Transforming Teacher Preparation in Early Childhood Education: Moving to Inclusion

Abstract

In this paper, we describe our efforts to transform the early childhoad education major and the early childhood special education major into a single unified major. This unified major is intended to prepare early childhood educators to address competently the educational needs of botb children with and without disabilities in a general education classroom. We describe the events occurring at both the state and university levels that led to our efforts, and the progress we bave made during the first year of our work. We also identify several future challenges that we will soon confront.

Assessing Student Outcomes in Communication-Intensive Learning Communities: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study of Academic Performance and Retention

“…In educational settings, groundbreaking work on interdisciplinary teams has come from geriatrics, as medical doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, and elderhousing specialists frequently cooperate to manage the health-care situations of older persons (Gelmon, White, Carlson, & Norman, 2000). Special education is another area where decisions are frequently made by teams of teachers, testing specialists, parents, and administrators (Clark, 1996;Heston, Raschke, & Kliewer, 1998;Knotek, 2003). Although good studies remain relatively rare, the research to date suggests that interdisciplinary instructional teams lead to better learning outcomes.…”

Cultural and linguistic diversity in early childhood teacher preparation: The impact of contextual characteristics on coursework and practica

“…Thus, the state in which a teacher preparation program is located may determine what is included in its course content and offering. For example, Heston, Raschke, & Kliewer (1998) cited state policies as the driving force and support behind the development of an early childhood unified teacher preparation program.…”

Critical Features of Special Education Teacher Preparation

“…The vast majority of program descriptions included competencies that faculty expected students to acquire by graduation; however, the manner in which competencies were addressed was either not clear (as in 30% of the descriptions) or varied depending on the orientation of the program (e.g., see Emond, 1995;Heston, Raschke, Kliewer, Fitzgerald, & Edmiaston, 1998;Salend & Reynolds, 1991;Sebastian, Calmes, & Mayhew, 1997.) Some teacher education programs adopted what appeared to be more positivist approaches to teacher education (Grisham-Brown, et al, 2000;Miller, et al, 1999;Snell, et al, 1997;Russell, et al, 1992).…”