Beth Rous

Reaching Consensus on a Definition of Professional Development for the Early Childhood Field

Reaching consensus on the meaning of professional development is needed to integrate professional development across various sectors of the early childhood field, distinguish various professional development approaches, match learning opportunities to learner characteristics, and evaluate its effects on professional practices and child and family outcomes. This article proposes a definition and conceptual framework for professional development across all sectors of early childhood and describes methods used to validate them. A case example illustrates how the definition and framework can be used to organize and plan professional development. Future directions for how a shared definition could move the field closer to a shared vision for planning, implementing, and evaluating professional development are discussed.

Strategies for Supporting Transitions of Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families

Young children with special needs and their families often experience transitions across multiple environments in the early childhood years. Many transitions are identified as stressful for children and families. In the present study, a series of focus groups involving administrators, practitioners, and family members were held around the United States to identify transition practices that have been implemented effectively for children, families, staff, administrators, and communities. Two major themes emerged from the data: critical interagency variables, defined as strategies that support an interagency process involving multiple parties; and transition practices and activities, defined as practices that address child, family, staff, program, and community-specific activities. Outcomes from these focus groups included identification of transition strategies for young children with special needs that are considered valuable by parents, providers, and administrators and that are consistent with theoretical frameworks described in the transition literature.

Sequenced Transition to Education in the Public Schools: A Systems Approach to Transition Planning.

The passage of P.L. 99--457 and subsequent reauthorization (P.L. 102--119) resulted in significant changes in education and related services for young children with disabilities and their families. As a result of P.L. 99--457, transition of children and families from infant/toddler programs to preschool programs has become an area of primary concern for persons working with young children and their families. Facilitating smooth transitions depends on interagency collaboration at both state and local levels, as well as preparation of children, families, and staff. This article describes a model project for facilitating interagency collaboration at both state and local levels. Project Sequenced Transition to Education in the Public Schools (STEPS) was funded initially as a demonstration project and more recently as a national outreach project through the Early Education Program for Children with Disabilities. Four primary components of Project STEPS are (a) interagency and administrative issues, (b) staff involvement in the transition process, (c) family involvement in the transition process, and (d) child preparation for the next environment. Project STEPS incorporates a model for team training related to each of these four components, as well as overall transition system development.

Level and Intensity of Early Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities The Impact of Child, Family, System, and Community-Level Factors on Service Provision

Data from a statewide billing and information system for early intervention are used to examine the influence of multiple factors on the level and intensity of services provided in a state early intervention system. Results indicate that child and family factors including entry age, gestational age, Medicaid eligibility, access to third party insurance, and childrens developmental skill areas influence the level and the intensity of early intervention services provided. In addition, findings show that county demographic factors also influence service provision, specifically the interaction between rural and poverty status. Implications for social policy are discussed.

Transition Services for Young Children with Disabilities: Research and Future Directions.

The study of transition process for young children with disabilities and their families is complex. This complexity is reflected in efforts by researchers and policy makers to understand the phenomenon and determine ways to improve the transition experiences and outcomes of young children with disabilities and their families. This article synthesizes the literature from early childhood special education as well as general early childhood in an effort to exemplify the current understanding of transition processes and practices. Future directions for more integrated approaches to transition research, policy, and practice are presented.

Evaluating the Impact of the STEPS Model on Development of Community-Wide Transition Systems.

This study investigated the effects of training and technical assistance related to a specific transition model on the development of community-wide transition systems. Seven community teams composed of representatives from public schools, Head Start, and early intervention were involved in the training. Personnel were trained using the STEPS model (Sequenced Transition to Education in the Public Schools). Systems development within sites was evaluated using a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures including pre/post surveys, supporting documents, rating scales, a survey, and focus group interviews. Results indicate that change occurred as a result of training and technical assistance provided over a one year period.

Building Preschool Accountability Systems: Guidelines Resulting from a National Study

Results are reported from a national validation survey of early childhood and early childhood special education professionals and family members related to guidelines for implementing accountability systems at the preschool level. Of the 47 statements included on the survey, 43 were validated by 75% or more of the 299 respondents. Specific implications for state and local programs involved in developing or refining accountability processes are presented in the areas of standards, assessment, and general accountability system design.

Perspectives of Teachers About Instructional Supervision And Behaviors That Influence Preschool Instruction.

Preschool programs for children with and without disabilities housed in public school settings have increased dramatically over the last decade. This study examined the perspectives of preschool teachers about who provides instructional supervision for their preschool programs and the behaviors these individuals use to influence their instructional practices. A questionnaire employing Critical Incident Technique was distributed to all preschool teachers housed in public school buildings in one state. Results from this investigation suggest that preschool coordinators and principals are identified most often as instructional supervisors. Five themes were identified that facilitated classroom instruction: support for the preschool classroom and staff, professional development opportunities and strategies, presence in the classroom and program, offering praise to teachers and staff, and overall knowledge of early childhood development. Teachers indicated that instructional leaders influenced their instructional practices through both verbal and nonverbal interactions.

Employing speech and location information for automatic assessment of child language environments

Assessment of the language environment of children in early childhood is a challenging task for both human and machine, and understanding the classroom environment of early learners is an essential step towards facilitating language acquisition and development. This paper explores an approach for intelligent language environment monitoring based on the duration of child-to-child and adult-to-child conversations and a childs physical location in classrooms within a childcare center. The amount of childs communication with other children and adults was measured using an i-vector based child-adult diarization system (developed at CRSS). Furthermore the average time spent by each child across different activity areas within the classroom was measured using a location tracking system. The proposed solution here offers unique opportunities to assess speech and language interaction for children, and quantify location context which would contribute to improved language environments.

Kentucky's Early Childhood Continuous Assessment and Accountability System Local Decisions and State Supports

Kentucky has developed an assessment and accountability system that provides outcome data for a set of state early childhood standards for children birth to 5 years of age that are aligned with early childhood outcomes designated by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Within this flexible and comprehensive state assessment system, early intervention and care providers, district preschool personnel, and childcare program staff select a criterion-referenced, curriculum-based assessment (CBA) tool to monitor childrens progress. The system is designed so that data from these CBA tools can be used for three purposes: (a) to demonstrate child progress and inform instruction at the individualized intervention or classroom level; (b) to promote program improvement and plan program, district, and state supports through the aggregation of assessment data at the program, district, and state level; and (c) to report on child progress to evaluate the success of federal, state, or district programs and initiatives.