Early Reading First is a federal initiative that seeks to buffer against the detrimental effects of poverty on children‟s academic outcomes by incorporating all of the elements supported by scientifically-based reading research to address the present and future reading gaps of high-risk preschool children. The tenets of ERF are teacher professional development, high quality language and print-rich environments, the teaching of emergent instruction of emergent literacy skills based on scientifically based reading research (SBRR) and the early identification of reading problems through the informed use of appropriate assessment measures. The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of ERF enriched preschool classrooms located in a small city in a Southwestern state on both short- and mid-term early literacy outcomes of high risk preschoolers in a treatment condition and a comparison group. A total of 239 children participated in the study; 110 children in the ERF treatment group and 129 children in the "practice as usual" contrast group. The longitudinal effect of the ERF intervention on participating students (from pre-kindergarten through the middle of first grade) was investigated via multilevel modeling. Four multilevel models were developed for two subtests of the Tejas Lee (Francis, Carlson, and Cardenas-Hagan, 2006): Spanish alphabet knowledge (i.e, identificación de las letras) and Spanish story comprehension (i.e., comprensión auditiva); and two subtests of the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI; Center for Academic and Reading Skills, 2004): English Alphabet Knowledge and English Story Comprehension. Results of the present study support the findings reported by similar prior studies, indicating that while ERF effectively increases students' alphabet knowledge, greater effort is necessary toward programming for increasing student outcomes on story comprehension.

Early intervention is important on different levels and must be justified as a social and economic long-term investment. There is no doubt about the importance of early detection when helping children/students in need of support. What kind of support that is deemed suitable and who provides the support can be viewed from different perspectives and with different approaches. Seen from a relational perspective the special education process is a long-term process and affects not only the individual but the whole school culture and systems may need changing. This study intends to describe the importance of the learning environment and what efforts are initiated early for students in need of support from the special education point of view. As part of this, a study of a student health project was made. A triangular method of investigation was used, with document studies, questionnaires and interviews. This has been done in consultation with promoters and linked to the background by previous research but also for active educators and special educators. Although the result showed that the relational perspective is relevant to the work of early intervention in the learning environment, the categorical perspective often is associated with the concept of early intervention, both in theory and practice

The purpose of this study was to examine prevalence rates of several sleep disorders symptoms in young children, and the relationship between symptoms of pediatric sleep disorders and other childhood problems. Eighty-six children aged 3 to 5 years were studied through parent report and academic assessment. Children rated as high risk for having a sleep disorder displayed more externalizing and internalizing problems, less developed social skills, and lower scores on a measure of pre-academic skills, as compared to children whose sleep was rated in the normal range. It was found that 33% of children were at high risk for having at least one type of sleep disorder. Early identification and intervention is crucial in order to assist children suffering from sleep disorders.

Pediatric sleep problems are among the most common pediatric health issues faced by families today. Sleep problems can have a deleterious impact on children's academics, behaviors, social-emotional development, health, and/or safety. Once sleep problems are identified and treated, many of the associated negative impacts can be ameliorated. The purpose of the current study was to examine prevalence rates of symptoms of sleep disorders in young children, and the relationship between these symptoms and various behavior problems. One hundred and four children, ages 2 to 5 years, attending a pediatric health clinic served as the participants in this study. Data on sleep disorder symptoms were derived from the Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students, Children's Form. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to measure internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and adaptive behavior was assessed through ratings on the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Second Edition. Results indicated that a total of 31% of the sampled children were at high risk for at least one type of sleep disorder. Children rated as high risk for having a sleep disorder displayed more externalizing and internalizing problems, as compared to children whose sleep was reported to be in the normal range. No significant differences were found between adaptive behavior scores and risk for having a sleep disorder. The implications of these results for school psychologists and directions for future practice and research are discussed.

Children with cerebral palsy that have severe motor impairments, and often co-occurring visual impairments, may often have an impaired ability in prelinguistic forms of communication. In order for children to establish intentional communication, research suggests that prelinguistic communicative competence must be in place. Access to alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) is not sufficient to enhance interaction if motivation to communicate intentionally does not exist. The purpose of this literature review is to discuss the important aspects of early assessment and intervention for children with cerebral palsy who have severe motor impairment. There is a wealth of information about the development, assessment, and intervention of prelinguistic communication in typically developing children and children with developmental delays; however, limited empirical research focuses on children with severe physical impairments. The aim of this project will be to draw conclusions from the available research in order to formulate a protocol for speech-language pathologists to use in assessment and intervention of prelinguistic communication in young children with cerebral palsy. / text

