The movement toward inclusion has made educating and caring for children with disabilities an increasingly critical part of the early education teacher's role. The goal of this paper is to describe the extent to which early childhood teacher preparation programs are including early childhood special educationlearly intervention content and experiences as part of their core course and practicum requirements. A nationally representative survey of 438 chairs and directors of early childhood teacher preparation programs revealed that while a large proportion of programs consider early childhood special educationlearly intervention to be a part of the mission of their program, the amount of coursework and practicum experience vary considerably by content area and level of degree offered by the program. Implications are offered for policy and future research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Association for Community Colleges. ( 1998). Policy statement on the associate degree. Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Bailey, D.B., & Wolery M. (1984). Teaching infants and preschoolers with handicaps . Columbus, OH: Merrill.
3.
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs. Washington, DC: NAEYC.
4.
Bruder, M.B. (2000). The individual family service plan (ERIC Digest #E605). Arlington, VA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education.
5.
Buysse, V., Wesley, P., Keyes, L., & Bailey, D. (1996). Assessing comfort zone of child care teachers in serving young children with disabilities. Journal of Early Intervention, 20 (3), 189-203.
6.
deBettencourt, L.U. (1999). General educators' attitudes toward students with mild disabilities and their use of instructional strategies: Implications for training. Remedial and Special Education, 20 (1), 27-35.
7.
Division for Early Childhood, Council for Exceptional Children, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Association of Teacher Educators. (1998). Personnel standards for early education and early intervention: Guidelines for licensure in early childhood special education. In Guidelines for preparation of early childhood professionals, associate, baccalaureate, and advanced levels . Washington, DC: Author.
8.
Early, D.M. & Winton, P.J. (2001). Preparing the workforce: Early childhood teacher preparation at 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 16, 285-306.
9.
Fader, L. (1996). Determining the nature of differences between unified early childhoodlearly childhood special education teacher education programs and separate early childhood special education programs. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, Baltimore.
10.
Gartin, B.C.,Rao, S., McGee, & Jordan, E. (2001). Perception of pre-service teachers about inclusion. Catalyst for Change, 30 (3), 20-25.
11.
Hilton/Early Head Start (1999). Evaluation report. Rohnert Park, CA: Author.
12.
Hinitz, B.F. (1998). Credentialing early childhood paraprofessionals in the United States: The child development associate and other frameworks . International Journal of Early Years Education, 6, 87-103.
13.
Isenberg, J.P. (2001). The state of the art in early childhood professional preparation. In New teachers for a new century: The future of early childhood professional preparation (pp. 17-58). Jessup, MD: U.S. Department of Education.
Kamens, M.W., Loprete, S.J., & Slostad, F.A. (2003). Inclusive classrooms: What practicing teachers want to know. Action in Teacher Education, 25 (1), 20-26.
16.
McDonnell, A.P., Brownell, K., & Wolery, M. (1997). Teaching experience and specialist support: A survey of preschool teachers employed in programs accredited by Naeyc. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 17 (3), 263-285.
17.
Miller, P., Fader, L., & Vincent, L.J. (2001). Preparing early childhood educators to work with children who have exceptional needs. In New teachers for a new century: The future of early childhood professional preparation (pp. 91-122). Jessup, MD: U.S. Department of Education .
18.
Miller, P.S., & Losardo, A. (2002). Graduates' perception of strengths and needs in interdisciplinary teacher preparation for early childhood education: A state study. Teacher Education and Special Education, 25, 309-319.
19.
Miller, P.S., & Stayton, V.D. (1998). Blended interdisciplinary teacher preparation in early education and intervention: A national study. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18 (1), 49-58.
20.
Minke, K.M., Bear, G.G., Deemer, S.A., & Griffin, S.M. (1996). Teachers' experiences with inclusive classrooms: Implications for special education reform. The Journal of Special Education, 30, 152-186.
21.
Morgan, G., Azer, S., Costley, J., Genser, A., Good-man, I., Lombardi, J., & McGimsey, B. (1993). Making a career of it. Boston : The Center for Career Development in Early Care and Education at Wheelock College.
22.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1996). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Washington, DC: Author.
23.
National Center for Education Statistics, U. S. Department of Education. (1999). Teacher quality: A report on the preparation and qualifications of public school teachers. Washington, DC: Author.
24.
National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (1998). Learning disabilities: Preservice preparation of general and special education teachers. Learning Disability Quarterly, 21, 182-186.
25.
Office of Special Education Programs. (2002 ). Twenty-fourth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Washington, DC: Author.
26.
Research Triangle Institute. (2004). SUDAAN 9.0 technical manual. Research Triangle Park, NC : Author.
27.
Sandall, S., McLean, M.E., & Smith, B.J. (2000). DEC recommended practices in early interventionlearly childhood special education. Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.
28.
Snider, M.H., & Fu, V.R. (1990). The effects of specialized education and job experience on early childhood teachers' knowledge of developmentally appropriate practice . Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 5 (1), 69-78.
29.
Stayton, V. D., Miller, P S., & Dinnebeil, L. A. (Eds.) (2003). DEC: Personnel preparation in early childhood special education. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
30.
Wolery, M., Martin, C.G., Schroeder, C., Huffman, K., Venn, M.L., Holcombe, A., Brookfield, J., & Fleming, L.A. (1994). Employment of related service personnel in preschool programs: A survey of general early educators. Exceptional Children, 61, 25-39.
