Carla A. Peterson

Relative Effects of Interventions Supporting the Social Competence of Young Children with Disabilities

This study compared the effects of different intervention approaches designed to promote peer-related social competence of young children with disabilities. Preschool-age children with disabilities who were enrolled in classes in Tennessee and Minnesota participated in four intervention conditions (environmental arrangements, child specific, peer mediated, and comprehensive) and a control (no intervention) condition. A performance-based assessment of social competence, which consisted of observational, teacher rating, and peer rating measures, was collected before and after the interventions and again the following school year. Analyses revealed that the peer-mediated condition had the greatest and most sustained effect on childrens participation in social interaction and on the quality of interaction, with the child-specific condition also having a strong effect. The environmental arrangements condition had the strongest effect on peer ratings. These findings indicate that there are effective intervention approaches available for children who have needs related to social competence and that different types of interventions may be useful for addressing different goals (e.g., social skills or social acceptance) of individual children.

Early Parent-Child Interactions and Early Literacy Development.

The relationship between parent—child interactions and early literacy skills for 27 families living in low-income households was examined. Parent—child interactions in “simulated” daily experiences were videotaped when the children were 14, 24, and 36 months old. These tapes were coded with the Parent-Infant/Toddler Interaction Coding System (PICS; Dodici & Draper, 2001), a scale that rates child language, parent language, emotional tone, joint attention, parental guidance, and parental responsivity. These behaviors were related strongly to early literacy skills in the areas of receptive vocabulary, symbolic representation, and phonemic analysis, which were measured in the spring prior to kindergarten entry. In addition, observed parent—child interactions were better predictors of early literacy skills than was a parent report of home literacy experiences.

Home-Based Early Intervention with Families of Children with Disabilities: Who is Doing What?.

Home visits are one mechanism for providing comprehensive services to young children with disabilities and their families, as required by Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990. This study reports observational data describing the content addressed and the processes employed by early childhood special educators during home visits with children with disabilities, birth to 3 years of age, and their families. The extent to which home visits were individualized was examined in terms of available family resources and level of childs caretaking demands. Findings revealed that a model of child-focused intervention was most frequently implemented. Some evidence was found to indicate that the content of home visits was more likely to focus on the child when family resources were adequate, and that the role of the interventionist was more likely to be that of an observer when children had greater care-taking demands.

Who Drops Out of Early Head Start Home Visiting Programs

Research Findings: Early Head Start home-based programs provide services through weekly home visits to families with children up to age 3, but families vary in how long they remain enrolled. In this study of 564 families in home-based Early Head Start programs, “dropping out” was predicted by specific variations in home visits and certain family characteristics. It also was negatively related to several targeted program outcomes. Home visits to dropout families focused less on child development, were less successful at engaging parents, and had more distractions. Dropout families had more risks and changes of residence, were more likely to be headed by a single mother, and were less likely to have a mother with poor English skills or a child with a documented disability. Practice or Policy: Home visiting programs may be able to reduce dropout rates, and thereby increase the duration of services to each family, by keeping home visits engaging and focused on child development and also by individualizing to the specific needs of families at risk for dropping out. To keep families involved longer, home visiting programs should consider (a) planning home visits that are longer, more engaging for both parent and child, scheduled at a time when there are fewer distractions for the family; and (b) spending the majority of time on child development activities and topics.

Early Head Start: Identifying and Serving Children with Disabilities

Early Head Start (EHS) is a comprehensive, two-generation program that provides services to low-income families with children under the age of 3 years. As part of their mandate, staff members of EHS programs collaborate with other service providers in their local communities, including Part C and childcare providers. The incidence of disabilities among low-income children was tracked as part of the EHS Research and Evaluation Project. The incidence of indicators of disabilities (or potential disabilities) was extremely high (87%) among these very young children living in poverty; however, only 99 participating families (4.7% of the sample) received Part C services. Receipt of Part C services was related negatively to specific family characteristics (e.g., mother less well educated, being of color, not speaking English). Participation in EHS had a positive impact on receipt of Part C services.

