476

Early Childhood Special Education

See also Constructivism; Curiosity; Integrated
Curriculum; Outdoor Play Spaces; Project
Approach

Copyright © 2016. SAGE Publications, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Further Readings
Achieve Inc. (2013). Next generation science standards.
Washington, DC: Author.
Gardner, H. (2011). Multiple intelligences: New horizons.
New York, NY: Basic Books. (Original work published
1983)
Gopnik, A. (2012). Scientific thinking in young
children: Theoretical advances, empirical research,
and policy implications. Science, 337(6102),
1623–1627.
Lewis, M. (2010). Desire, dopamine and conceptual
development. In S. Calkins & M. Bell (Eds.), Child
development at the intersection of emotion and
cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Lieberman, F., & Hoody, L. (2005). Closing the
achievement gap: Using the environment as an
integrating context for learning. California Student
Assessment Project, Phase Two. California Department
of Education.
Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our
children from nature deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC:
Algonquin Books.
Muentener, P., & Schulz, L. (2012). What doesn’t go
without saying: Communication, induction, and
exploration. Cognitive Development in Language
Acquisition, 8(1), 61–85.
National Science Teachers Association. (2012).
National Science Teachers Association position
statement: Early childhood science education.
Washington, DC: Author.
Rivkin, M. S. (2014). The great outdoors: Advocating
for natural spaces for young children. Washington,
DC: National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
Storbeck, J., & Close, G. (2008). On the interdependence
of cognition and emotion. Cognition and Emotion,
21(6), 1212–1217.
Zacharias, C. Z., Loizou, E., & Papaevripidou, M.
(2012). Is physicality an important aspect of learning
through science experimentation among kindergarten
students? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(3),
447–457.

Early Childhood Special
Education
Early childhood special education, often referred
to as ECSE, is a broad term used to define programs and services for children 3 to 5 years old
who have a diagnosed disability or a developmental delay. The Education for All Handicapped
Children Act of 1975, which was amended in
1986 to add preschool children, evolved into the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
of 2004 and now has two parts to ensure that very
young children receive services and interventions
as do their school-age peers. Part B of IDEA refers
to services and programs that support children
between the ages of 3 to 21 years old and are
referred to as school-age programs. Programs specifically for children 3 to 5 years of age under Part
B (Subpart H) are classified as early childhood
special education, or ECSE. Part C of IDEA was
added later in 1996 and is for educational programs for infants and toddlers, birth to age 3, and
is classified as early intervention, or EI. Table 1
compares Part B services and Part C services for
IDEA. ECSE, Part B, commonly referred to as preschool services, is a blend of early childhood education best practices, child development, and
special education services.
There are many ways to qualify for ECSE services. First, if a child has received early intervention
services he or she will be transitioned to ECSE
when he or she turns 3 years of age. If transitioning
from EI, the individual family service plan (IFSP), a
family-centered and state-run program created for
EI, will no longer be in place. The school district
will now be responsible, and an individualized education program (IEP) will be written.
Although some children receive a firm diagnosis for conditions such as deafness and Down
syndrome between birth and age 3 because of
newborn hearing screenings and genetic testing,
other children receive early intervention services
because of developmental delays or being at risk
for developmental delays. However, a child will no
longer qualify for ECSE services without a specific

Couchenour, D., & Chrisman, J. K. (Eds.). (2016). The sage encyclopedia of contemporary early childhood education. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Created from clarion-ebooks on 2023-09-12 20:08:26.

Early Childhood Special Education

477

Table 1 IDEA Part B and Part C Comparison*
IDEA Part B—Early Childhood
Special Education (ECSE)

IDEA Part C—Early
Intervention (EI)

Age range

Part B is for those 3 to 21 years of
age; ECSE is specifically for
children 3 to 5 years old

Birth to age 3 years

Financially responsible for
services and coordination

School districts

States

Environments

Preschool, prekindergarten, special
education classrooms, child care
centers, and kindergartens

Natural setting for
the child: home or
child care

Central focus

The child

The family and child

Binding document created

Individualized education program
(IEP)

Individualized family
service plan (IFSP)

Document and plan
reviewed

Once a year

Every 6 months

Copyright © 2016. SAGE Publications, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

* Comparison of services for young children with a special need or developmental delay (Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 Public Law 108-446).

