Noting that one of the major educational policy shifts in recent years has been the establishment of state-funded prekindergarten programs, this report details a study examining how five states (Georgia, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, and Texas) managed this educational policy shift, identified the major facilitators and major barriers, and…

Among the major educational policy shifts in recent years has been the establishment of state-funded prekindergarten programs. This study extends an earlier one of the development of prekindergarten policy in five states by focusing on policy development in two additional states, California and Ohio. Potential informants in each state who were…

This paper explores the barriers and possible solutions toward the implementation of the goal of a coordinated service system for young children with special needs and their families. The components of the vision of a comprehensive, interagency, multidisciplinary, coordinated service system are outlined, such as interdisciplinary cooperation, a…

The development, care, and education of children from birth to age 5 has been the focus of rapidly increasing public interest, and numerous early childhood public policy initiatives have focused attention on a major problem of coordination and collaboration of services for young children. Four segments of services for young children--(1) child…

This article considers four issues confronting gifted education: (1) whether there really are such entities as a gifted child; (2) gifted education; (3) special personnel preparation for teachers of gifted students; and (4) whether the application of special services is sufficient in scope and intensity to make a difference in the classroom.…