The purpose of this dissertation was to compare two methods of assessing challenging behavior in young children in the home setting and to determine if the two methods could result in the same outcome. Results indicated that there was full correspondence between the two assessment methods for three out of five participants, and among 19 comparisons, 16 agreements were made (84%). Future research should validate latency functional analysis via treatment evaluation with this population. / text

This study was designed to evaluate a parent training curriculum: Helping Our Toddlers Developing Our Children's Skills (HOT DOCS© ) using archival data collected between August 2006 and April 2007. The evaluation studied the impact of specific components of the parent training program on both participants' knowledge and attitudes and their perceptions of targeted children's behavior. One-hundred-forty-six caregivers of children between the ages of 14 months and ten years of age participated in the parent training program and were included in the analyses. Measures included a pre/post knowledge test, rating scales of child problem behavior, weekly progress monitoring forms for caregiver behavior at home, and a program evaluation survey. Results indicated significant increases in caregiver knowledge following participation in the program. Prior to participation, caregivers' perceptions of the severity of child problem behaviors and deficits in adaptive behaviors were significantly different from a normative sample. Following participation in the program, results showed significant decreases in caregiver perceptions of the severity of child problem behaviors, but no significant differences in child adaptive behaviors. Caregiver feedback indicated high levels of satisfaction with the program.

This study explored the effectiveness of the Autism System of Care (ASC) trainings by measuring change in pediatric healthcare providers' method of identifying young children at-risk for autism spectrum disorders. The majority of participants were pediatricians working in either hospitals or clinics who voluntarily participated in the training. A pretest-posttest nonequivalent-groups design was used in this study. Pre- and post-test questionnaires were used to measure change in participants' screening practices. Due to a small number of participants, most findings from the study were not statistically significant. The small number of healthcare providers who participated in the ASC training was a major limitation to this study. Therefore, although results revealed that there were minimal gains between pre- and post-test administrations, this may be because of the small number of participants and does not necessarily indicate that the ASC training was not effective. Implications for future research in this area also are addressed.

Darbe atlikta teorinė kompetencijos sampratos ir specialistų, dirbančių su ankstyvojo ir ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikais, turinčiais specialiųjų poreikių, bei jų šeimomis, profesinio pasirengimo ypatumų analizė. Iškelta hipotezė, kad Lietuvos specialistų, dirbančių su ankstyvojo ir ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikais, turinčiais specialiųjų poreikių, bei jų šeimomis, profesinio pasirengimo turinys iš dalies atitinka Europos ankstyvosios intervencijos specialistų profesinio rengimo programos turinį, o profesinės kompetencijos įgyjamos ir per praktiką. Atliktas kokybinis tyrimas, kurio tikslas išanalizuoti, kokias profesines kompetencijas specialistai, dirbantys su ankstyvojo ir ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikais, turinčiais specialiųjų poreikių, ir jų šeimomis (t.y. ankstyvosios intervencijos specialistai) įgyja universitetinėse studijose bei kvalifikacijos kėlimo kursuose ir įvertinti specialistų turimų kompetencijų tinkamumą darbui ankstyvosios intervencijos srityje. Tyrimo duomenys buvo renkami naudojant atviro tipo klausimyną, parengtą remiantis Leonardo da Vinčio projekto „Ankstyvosios intervencijos vaikystėje specialistų rengimo Europinis pažymėjimas“ (EBIFF) esminėmis nuostatomis, kuriame specialistai kartu su tyrėja išsamiai apibūdino savo įgytas žinias ir gebėjimus, remdamiesi formaliais dokumentais (bakalauro ir magistro studijų diplomų priedėliais ir kitais jų kompetenciją įrodančiais dokumentais). Specialistų profesinės kompetencijos sąlygiškai vertinamos atsižvelgiant į... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The theoretical analysis of the concept of competence and peculiarity of professional training of the specialists, who work with early and preschool age children with special needs and their families, had been performed in this work. The hypothesis stating that the principles of professional training of Lithuanian specialists, who work with early and preschool age children with special needs and their families, partly matches the content of the European programme, which resumes the principles of professional training for the early intervention specialists. The hypothesis also states that professional competence is gained through the process of practice. The qualitative investigation, whose aim was to analyze what professional competence is gained by the specialists, who work with early and preschool age children with special needs and their families (these are the early intervention specialists), during the university studies and courses of professional improvement and evaluate the suitability of their present competence for the work in the field of the early intervention, had been performed. The data had been collected using the open type of questionnaire, which was prepared according to the main regulations of the Leonardo da Vinci project “The European passport of the early childhood intervention specialists’ training” (EBIFF). During the investigation, the specialists along with the investigator had comprehensively described knowledge and skills they already had... [to full text]

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