified goals resulted in three primary themes (administrative tasks, relationship building and coaching, and growth in learning). Directions for future research, policy, and recommendations for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a worldwide disruption of education service systems. A significant gap has emerged in understanding the impact of these changes to both educational services and child development. The current qualitative study presents interviews with early childhood educators and parents to capture their experiences with educational service delivery for young children with disabilities during the pandemic. The study included nine early childhood educators and nine parents with children between the ages of 3 and 6 who received preschool special education services during the pandemic. Themes that emerged from the interviews include changes to the modality and intensity of services, barriers and challenges related to service delivery, and benefits resulting from shifts to educational services. All findings will be discussed with an eye toward informing future practice related to family-centered services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of remote service delivery in early childhood intervention (EI), and this increased use is promising for young children with disabilities living in rural communities. However, the increase in remote service delivery requires a greater understanding of using evidence-based practices (EBP) delivered by EI providers via this mode. Remote service delivery adds a new context to EI services requiring study to identify (a) what works for whom and under what conditions, (b) how an evidence-based practice delivered remotely results in positive outcomes for young children and caregivers, and (c) the independent variables that influence those outcomes. This position paper explains the importance of remote service delivery for improving access to EBP for young children with disabilities and their families in rural communities using a conceptual framework. The conceptual framework includes three essential factors described in depth in this article. First, the conceptual framework can support researchers in designing rigorous studies to deliver evidence-based practices remotely. Second, the conceptual framework can support EI programs and providers in identifying EBP for service delivery for young children and families in rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of equity and access for all children to learn science is critical in early childhood settings. Considering the benefits of teaching science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), it is important that educators embed this pedagogy across early childhood settings. In order to promote access in inclusive early childhood settings that include young children from birth to 8 years of age with or without disabilities to STEAM pedagogy, educators need to be intentional about their practice. This article provides a four-step approach to using an intentional framework, universal design for learning (UDL), to plan for and implement STEAM pedagogy in the inclusive classroom. Practical implications are illustrated through examples of an early childhood educator and a child with autism in an inclusive urban education setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Addressing ECSE well-being is a promising approach to tackle teacher stress, burnout, and attrition. • Teacher well-being is multidimensional and mixed methods research may help to support deeper and nuanced findings. • Recommendations to address teacher well-being must be differentiated, targeted and context specific. Recent research illustrates several gaps in understanding about teacher experiences of professional well-being, as well as how teachers understand and define their well-being. Given the limited understanding of the construct and correlates of teacher well-being and the omission of theoretical models in the development of prevention efforts and supports for teachers' mental health, it is valuable to investigate the translation and application of positive psychological well-being perspectives to better understand optimal teacher functioning. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the purpose of this study was to explore teacher well-being and its influence on teacher burnout/attrition. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to analyze data collected from a 76-item survey completed by 131 early childhood teachers. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 13 teachers to confirm or identify discrepancies within the quantitative results. Findings from the survey data and interview data revealed three profiles of Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) teacher well-being, and qualitative interviews suggested that well-being related needs of these teachers varied. The results of this study address several gaps in the research and provide practical information for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stress events (e.g., natural disasters, political unrest, disease) significantly impact the lives of children and families. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one event that has brought numerous hardships to families and children with developmental disabilities (DD), likely exacerbating already heightened levels of stress. For this study, we interviewed mothers living in the U.S. (N = 14) of 2- to 8-year-old children with DD about how COVID-19 has affected their family life. The interviews examined how the pandemic impacted (a) their child’s educational, therapeutic, and medical services, (b) their stress and resiliency, and (c) their parenting role as an advocate, educator, and interventionist. The results of our thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlight four domains with themes that describe families’ experiences as indicated by the mothers interviewed. Voices of families are essential in the delivery of effective and ethical early intervention for young children with disabilities. Based on the data from these interviews with mothers, suggestions for family-focused intervention to support families during high-stress events are discussed. As the long-term effects of the pandemic remain unknown, suggestions for future research to continue to examine the impact of high-stress experiences on young children with DD and their families are also presented.