Transdisciplinary, Play-Based Assessment in Early Childhood Special Education An Examination of Social Validity

Although standardized assessments for young children have been criticized, little empirical evidence exists to support alternative assessment methods. Forty children under 3 years of age referred for an early childhood special education evaluation were randomly assigned to either a multidisciplinary, standardized assessment or a transdisciplinary, playbased assessment. Data on parent perceptions, staff perceptions, time factors, functional utility of reports, and parent and staff congruence in judgment-based ratings were evaluated. The play-based assessments took 3 weeks less time to complete than standardized assessments, resulted in favorable parent and staff perceptions, provided useful reports, and had high congruence in developmental ratings. This study provides empirical evidence supporting the social validity of transdisciplinary, play-based assessment methods.

Children's Individual Experiences in Early Care and Education: Relations with Overall Classroom Quality and Children's School Readiness.

This study examined relations among childrens individual experiences, global classroom quality, and school readiness. Preschool children from low-income backgrounds (N = 138; M = 62.16 months; SD = 3.93; range = 55−70) were observed in their early care and education settings, and their language and cognitive skills were assessed. Research Findings: Individual children in classrooms with small group sizes had higher quality individual experiences even though global classroom quality was not necessarily better. Higher levels of global classroom quality did not ensure that every child in the classroom was engaged fully in available interactions and activities. Children with disabilities were generally enrolled in classrooms with higher global quality and had higher quality individual experiences than those without disabilities; however, children without disabilities enrolled in these inclusive classrooms did not necessarily have a higher level of individual experiences than those in non-inclusive classrooms. Childrens individual experiences and the global quality of their classrooms were associated with their social skills. Only the quality of childrens individual experiences was found to be related to the quality of their relationships with teachers. Practice or Policy: Ratings of childrens individual experiences provide information beyond that provided by global ratings of classroom quality and have potential for informing efforts to individualize educational programs.

Policy and Management Supports for Effective Service Integration in Early Head Start and Part C Programs

Effective service integration between Part C programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities and Early Head Start (EHS) offers opportunities to serve children with disabilities in natural environments and to provide a full range of comprehensive services for low income families. This study was a qualitative inquiry in five states and six local communities to learn how state and local administrators, direct care providers, and parents perceive the process of service integration in Part C and EHS. Through open-ended interviews, respondents shared perceptions of collaboration between the two programs at referral and intake, evaluation and individualized planning, service delivery, and transition out of the programs. Researchers sorted narrative material into categories through both thematic analysis and computerized software. Respondents perceive effective service integration to include administrative structures (e.g., interagency agreements, personnel policies), and interpersonal relationships among the direct providers and families involved. Parents emphasized structural factors such as a stable staff with minimal turnover, and interpersonal factors such as a comfortable and harmonious atmosphere among themselves and staff from the two programs. Staff stressed informal and open channels of communication, as well as clear and understandable procedures. Administrators highlighted joint trainings, policies coordinating schedules for evaluation and planning, and mutual respect for each others programs. Research, policy, and practice implications of the identified factors are discussed.

Factors Affecting the Impact of Social Interaction Skills Interventions in Early Childhood Special Education

As a group, preschool children with disabilities are at risk for problems in the development of social interaction skills and related behaviors. This article highlights the need for effective social skills interventions for these children and reviews available intervention procedures and packages. In addition, factors affecting the current impact of social skills interventions in early childhood special education are discussed, and research efforts to increase the impact of these interventions are reviewed. Specifically, research efforts aimed at documenting intervention integrity and confirming the link between intervention integrity and intervention effectiveness are addressed.

Child Care for Low-Income Children with Disabilities: Access, Quality, and Parental Satisfaction.

Using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, this study analyzed the similarities and differences of variables associated with child care services for low-income families with young children with disabilities and low-income families with typically developing children. Four major variables were analyzed: access to child care; maternal participation in self-sufficiency activities, such as work or education; quality of care; and parental satisfaction with care. Rates of child care utilization and maternal self sufficiency activities were similar for both groups. At age 3, however, children with disabilities received care of lower quality than their typically developing peers, and their parents were less satisfied with the child care arrangements. Policy and research implications, stressing the importance of improving child care quality for low-income children with disabilities across all types of settings, are presented.