diagnosis, confirmed health impairment, or documented delay. If a child did not receive EI services,
he or she may still qualify for ECSE. There are
multiple pathways that allow children to be eligible for services including to be referred for ECSE
through school staff, physicians, and child find
agencies as well as through the tiered system of
response to intervention (RTI).
Once a child qualifies for ECSE, an IEP will
be written to include services, interventions, and
environments and it must be reviewed each year.
Typically for children 3 to 5 years of age, the
educational environments include preschools for
typically developing children, special education
preschools, prekindergartens, and kindergartens
in both public and private settings, as well as
child care centers and other community-based
settings. Service providers include speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers of the deaf, teachers of the
visually impaired, mobility specialists, special
education teachers, advocates, social workers,
behavior specialists, psychologists, and nutrition

counselors. The coordination of services for Part
B is maintained through the child’s local school
district. Additionally, the early childhood education teacher and classroom aides become part of
the IEP team for ECSE. Part B ECSE services are
often met in inclusive settings or the least restrictive environment (LRE), with interventions
embedded in play, caregiving, and daily routines.
According to a 2009 position statement from the
Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the
National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC), there are three main areas to
consider for early childhood special education:
access, participation, and supports. Barriers to
learning are to be avoided so that children with and
without delays are educated together. This involves
giving children equal access not only to toys and
the classroom environment but also to content,
language, peers, and assessments. This access is
more than allowing a child with a special need
into a general education preschool and more than
just attending or being present in the classroom.
The child with a special need must also have access

Couchenour, D., & Chrisman, J. K. (Eds.). (2016). The sage encyclopedia of contemporary early childhood education. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Created from clarion-ebooks on 2023-09-12 20:08:26.

Copyright © 2016. SAGE Publications, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

478

Early Childhood Special Education

to and be a fully participating member of the classroom community to gain the most benefit from the
early childhood classroom. To have access and
ensure participation, supports, scaffolds, and other
interventions are provided to allow the child with a
special need to fully benefit in an early childhood
special education setting.
To ensure that all children have access, the concept of universal design for learning (UDL) is
commonly used. In classrooms designed according
to UDL principles, content is shared or represented in various ways to meet the needs of all
learners. The child has multiple ways to be
engaged with content and peers. Finally, the child,
regardless of his or her disability, must be able to
express his or her understanding and knowledge
without barriers. Understanding by Design (UbD)
as well as differentiated instruction (DI) play
important roles as classrooms, activities, and curricula are designed to ensure success for all learners. UbD ensures goals and outcomes are created
to best meet each individual child’s needs while
ensuring progress. Modifications, adaptations,
and differentiation are provided to meet each
child’s unique pathway to those goals. This
includes the environment as well as the curriculum, teaching strategies, interventions, assessment,
and instructional practices used.
Collaboration among early childhood professionals, special education teachers, specialists, therapists, and families is essential and a necessary part
of a successful ECSE program. Families remain an
important partner in ECSE, just as they are in early
childhood education and early intervention.
Families are included in IEP development and are
considered a main resource for providing information regarding their child.
As professionals across specialty areas (i.e., special education, speech, physical therapy, early
childhood) work together, there are often different
philosophies represented. Each professional, based
on his or her expertise, tries to best meet the needs
of the child with a disability. There can be conflicts with what is seen as developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) for early childhood education
when providing services that include therapy,
hand-over-hand guidance in helping a child with

tasks, and other one-on-one adult-led sessions.
However, DAP and special education frameworks
have many common overlaps including individualization, family and cultural focus, following the
child’s interests and strengths, and scaffolding
children’s learning to document growth. DAP can
be the basis or foundation of the ECSE classroom
and does not require any aspect of special education services to be changed or adjusted. However,
this can only happen if all professionals involved
in ECSE programs, regardless of area of specialization, are familiar with child development and
early childhood best practices and agree to build
therapy and interventions in developmentally
appropriate ways. Continued professional development for all involved as well as time for consultation and collaboration is essential for ECSE
services to be successful.
Karen Wise Lindeman
See also Developmentally Appropriate Practice;
Differentiation; Early Childhood Inclusion; Early
Intervention; Individualized Family Service Plan and
Individualized Education Program

Further Readings
DEC. (2014). DEC recommended practices in early
intervention/early childhood special education.
Retrieved from http://www.dec-sped.org
DEC/NAEYC. (2009). Early childhood inclusion: A joint
position statement of the Division for Early
Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for
the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Retrieved
from http://www.dec-sped.org
Hemmeter, M. L., Smith, B. J., Sandall, S., & Askew, L.
(2005). DEC recommended practices: A
comprehensive guide for practical application in early
intervention/early childhood special education.
Missoula, MT: Division for Early Childhood.
Lindeman, K. W. (2013). Response to intervention and
early childhood best practices: Working hand in hand
so all children can learn. Young Children, 68(2),
16–21.
NAEYC/DEC/CEC. (2013). Framework for response to
intervention in early childhood: Description and
implications. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/
content/frameworks-response-intervention

Couchenour, D., & Chrisman, J. K. (Eds.). (2016). The sage encyclopedia of contemporary early childhood education. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Created from clarion-ebooks on 2023-09-12 20:08:26.