This study examines autism diagnosis prevalence within the New York City (NYC) Universal Pre-K for All (UPK) program expansion into racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse NYC neighborhoods. Here, it is hypothesized that racial/ethnic differences in autism diagnoses may close as more children are referred for testing by UPK programs, which they have more thorough interactions with, instead of by public health clinics or other medical avenues. Using NYC Medicaid claim data from 2006 to 2016, descriptive analyses were conducted by estimating linear probability regression and generalized multiple logistic regression to examine whether the probabilities of being diagnosed with autism in comparison to two other disability types (as counterfactuals), learning disabilities (LD) and physical disabilities (PD), differ by race. Subsequently, a difference in difference (DID) strategy (with pre- and post-UPK expansion cohorts) was used to examine the effects of UPK on the probabilities of receiving disability diagnoses. Notably, Latinx and "Other" racially identified children have much higher odds than White children of being diagnosed with autism. By contrast, all non-White groups had much lower odds of being diagnosed with a LD. These findings offer important insight for future UPK and childhood program implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stress events (e.g., natural disasters, political unrest, disease) significantly impact the lives of children and families. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one event that has brought numerous hardships to families and children with developmental disabilities (DD), likely exacerbating already heightened levels of stress. For this study, we interviewed mothers living in the U.S. (N = 14) of 2- to 8-yearold children with DD about how COVID-19 has affected their family life. The interviews examined how the pandemic impacted (a) their child's educational, therapeutic, and medical services, (b) their stress and resiliency, and (c) their parenting role as an advocate, educator, and interventionist. The results of our thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlight four domains with themes that describe families' experiences as indicated by the mothers interviewed. Voices of families are essential in the delivery of effective and ethical early intervention for young children with disabilities. Based on the data from these interviews with mothers, suggestions for family-focused intervention to support families during high-stress events are discussed. As the long-term effects of the pandemic remain unknown, suggestions for future research to continue to examine the impact of high-stress experiences on young children with DD and their families are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective. Environmental risk factors are associated with a lower capacity to cope with parenting, generating greater stress in the education of children. When faced with social risk factors, mothers of children with special educational needs tend to be more vulnerable to stress. The main aim of this study was to analyse variables associated to the stress perceived by parents of children with early care needs (socio-environmental vulnerability and child's diagnosis). Method. Four hundred and six parents (233 mothers and 173 fathers) of 239 children with early care (EC) and education needs collaborated in this research. Results. Situations of environmental vulnerability caused high levels of stress in the parents. The experience of stressful events during pregnancy conditioned the later maternal anxiety. A significant positive linear correlation was found between the results achieved in the Overprotective educational style and parental stress. Conclusions. Most interventions in Early Childhood Care and Development Centres focus on the needs of children, leaving parents out of the clinical intervention. This approach should be shifting towards a family-centred model, which will work more effectively and improve the quality of life of the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Kirsehir Education Faculty is the property of Journal of Kirsehir Education Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The significant shortages of special educators across the United States, particularly in our rural communities, can negatively affect the delivery of high-quality services that enable young children and families to flourish (National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services, 2019). We present our Project STRIDE (STrengthening Rural Inclusive Diverse Early Educators) program description along with longitudinal and reflective data collected from a cohort of graduate students working in rural communities in a southwestern U.S. state who were completing their degrees in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). Twenty STRIDE Scholars demonstrated significant growth in self-ratings from midpoint to end of program. Evaluative data obtained on program components revealed overall program satisfaction. We discuss how characteristics of learners potentially contribute to the self-reflection process and the value of purposeful embedding of self-reflection in distance teacher education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses emotional support strategies useful to parents of infants and toddlers with visual impairments and ways to help early intervention visual impairment practitioners develop more competence in providing emotional supports. Topics discussed include factors that influence how parents and caregivers respond to the diagnosis of a child's disability, and ideas that have helped practitioners reframe their perceptions of 'in denial' to one of 'in hope'.

