This study examined the characteristics of course content, field experiences, and program administration at 14 unified early childhood/early child special education (ECE/ECSE) and 13 separate ECE and ECSE undergraduate teacher preparation programs across the United States. Students and faculty members at the 27 programs completed surveys to help determine the characteristics of unified and separate teacher education programs. In addition, personal interviews were conducted with students and faculty members at two unified and two separate early childhood/early child special education teacher preparation programs.
Findings revealed that students from unified programs and ECSE programs had a balance of ECE and ECSE course content, as well as field experiences with children with and without disabilities in diverse settings. Conversely, ECE students were found to have minimal knowledge related to ECSE course content, and few, if any, field experiences with children with disabilities. State certification and program specific administrative structures were found to have an impact on faculty members' abilities to collaborate with other departments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Blanton, L. P., Griffin, C. C., Winn, J. A., & Pugach, M. C. (1997). Teacher education in transition: Collaborative programs to prepare general and special educators.Denver: Love.
2.
Bredekamp, S. (1996). Early childhood education. In J. Sikula, T. Buttery, & E. Guyton (Eds.). Handbook of research on teacher education.2nd ed. (pp. 323–347). New York: Simon & Schuster.
3.
Burton, C. B., Hains, A. H., Hanline, M. F., McLean, M., & McCormick, K. (1992). Early childhood intervention and education: The urgency of professional unification. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 11(4), 53–69.
4.
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
5.
deFossett, S. (Ed.). (2001). Section 619 profile (10th ed.). Chapel Hill, NC: National Early Childhood Technical Assistance System.
6.
The Division for Early Childhood, Council for Exceptional Children, The National Association for the Education of Young Children, and The Association of Teacher Educators (1995). Personnel standards for early education and early intervention: Guidelines for licensure in early childhood special education.Washington, DC: NAEYC.
7.
Glesne, C. & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction.White Plains, NY: Longman.
8.
Heston, M. L., Raschke, D., Kliewer, C., Fitzgerald, L. M., & Edmiaston, R. (1998). Transforming teacher preparation in early childhood education: Moving to inclusion. Teacher Education and Special Education, 2, 278–292.
9.
Horm-Wingerd, D., Hyson, M., & Karp, N. (2000). Introduction. New teachers for a new century: The future of early childhood professional preparation.National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, U.S. Department of Education.
10.
Isenberg, J. P. (2000). The state of the art in early childhood professional preparation. New teachers for a new century: The future of early childhood professional preparation.National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, U.S. Department of Education.
11.
Jaeger, R. M. (1988). Survey research methods in education. In R. M. Jaeger (Ed)., Complementary methods for research in education (pp. 303–387). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
12.
Kearney, C. A., & Durand, V. M. (1992). How prepared are our teachers or mainstreamed classroom seating? A survey of postsecondary schools of education in New York state. Exceptional Children, 2, 6–11.
13.
Kemple, K. M., Hartle, L. C., Correa, V. I. & Fox, L. (1994). Preparing teachers for inclusive education: The development of a unified teacher education program in early childhood and early childhood special education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 2, 38–51.
14.
Kilgo, J. L., Johnson, L., LaMontagne, M., Stayton, V. D., Cook M., & Cooper, C. (1996). A national study of the importance of practices from general early childhood education and early childhood special education. Manuscript submitted for publication.
15.
Lesar, S., Benner, S. M., Habel, J., & Coleman, L. (1997). Preparing general education teachers for inclusive settings: A constructivist teacher education program. Teacher Education and Special Education, 2, 204–220.
16.
Lombardi, T. P. & Hunka, N. J. (2001). Preparing general education teachers for inclusive classrooms: Assessing the process. Teacher Education and Special Education, 2, 183–197.
17.
Miles, B. & Huberman, M. A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
Miller, P. S. (1992). Segregated programs of teacher education in early childhood: Immoral and inefficient practice. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 11 (4), 39–52.
19.
Miller, P., Fader, L., & Vincent, L. J. (2000). Preparing early educators to work with families who have exceptional needs. New teachers for a new century: The future of early childhood professional preparation.National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, U.S. Department of Education.
20.
Miller, P. S. & Stayton, V. D. (1998). Blended interdisciplinary teacher preparation in early education and intervention: A national study. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2, 49–58.
21.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (1995). Guidelines for preparation of early childhood professionals: Associate, baccalaureate, and advanced levels.Washington, DC: NAEYC.
22.
Odom, S. L. & McEvoy, M. A. (1990). Main-streaming at the preschool level: Barriers and tasks for the field. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2, 48–61.
23.
Odom, S. L., Schwartz, I. S., & ECRII Investigators. (2002). So what do we know from all this? Synthesis points of research on preschool inclusion. In S. L. Odom (Ed.). Widening the circle: Including children with disabilities in preschool programs.New York: Teachers College Press.
24.
Raschke, D., Maude, S., Brotherson, M. J., & Milburn, P. (2001). A unified-birth through grade three early childhood endorsement: Challenges to IHE faculty across Iowa. Teacher Education and Special Education, 2, 169–182.
25.
Rose, D. F., & Smith, B. J. (1993). Preschool mainstreaming: Attitude barriers and strategies for addressing them. Young Children, 2, 59–62.
26.
Rust, F. O. (2001). The changing face of teacher education: Building bridges/forming new alliances. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 2, 3–7.
27.
Seidman, I. E. (1991). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences.New York: Teachers College Press.
28.
Schwartz, I. S., Sandall, S. R., Odom, S. L., Horn, E., & Beckman, P. J. (2002). “I know it when I see it”: In search of a common definition of inclusion. In S. L. Odom (Ed.). Widening the circle: Including children with disabilities in preschool programs.New York: Teachers College Press.
29.
Stayton, V. D., & Miller, P. S. (1993). Combining general and special early childhood education standards in personnel preparation programs: Experiences from two states. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2, 372–387.
30.
Strawderman, C. & Lindsey, P. (1995). Keeping up with the times: Reform in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 46(2), 95–101.
31.
Wolery, M., Brookfield, J., Huffman, K., Schroeder, C., Martin, C. G., Venn, M. L., & Holcombe, A. (1993). Preparation in preschool mainstreaming as reported by general early education faculty. Journal of Early Intervention, 2, 298–308.
