The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center used a rigorous 2-year collaborative process to develop, test, and revise a conceptual framework for high-quality state early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) systems. The framework identifies six critical components of a state system and what constitutes quality in each…

Inclusion is clearly related to better outcomes for young children--but reports from the US Department of Education show the practice has grown by just 5% over the past 27 years. This is the how-to book preschool administrators, school district leaders, child care directors, and faculty need to step up the progress of early childhood inclusion…

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…

The Office of Special Education Programs funded Center to Inform Personnel Preparation Policy and Practice in Early Intervention and Preschool Education conducted a study to obtain current information about state certification requirements for early childhood special educators who work with preschool children with developmental delays and…

The Policy Analysis Study of the Research Institute on Preschool Mainstreaming investigated the manner in which states and local districts have implemented the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs' recommendation that preschoolers with mild to moderate disabilities participate in mainstream programs such as Head Start. A national survey of…

The document results from part of the Policy Options Project which identified and analyzed policy issues related to the delivery of appropriate services to preschool handicapped children and their families in terms of the need for assuring appropriate services, the factors affecting such policies, and policy approaches for the implementation of…

Research on the effectiveness of early intervention with handicapped children is reviewed in this information digest. Presented in question and answer format, the digest addresses the following questions: What is early intervention? Why intervene early? Is early intervention really effective? Is early intervention cost effective? Are there…

The article summarizes concurrent policy and practice concerning categorical and noncategorical diagnostic procedures for young handicapped children. The strengths and weaknesses of four noncategorical policy options are discussed. Potential misuses of noncategorical policies are reviewed, and recommendations for policy research are offered.…

Public Law 94-142 requires that school districts provide a free, appropriate, and public education to all handicapped children, aged 3 to 21, in the least restricted environment (LRE). This article explains compliance dilemmas, defines LRE, compares integration with mainstreaming, outlines integrated program characteristics, and discusses…

As part of a series on the legal and governmental foundations governing education of handicapped and gifted children, the booklet focuses on the provision of developmentally appropriate services to handicapped infants and preschool age children and their families. An initial section reviews the literature on the benefits of early intervention in…

This report summarizes data from 1990 and 1993 surveys on preschool mainstreaming that investigated the prevalence of inclusive programming in early childhood education, whether policy challenges to the inclusion of young children have changed over time, and currently existing challenges. Results indicate: (1) there is a dearth of policy research…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association whose responsibility is to develop and disseminate standards of practice related to young children with special needs and their families. The intention is to identify practices that result in high-quality early intervention/early childhood…

A survey of special education personnel, child care providers, and parents found that barriers to the mainstreaming of preschoolers with disabilities were attitudes concerning (1) "turf" issues for special educators; (2) teacher preparedness; (3) awareness issues; (4) issues of communication and collaboration; and (5) the possibility…

The article proposes several future challenges for the early childhood special education field in the context of implementing current policy (e.g., Public Law 99-457). The article also describes possible roles and responsibilities of professionals and other advocates in shaping future policy. (Author/DB)

A national survey was conducted to determine the presence of barriers to placing preschool children with disabilities in normalized education environments. The survey inquired about education policy as well as attitudes, curricula, and methods. Surveys were sent to 278 educators, administrators, and parents, with a 53 percent response rate.…