This article examines the community of practice model as a framework for integrating educational research and practice. This perspective extends current notions about collaborative inquiry and the role of teacher participation in research aimed at improving educational practices. In addition to defining communities of practice and describing reflective practice and situated learning as the theoretical underpinnings of this approach, the article analyzes applications of this model from the literature and offers suggestions for transforming traditional methods of conducting research on educational practice. The article concludes with a challenge to the field to consider ways to promote dialogue and inquiry to advance our knowledge on this issue.

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This study assessed factors that contributed to global program quality in early childhood settings. The sample consisted of 180 community-based child care centers from 12 geographically and economically diverse regions in North Carolina. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) total mean score was usedas theprimary measure ofglobal program quality. The studyfound that 62 (34%) ofthe early childhoodprograms reported enrolling at leastone child with disabilities. The study also found that inclusive early childhood programs scored significantly higher on the ECERS overall than did noninclusive programs. Results ofan Analysis ofCovariance (ANCOl'lt) indicatedthree otherpredictors ofglobalprogram quality: teacher education, professional experience, and teacher self-ratings ofknowledge and skill.

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This study employed 2 methods to assess the attitudes of 52 general early childhood teachers serving young children with disabilities in inclusive early childhood settings. The first consisted of a structured interview using an index of functional child characteristics to assess professional comfort in serving an individual child. The second consisted of a rating scale to assess global attitudes toward the benefits and drawbacks of inclusion. Findings indicated significant differences in teachers' comfort levels as a function of severity of the child's disability across all domains. Predicted comfort scores were lowest when the child was reported to have severe to profound disabilities in the areas of leg functioning, muscle tone, and appropriate behavior.Inclusive programming for young children with disabilities and their families is still considered by many to be an innovative practice. Previous research suggests that, among the many factors that determine successful implementation of innovation in the schools, teacher attitudes play a central role (Stein & Wang, 1988). Although a number of studies have documented that parents of preschoolers with and without disabilities, particularly parents of children who participated in an inclusive setting very little is known about the attitudes of general early childhood personnel toward the inclusion of young children with disabilities in general child care and preschool programs.Volk and Stalhman (1994) speculated that attitudes toward inclusion among general early childhood personnel could range from concern about self-competence in meeting individual needs to feelings of sympathy and sadness for a child or resentment about having to assume additional responsibilities and learn new skills.The majority of studies examining adult attitudes toward individuals with disabilities can be divided into two groups. Initial studies involved measures of attitudes toward disabilities or disability subgroups using broad categories (e.g., mentally retarded, deaf, physically disabled; Antonek & Livneh, 1988). This approach has been criticized because of differences in how categorical labels are used and interpreted and because of the variability that exists among individuals with the same disability label (Home, 1985; Ward & Center, 1987).