This report examines the teacher-reported early literacy behaviors of 2,759 preschool children who participated in a state-supported, early intervention preschool program. Preschool teachers (N = 240) completed the Literacy Competence Checklist for all children in their classes. Teachers reported growth in childrens literacy behaviors from Fall to…

Recent advances in neuroscience show clearly how experience can change brain neurochemicals, and how this in turn affects the way the brain functions. As a result, early negative events actually get built into the growing brain's neurochemistry, altering the brain's architecture. Research is continuing to investigate how children with genetic…

Once again, early education has emerged as a major policy and program topic. And, while the importance of early education is undisputed, the increasing calls for "Universal Preschool" and full-day kindergartens have yielded considerable controversy. Our specific interest in public policy for preschool programs stems from our concerns about…

This theme issue focuses on family-centered practices and policies for service delivery. The first article, "Family-Centered Service Delivery," reports on a study of 130 published sources in education, social work, nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, and related disciplines, which found that the key components of family-centered…

This study quantified the benefits to children and parents participating in nine early intervention programs and conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the Perry Preschool and the Elmira Prenatal/Early Infancy Project (PEIP). The findings indicated that early intervention programs led to the following advantages for program participants relative to…

This summary explaining the results of evaluations of programs to prevent youth violence is an attempt to fill the gap in information about what works and what does not. An effort is made to place the problem of youth violence in perspective, using information largely taken from Bureau of Justice statistics. The existing programs are divided into…

This paper examines issues identified in a qualitative study in nine diverse local service systems as program administrators of early intervention programs for young children with disabilities sought to obtain United Way funding and other sources of philanthropy. Data are based on issues raised in nine focus groups conducted with community…

Two rural Ojibwe mothers whose young children received early childhood at-risk services were interviewed about their life circumstances and experiences with service delivery. Major interview themes that emerged included positive experiences and successes with early childhood special education services, and rural and cultural obstacles to the…

This booklet is designed to introduce aspects of effective reading instruction that should be considered when teaching reading to students with disabilities. An introduction discusses general principles for teaching reading to students with disabilities and emphasizes the importance of individually designing a program based on a student's…

This training module focuses on early childhood and is part of a training series for paraprofessionals working with students who have disabilities. The module is comprised of two components, a facilitator's guide and a student guide. The facilitator's guide provides the full text of the student's edition as well as chapter goals to be accomplished…

This report discusses the activities and outcomes of Special Instructional Assistance (SIA) an early intervention, prevention program designed to help Georgia students with identified developmental delays overcome the effects of those delays on academic achievement. The central tenet of the program is to provide more individualized instruction to…

Natural environments is a term used in the regulations for Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It states that early intervention services must be provided in natural environments, including home and community settings in which children without disabilities participate. Questions addressed in this paper include: (1)…

This document provides information on tasks, tips, and tools derived from a federally funded project that provided training and technical assistance to local early intervention interagency teams. The project's purpose was to facilitate the establishment of local collaborative teams to work on challenges associated with putting in place a long-term…

This report summarizes the findings of a study of the effects of home environment on child outcomes as influenced by the Infant Health and Development Program, an intervention aimed at improving the health and development of premature, low birth weight infants through parental education and support and enriched educational day care and health…

This issue brief discusses the most recent and reliable research on early care and education and its implications for policy making. The brief summarizes recent discoveries about early brain development and then reviews research evaluating: (1) child care; (2) small-scale model early education programs providing enriched services to disadvantaged…