This article profiles the graduate program in Early Oral Intervention for Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is the result of several circumstances: (1) sizeable populations of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing residing in Mississippi were not being…

In this exploratory case study, 4 early intervention providers' use of collaborative intervention strategies and everyday activities was examined in relation to the participation of a small group of Latina mothers (n = 10) during home visits over a 6-month period in an urban community. Videotapes (n = 40) of home visits were clustered into more…

Early-intervention and early childhood professionals have long considered "family-centered" service delivery best practice. Exactly what family-centered practice means, however, remains unclear. The lack of consensus in defining family centeredness results in incongruence in the manner and degree to which professionals implement "family…

Purpose: "Reciprocal imitation training" (RIT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention that teaches imitation to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within a social-communicative context. RIT has been shown to be effective at teaching spontaneous, generalized object and gesture imitation. In addition, improvements in imitation are…

The purpose of this study was to determine in what ways the quality of plans developed by individualized family service plan (IFSP) teams changed following targeted revisions to the IFSP form and instruction manual. IFSPs were collected from 94 family service coordinators, one IFSP from each before and one from each after the form revision. The…

This study focuses on a vulnerable group of pupils often missed by mainstream school surveys. It explores alcohol use and alcohol-related problems for a sample of truants of secondary school age, comparing behaviours with a school-based sample from the same geographical area. Analyses are based on a survey among truants (n = 107) and a school…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children considered to be at high risk for developing reading difficulties due to weaknesses in either phonological awareness or rapid automatic naming (RAN)--two skills linked to reading difficulties in many studies--were being captured for early intervention with Reading Recovery using the…

Previous research has suggested that some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may improve to such an extent that they lose their diagnosis, yet little research has examined these "optimal outcome" children in depth. We examined multiple aspects of functioning in a group of 13 optimal outcome (OO) children, matched on age, gender, and…

Purpose: In working with children with language impairments, some clinical scholars and clinicians advocate using input that is simplified to the point of being ungrammatical (telegraphic input), while others advocate simplified but grammatical input. This article considers 2 types of external evidence on this topic. Method: First, a meta-analysis…

Progress monitoring and data-based intervention decision making have become key components of providing evidence-based early childhood special education services. Unfortunately, there is a lack of tools to support early childhood service providers' decision-making efforts. The authors describe a Web-based system that guides service providers…

In a mere 3 decades, infant mental health has grown from an intriguing but obscure clinical approach to young children into a broad-based, multidisciplinary effort to enhance the development and well-being of young children and families through research, practice, and policy. The authors review some of the original premises of infant mental health…

There are multiple ways to gather information from families receiving early intervention services (J. J. Woods & D. P. Lindeman, 2008). In this article, we discuss a specific strategy for doing this through information-gathering conversations with families. The routines-based interview (RBI; R. A. McWilliam, 1992, 2005a) was developed to meet a…

The efficacy of early intervention for preschool-aged children at risk of anxiety disorders is investigated. Brief early intervention delivered through parents can reduce anxiety and associated risk and may alter the developmental trajectory of anxiety in some young children.

Recent studies have documented positive effects for early intervention in improving the mathematics performance of low-achieving children. Consequently, educators need technically sound mathematics screening measures to identify children at risk and then intervene to improve achievement. In this article, we describe preliminary technical adequacy…

"More High School Graduates" is a comprehensive guide for school leaders and government policymakers committed to boosting high school graduation rates. Drawing from his knowledge as an education official and professor, author Ben Levin presents a system to turn around secondary schools that is adaptable for local-, district-, and state-level…