Early intervention programs play an important role in supporting young children with disabilities and developmental disorders in acquiring various life skills before they reach school-going age. The present study aims to examine the current practices of the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for young children with disabilities in Saudi Arabia using a quantitative design. A sample of 212 early intervention providers—males (n = 35; 16.5%) and females (n = 177; 83.5%)—were surveyed. The IFSP questionnaire was based on Maryland State's IFSP form. The order of the dimensions employed in the study from the highest to the lowest was as follows: initial data, the present level of the child's development, permissions, early intervention services, information about the child and the family, and transition services. The findings of the study revealed that the current practices of the IFSP for young children with disabilities in Saudi Arabia were at the 'often' level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young children experience traumatic events at high rates. Early childhood special education programs are an optimal time for implementing trauma-informed care. Minimal research has been done to understand early childhood special education teachers' attitudes and experiences with trauma-informed care. Using a convergent mixed methods approach, this study explored early childhood special education teachers' (N = 25) attitudes and experiences with trauma and trauma-informed practices. Results indicate that early childhood special education teachers' attitudes and experiences do not always align. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 promotion of equity and access for all children to learn science is critical in early childhood settings. Considering the benefits of teaching science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), it is important that educators embed this pedagogy across early childhood settings. In order to promote access in inclusive early childhood settings that include young children from birth to 8 years of age with or without disabilities to STEAM pedagogy, educators need to be intentional about their practice. This article provides a four-step approach to using an intentional framework, universal design for learning (UDL), to plan for and implement STEAM pedagogy in the inclusive classroom. Practical implications are illustrated through examples of an early childhood educator and a child with autism in an inclusive urban education setting.

The extant literature on implementation fidelity has found mixed evidence for empirically establishing the dimensionality of implementation fidelity. The current study aims to add to this growing body of literature by examining implementation fidelity in a book-reading intervention for young children's caregivers. Caregivers (n = 291) implemented Sit Together and Read 2 (STAR 2) with their preschool-age children. These data indicated that implementation fidelity was determined to be a four-dimensional construct including adherence/dose, quality of delivery, participant responsiveness, and program differentiation. The main findings of this work are twofold: (a) implementation fidelity is a more complex construct than some previous descriptions, and (b) early childhood education research should aim to report on all aspects of implementation fidelity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity (PA) is linked to multiple positive health outcomes for young children, with potential benefits in other domains as well. Engaging in higher intensity PA may produce positive gains for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), especially in academic engagement and on-task behavior. However, there is limited research documenting current levels of PA in young children with ASD and effective strategies for early childhood educators to increase PA. The aim of this study is to address these gaps by examining the extent to which embedded antecedent exercise (AE) increases and sustains engagement for children with ASD in early childhood settings. Three kindergarten students with ASD participated in this study, using a single-case withdrawal design to investigate the relationship between intensity of PA and student engagement during two unique classroom activities. Overall, results showed an increase in student engagement across classroom activities after participating in embedded AE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to understand the status and influential factors of preschool teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education, given the evidence that attitudes predict successful inclusion for young children with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. We translated the Multidimensional Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (MATIES, Mahat, 2008) to Simplified Chinese (MATIES-C). We then administered the MATIE-C to a representative sample of in-service preschool teachers (N = 481) in Beijing, China. The confirmative factor analysis and reliability tests suggested an acceptable construct validity and internal reliability of the MATIES-C. We also found preschool teachers in Beijing held positive attitudes towards inclusion across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of attitudes. The ANOVA results indicate teachers' experience and knowledge about children with disabilities had statistically positive associations with favorable attitudes. Preschool area, teacher age, and educational background were also found to have a statistically significant impact on teacher attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the evolution of family-centered services in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) through which children with delays and disabilities receive services. Topics discussed are influence of changes in family characteristics and philosophical changes on the evolution of family-centered services, progression and outcomes of family involvement in EI/ECSE, evidence-based family-centered practices and EI/ECSE professional standards.

Copyright of International & Comparative Education is the property of International & Comparative Education Editorial, Beijing Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

ABSTRACT: Providing support to children in their younger years is prominent in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC), as most children need some form of support for learning and development during this stage. Itinerant early childhood special education teachers (ECSETs) are important resources in providing support to children with special educational needs (SEN). Previous research in Finland addresses areas where itinerant ECSETs predominantly work in contexts where Finnish is the medium of instruction. Therefore, it is of interest to examine itinerant ECSETs' views of elements affecting their work with supporting children with SEN in Swedish-medium ECEC settings. This research is explorative to its character and data was collected through a questionnaire sent to all itinerant ECSETs working in Swedish-speaking regions of Finland. Descriptive statistics were used to depict the work conditions for ECSETs'. The results show that ECSETs own professional ambition and children’s support needs affect the work the most. Furthermore, inequality in ECSETs working conditions have direct consequences for practice. This study concludes with a discussion of how ECSETs' working conditions influence the support that children receive and areas that should be addressed to ensure equal and efficient learning for all children.

