Assessment and evaluation activities are an integral part of early intervention services. These activities culminate in written evaluation reports that include information such as observations of skills and deficits, diagnosis, and recommendations for intervention. However, few guidelines exist to help guide early intervention providers in writing…

Purpose: To evaluate the longitudinal effects of a 6-month course of responsivity education (RE)/prelinguistic milieu teaching (PMT) for young children with developmental delay. Method: Fifty-one children, age 24-33 months, with fewer than 10 expressive words were randomly assigned to early-treatment/no-treatment groups. All treatment was added as…

The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) Technical Assistance (TA) Model for Long-Term Systems Change (LTSC) is grounded in conceptual frameworks in the literature on systems change and systems thinking. The NECTAC conceptual framework uses a logic model approach to change developed specifically for states' infant and…

This qualitative study was designed to gain an in-depth understanding of the perceptions, attitudes, knowledge, and implementation of RTI based on interviews with 11 special education directors working in rural school districts in eastern Washington. Three questions guided this study. First, what level of general knowledge of the RTI process do…

Purpose: Traditional school vision screening has focused on the examination of distance vision using screenings such as the "School Vision Screening" used in this study. No vision screenings for determining how well children can see print or pictures at close distances are administered on a regular basis. The purpose of the study was to…

This study examined if children who participated in prekindergarten education programs were better prepared for the kindergarten classroom. Children enter the kindergarten setting at various levels of readiness. A mixed method concurrent transformative study design was employed. Data were collected that provided clarity on how preschool…

This report responds to two mandates for GAO under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). First, it is the latest report on the uses of and accountability for Recovery Act funds in selected states and localities. Second, it comments on recipients' reports of the jobs created and retained. The Recovery Act provided $2.1…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) The War on Progress: Why the National…

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a process that addresses both the identification of learning disabilities and the design of early intervention and instruction. RtI provides a framework upon which to structure high quality instruction for all students and a means by which to identify those in need of more intensive intervention. The process is…

Reading fluency is a critical component of effective reading instruction for students of early elementary age. However, national data suggest that 40% of U.S. fourth-grade students are nonfluent readers. Implementing evidence-based, time-efficient, and procedurally standardized instructional strategies may help address this problem. This study…

Research Findings: This article reports on two studies. Study 1 considered ways in which Head Start teachers' (n = 90) psychosocial stressors are related to teachers' ability to maintain a positive classroom emotional climate and effective behavior management in preschool classrooms. Study 2 tested the hypothesis that among teachers randomly…

This Australian study examined the communication, academic, and social outcomes of pediatric cochlear implantation from the perspectives of teachers working with children with cochlear implants. The children were aged from 1 to 18 years and attended a range of educational settings in early intervention, primary, and secondary schooling. One…

This study examined the contribution of a model of maternal characteristics in explaining mothers' involvement in the early intervention of their 1- to 7-year-old children with hearing loss. The model of maternal factors affecting mothers' involvement in intervention comprised (a) four personal characteristics conceived as exogenous variables…

Substantial research supports the need for early intervention efforts for students at risk for failure. Despite the empirically documented importance of early, explicit reading intervention for students who enter school without critical prereading skills, many kindergarten programs delay intensive reading instruction until later in the year.…

Educators in the Chula Vista Elementary School District determined what kind of instruction students needed through a "response to intervention" (RTI) process, which provides extra help to struggling students with an aim of reducing the number of referrals to special education. As RTI catches on throughout the country, the district is on…