In the 12 years since the passage of Public Law 99-457, early intervention systems have greatly expanded and are now stabilizing. This article examines the resulting entitlements for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers currently extended by all states. Perspectives from the legislative process, federal and state implementation, judicial interpretation, and professional views are included. Distinctions among the key provisions for differing early intervention service systems are presented. Influential Office of Special Education letters and significant legal cases are reviewed. Finally, essential standards for viewing entitlements are presented to assist an interdisciplinary audience to explore the question, "Entitled to what?".

Educational Leadership is faced with the requirements designated under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Included in this legislation are the requirements of administrators to ensure that children with disabilities make academic progress and meet the legal mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004. States receiving federal funding must provide free, multidisciplinary diagnosis, evaluation, and appropriate public preschool education for special needs children. The demand on administrators to prepare teachers and develop appropriate early intervention programs is especially significant for preschool classrooms that serve children who have been diagnosed with a developmental delay. This study investigated the effectiveness of the professional development that was provided for teachers of preschoolers who have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum or have been identified with a developmental delay that presents autistic-like characteristics. The purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluation of the professional development program of a large Mid-Atlantic school division's preschool special education autism program. The researcher surveyed teachers regarding their perceptions of preparedness to teach this group of children. By using the Provus Evaluation Model, the researcher examined the program and evaluated whether its implementation was consistent with the program's design. It was expected that the researcher would be able to determine the teachers' perceptions of their level of knowledge, skills and abilities in teaching the child who has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum, or who presents with autistic-like behaviors. A review of the literature and the interviews of the program managers found five areas or themes: communication, behavior, academics, social and self-help. The findings led to the following conclusions: a discrepancy existed only in one area, self-help skills. No conclusive evidence was found regarding the influence of years of experience on teacher perceptions of effectiveness in the five areas. Future research should include a larger sample and inclusion of other school districts. By obtaining this information, the researcher is able to provide school leaders with data that could potentially have a direct impact on the future of planned professional development opportunities as well as future program expansion. / Ed. D.

In comparison to school age special education practices, preschool special education practices have received far less attention in the research community. Each year in the United States, over 250,000 preschool age children are determined to exhibit developmental delay. It is unknown how many of them exhibit developmental delay in the area of social emotional functioning and what is the educational placement in which they received special education services. In this study, a national sample of school psychologists (n=119) who practice in early childhood settings was surveyed with regard to their assessment and educational placement practices. Results indicated that more school psychologists chose the regular education setting as opposed to separate classroom for placement of children with social and developmental delays. However, when placement options were grouped by settings it became evident that overall more preschoolers with social and emotional delays receive services in non-inclusive settings. Assessment factors as opposed to program factors were most influential on placement decisions. Observation in the educational setting was found to be the primary assessment tool in both assessment of social emotional competencies and in contributing to placement decisions. School psychologists reported annual monitoring of placement decisions and no correlation between the frequency of monitoring and the psychologists' perceived quality and efficacy of programming was found. Possible explanations and the associated implications of the study's findings are discussed. / School Psychology

本論文以「我國身心障礙學生學前特殊教育政策」為題，旨在探究我國學前特殊教育法令政策、現狀瞭解以及資源分配情形。根據教育部特殊教育通報網統計數據，分析學前特殊教育資源分配，將我國身心障礙學生學前特殊教育分成法令與政策、行政支持與課程教學、師資人力與專業團隊、支援服務與網路關係等四項。本研究採文獻分析與訪談法，結論如下： 一、中央政策能指引地方政府發展學前特殊教育的方針。 二、中央應建立一套鑑定安置的標準流程與運作機制。 三、因應托幼整合，需重新調整或研發系統性的學前特殊教育課程與 教材。 四、私立幼兒園個別化教育計畫(IEP)達成率高於公立幼兒園 (81%:73%)。 五、學前巡迴輔導生師比例高，且各縣市的運作模式不同。 六、具學前特殊教育教師資格人數少，各縣市大多聘用未具特教資格教師。 七、角色不同對特教行政E化功能與用途，易產生誤解。 八、資源分配不均的問題，影響偏遠地區資源重疊或服務間斷。 / The study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementation of the early childhood special education in Taiwan. The data collected from the Special Education Transmit Net of the Ministry of Education was analyzed and categorized into four aspects: regulations and policy, administration and curriculum, human resources and support systems. The results were as fallow: 1. The local government policies were developed according to Ministry of Education. 2. The practice of diagnosis and placement differed from every local government. 3. Responded to the integration of kindergartens and nursery schools, changes in Early Childhood Special Education were needed. 4. The IEP average achievement rate in private kindergartens was 81% which was higher than public kindergartens (73%). 5. Student-teacher ratio in preschool itinerant resource programs was relatively high and the implementation of itinerant resource programs in local governments was different. 6. The number of certified preschool special education teachers was few. 7. Different roles of teachers had misunderstanding on special education administrative function and usage. 8. The unequal allocation of resources led to repetition and discontinuance of service

Preschool special education students lack of personal-social skills is affecting their kindergarten readiness and placing them at risk for exposure to school discipline in a large school district in the Southeastern United States. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the quality of school discipline policies and personal-social skills of preschool special education students within the focus district. Ecological systems theory provided the framework for the study. Data collection included archived personal-social skills scores, as measured by the Battelle Developmental Inventory 2 (BDI 2), of 354 preschool special education students. Four trained educators rated the effectiveness of the schools' discipline policies using the Teaching and Guidance Policies Essentials Checklist (TAGPEC). Findings from simple linear regression analysis indicated no significant relationship between the TAGPEC ratings and students' BDI 2 scores. An ANCOVA was used to compare BDI 2 scores of students in Title I and non-Title I schools (n = 96 students per group) while conrolling for TAGPEC ratings, but results showed no statistically significant differences. The average quality of the discipline policies was rated as inadequate overall. Findings may be used by district administrators to improve the quality of current discipline policies. A policy recommendation was developed to encourage effective discipline policies and create a supportive school environment to promote positive social behaviors of all students, including the youngest and most vulnerable.