People with limited or no communication skills can use the Picture Exchange Communication System, or PECS, to communicate visually. Based on an evaluation of the functional communication skills of students with Down syndrome, this study investigated the profile of the respondents, the respondents' level of implementation of the Picture Exchange Communication System for students with Down Syndrome, the level of effectiveness of using the Picture Exchange Communication System, and the connection between these variables. The descriptive correlational research method was used for the study. The study's respondents were special education teachers from various schools in NCR. The study's respondents were chosen through the use of purposeful sampling. Frequency count, percentage, mean, weighted mean, and the chi-square test were used to tabulate and evaluate the data collected. The respondents are aged 38 on average, with more females than males. The majority of the instructors has bachelor's degrees in early childhood special education. Additionally, it was discovered that these teachers had been working in the field for an average of 7 years. The picture exchange communication system for kids with down syndrome is being used by these teachers to a very high degree, according to the research on its deployment. Based on the evaluation of the functional communication abilities of students with down syndrome, the picture exchange communication system (PECS) is rated as fair or emerging in terms of its effectiveness. Significant relationship was also observed between age and the level of effectiveness, Gender and extent of implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 1 million children under age 5 years who have special needs are served by early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) intended to promote academic and non‐cognitive school readiness. Past research suggested these services may have null or negative effects on kindergarten‐reading skills, but these studies did not account for features of the services received by participants. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort, this study explored the relations between kindergarten‐reading performance and EI/ECSE intensity and service provider. Analyses of a nationally representative sample of 550 participants (67% male, 63% White) indicated approximately 30% of the variance in kindergarten‐reading is explained by a combination of child characteristics, hours of service and type of providers. Results suggest EI/ECSE effectiveness varies slightly by service intensity and provider, highlighting the need for additional research about the optimal conditions under which these services may be administered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation of early childhood special educators, including early interventionists, includes knowledge and application of different practices than either early childhood generally or school-age special education. Several organizations, including the Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, have identified relevant recommended practices and personnel preparation guidelines. Faculty in early childhood special education and early intervention programs were surveyed to determine how program development and delivery align with recommended practices and personnel preparation guidelines. Forty-seven respondents completed the survey and results indicate variable alignment with personnel preparation guidance. Future directions for the field are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sakarya University Journal of Education Faculty (SUJEF) / Sakarya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Sakarya University Journal of Education Faculty (SUJEF) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aimed at investigating the teachers' perceptions in Qatar regarding employing assistive technologies in teaching children with disabilities in early intervention programmes. A descriptive method (survey) was used to answer the research questions. The study sample consisted of 183 female teachers from Qatar. These participants all worked in early intervention programmes in both public kindergartens and public schools. The stratified random sampling method was selected to determine the study sample during the 2018/2019 academic year. A questionnaire was developed to collect the data. The validity and reliability of the study instrument were assured. Results revealed that the employment of assistive technology by teachers in teaching children with disabilities in early intervention programmes was high. Further, the results showed that there are no statistically significant differences attributed to the variables of experience, specialisation, and students' disability level. In light of the study findings, researchers addressed several recommendations and future implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year, Turkish public schools welcome many children who have little to no Turkish language skills. This study has been conducted with the purpose of unearthing the challenges that preschool education teachers are likely to experience while teaching children with low Turkish language capabilities. Twenty preschool education teachers, who worked in suburban districts where Kurdish is commonly spoken, participated in this study. A semi-structured interview protocol that was developed by the researchers was used for subsequent data collection. Participants were interviewed on a one-on-one basis in the attempt to determine how early childhood education could support the development of Turkish language skills amongst such children. Miles and Huberman's [1994. Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Source Book. