Laurie A. Dinnebeil

An Analysis of the Perceptions and Characteristics of Childcare Personnel Regarding Inclusion of Young Children with Special Needs in Community-Based Programs.

Access to childcare is a challenge for families of young children with special needs. A survey of early childhood personnel in northwestern Ohio identified early childhood personnel characteristics associated with an interest or willingness to care for these children. Most respondents were interested in caring for young children with special needs. More than one half of the respondents reported experience in caring for such children and most were confident about their ability to do so. Lack of knowledge regarding care requirements of young children with special needs was cited most often as a barrier to inclusive childcare. Differences between home- and center-based providers were identified. Implications of these findings for childcare staff training are discussed.

Translating Research on Naturalistic Instruction into Practice

Naturalistic instruction procedures have broad philosophical and practical appeal and have been embraced with enthusiasm by many who teach about or practice early intervention. While there is general agreement that a number of intervention procedures may be characterized as naturalistic and there is empirical evidence to substantiate that many have been effectively applied, a number of research issues must be addressed if practitioners are to apply the results. Issues associated with definition of procedures (independent variables) and outcomes (dependent variables) confound the translation of research into practice. This article raises these issues and suggests guidelines for describing independent and dependent variables that might better enable practitioners to apply research in their work with young children with disabilities and with families.

Variables That Influence Collaboration Between Parents and Service Coordinators

Within the field of early intervention, collaboration between professionals and parents is highly valued (Zipper, Weil, & Rounds, 1991). Although practitioners have emphasized the importance of building partnerships with parents, little is known about the variables that affect partnership strength. The purpose of this investigation was to explore variables that either enhance or detract from successful partnerships. Using structured interviews, we found a number of characteristics and behaviors of parents and service coordinators that each group perceived as productive or unproductive. We also asked five experts to describe variables that either enhance or detract from collaboration. The results of this research have strong implications for early intervention practitioners and point to a need for validation of these results with a larger sample.

Itinerant Early Childhood Special Education Services Service Delivery in One State

This article describes a survey of itinerant early childhood special education teachers in one state. Itinerant teachers address the Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and objectives of children who receive special education services in their homes or in a community-based program. Itinerant teachers who responded to this survey identified a range of strategies they use as part of their jobs. Most of the strategies identified as frequently used involve providing direct services to children. Teachers reported infrequent implementation of indirect services such as modeling intervention techniques and writing intervention plans for general education teachers or parents. Itinerant teachers reported being satisfied with their job and were generally welcomed in classrooms and homes.

Defining Parent Education in Early Intervention.

Sontag, J., & Schacht, R. (1993). Family diversity and patterns of service utilization in early intervention. Journal of Early Intervention, 17 , 431-444. Trivette, C. M., & Dunst, C. J. (1998, December). Family-centered helpgiving practices. Paper presented at the 14th Annual Division for Early Childhood International Conference on Children with Special Needs, Chicago, IL. Webster’s new 20th century dictionary (2nd ed.). (1979). William Collins. Winton, P., McCollum, J., & Catlett, C. (1997). Reforming personnel preparation in early intervention: Issues, models, and practical strategies. Baltimore: Brookes.

The Alignment of CEC/DEC and NAEYC Personnel Preparation Standards.

This article describes the process for alignment of the personnel preparation standards developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and Division for Early Childhood with the standards developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The results identify areas of convergence across the two sets of standards and areas that were primarily addressed through only one set of standards. Areas of nonalignment may constitute specialized knowledge and skills within the disciplines of special education, early childhood special education and early intervention, and early childhood education. This standards alignment can be used by states and university and college personnel preparation programs to develop blended programs that highly qualified early childhood professionals to meet the needs of all children in a variety of settings.

The Role of the "Tuesday Morning Teacher"

Laurie A. Dinnebeil, Ph.D., and William F. McInerney, Ph.D., University of Toledo Jacob is three years old and attends Honey Tree Preschool along with his five-year old sister, Heather, and his best friend, Todd. Every morning either his mother or Todd’s mother drops the children off. Jacob enjoys preschool and his teachers, Ms. Henderson and Ms. Pollock. Along with his everyday teachers, Jacob has another teacher who visits the Honey Tree Preschool once a week. Ms. Scott is Jacob’s &dquo;Tuesday morning teacher.&dquo;

Using Implementation Checklists to Reinforce the Use of Child-Focused Intervention Strategies.

Sonja was preparing for her visit to the Hillcrest Child Development Center to see Nolan, a 3-year-old little boy on an individualized education program (IEP). Nolan attended Hillcrest full-time and was a member of Mr. David’s class. Nolan had difficulties interacting appropriately with his peers. His teachers, David and Ellen, were frustrated with his behavior and had used (unsuccessfully, in Sonja’s opinion) time-out to reduce his inappropriate behavior. For the past month Sonja had been working with David and Ellen to help Nolan learn other, more appropriate ways of interacting with his peers. She had tried all of the ways she knew to help David and Ellen. For example, she had explained repeatedly that sending Nolan to the time-out chair did not appear to be working since Nolan’s

DEC Personnel Preparation Standards Revision 2005-2008

The revision and process of validation of standards for early childhood special education (ECSE) and early intervention (EI) personnel at the initial and advanced levels of preparation, which occurred during 2005-2008, are described to provide a record of the process and to inform future cycles of standards revision. Central components focus on the importance of the relationships forged in the process, especially with Council for Exceptional Children, and their contributions to its success. The results are discussed in terms of changes in terminology for the ECSE/EI standards, limitations of the process, and suggestions for next revisions.

An Innovative Practicum to Support Early Childhood Inclusion Through Collaborative Consultation

personnel visit the settings rather than being housed there permanently&dquo; (Odom et al., 1999, p. 192). Itinerant services can either be ’direct’ in which the itinerant personnel work directly with the child or ’consultative.’ Within the consultative model, the primary responsibility of the itinerant professional is to work directly with the general education teacher to assist them in addressing the IEP objectives within daily routines and activities. While early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers are prepared to work directly with children, they generally receive inadequate preparation to serve as consultants or ’coaches’ to other adults. To address