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications] systematic approach was utilised to analyse the data. The findings revealed that teachers are essentially left to cope with this issue on their own, and are generally unable to gain the support or resources needed to teach children the Turkish language. Although they achieve some progress despite these handicaps, their methods were unsystematic, unscientific or were not pedagogically proven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to highlight didactical voices on inclusive ideals and special educational tools noted in the written reflections of 178 preschool teachers in 10 Swedish municipalities. The research questions are as follows: How do preschool teachers signify inclusive ideals in written reflections of teaching in language and communication in preschools? Which special educational tools emerge in the written reflections about teaching in language and communication in preschool, and how are these tools said to be used? The material was analysed with multi-voiced didactic modelling and didactical tact as a theoretical base. The results show that there are didactical voices on inclusion in the analysed material. The core foundation of the teaching appears to be built upon inclusive ideals where all children are involved, included and part of the group. Utterances of a more individual character are sparingly present. In our interpretation, the (special) educational tools that are brought to the fore are described and used in an inclusive way and are didactically modelled into more general, rather than specialised, tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to describe the experience of families exiting the early intervention (EI) system and transitioning into early childhood special education (ECSE) programs. Eight mothers of children preparing to exit EI services completed semistructured interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four mothers answered additional post-transition interview questions. Interview participants experienced anxiety about the transition process but reported that they found EI personnel to be knowledgeable and supportive allies. Participants also described favorable outcomes related to a structured transition class. These findings indicate that the transition out of EI is associated with parental anxiety and uncertainty, which can be allayed through strong relationships with EI service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though families are recognized as educational decision-makers for their children, inequitable family-professional partnerships persist in early childhood and early childhood special education (EC/ECSE), particularly for marginalized families. In this article, we argue that to promote equitable decision-making and best meet the needs of young children from birth through age five and their families, EC/ECSE professionals can reframe family-professional partnerships through an alternate lens to disrupt and transform entrenched power dynamics. To this end, we first introduce two perspectives of knowledge and power, functionalism and humanism, and discuss how they contribute to decision-making in EC/ECSE. Then, we present a model to examine power and apply the model to contrast decision-making rooted in functionalist and humanist framings. To conclude, we provide recommendations for policy, research, and practice through the humanist frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early Childhood Special Education teachers select practices to use to promote social communication development for their students with autism spectrum disorder. Understanding what evidence-based practices teachers select and why can inform the development of dissemination and implementation supports at the critical Adoption-Decision stage of implementation. The researchers used discrete choice analysis to examine and test the effects of Early Childhood Special Education teachers' beliefs (self-efficacy, attitude, subjective norms; Theory of Planned Behavior) about key evidence-based practices on their practice selections. To assess malleable determinants of practice selection, this study addressed these aims: (1) assess Early Childhood Special Education teachers' beliefs (attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy) about key evidence-based practices, (2) describe which evidence-based practices teachers selected, and (3) examine whether teachers' beliefs predicted practice selections. A web-based survey gathered responses from 222 Early Childhood Special Education teachers. Participants had the most favorable beliefs about naturalistic intervention and the least about discrete trial teaching and scripting. These beliefs aligned with the frequencies with which these practices were selected, and teachers' beliefs predicted which practices they selected. Together, these findings suggest that beliefs serve as determinants of Early Childhood Special Education teachers' practice selections that can be acted on to tailor pre-implementation supports and improve implementation from the start. Preschool special educators' are more likely to choose an educational practice to teach a young child with autism a social communication skill if they have positive beliefs about it. We asked preschool special educators to read a description of an autistic student and their social communication goal and imagine they were the student's teacher. We then asked them to pick one of five practices to teach the student. We also asked them questions to understand their attitudes about, confidence in their ability to use, and their perception of their coworkers' support of each practice. There are many research-based practices that a teacher could use to help children learn, and preschool teachers often make these decisions for their students. Teachers' beliefs varied in how supportive they were of each practice, and research shows people are more likely to do something that their beliefs support. In this study, they had more supportive beliefs and were more likely to use some practices, like naturalistic intervention, than other practices, like discrete trial teaching. By knowing this, researchers can help teachers use practices that their beliefs support and help change teachers' beliefs to be supportive of a practice they may need to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]