Key Principles of Early Intervention
and Preschool Special Education
the IEP Process
Infants and toddlers learn best through everyday experiences and interactions with familiar people in familiar contexts.
Preschoolers learn best through meaningful everyday experiences and interactions within developmentally, linguistically and culturally appropriate routines, play, and activities in inclusive settings.
All families, with the necessary supports and resources, can enhance their children’s learning and development.
All families, with appropriate supports and resources, promote their children’s learning and development.
The primary role of a service provider in early intervention is to work with and support family members and caregivers in children’s lives.
The primary role of preschool special educators and related service providers is to provide and support high quality services in collaboration with families, teachers, and caregivers to promote positive outcomes for children and families.
The early intervention process, from initial contacts through transition, must be dynamic and individualized to reflect the child’s and family members’ preferences, learning styles and cultural beliefs.
Throughout the preschool special education process, the child’s individual strengths and needs, along with the family’s culture, priorities, and preferences, are respected and reflected.
IFSP outcomes must be functional and based on children’s and families’ needs and family-identified priorities.
IEP goals based on multiple sources of information, including family concerns and authentic assessment, support and promote access to and participation in the preschool curriculum.
The family’s priorities, needs and interests are addressed most appropriately by a primary provider who represents and receives team and community support.
Professionals build partnerships with families and support them as the primary decision makers for their children.
Interventions with young children and family members must be based on explicit principles, validated practices, best available research, and relevant laws and regulations.
Preschool learning experiences are developmentally appropriate and based on recommended practices.
Division of Early Childhood Recommended Practices
The DEC Recommended Practices were developed to provide guidance to practitioners and families about the most effective ways to improve the learning outcomes and promote the development of young children, birth through age five, who have or are at-risk for developmental delays or disabilities. The purpose is to help bridge the gap between research and practice by highlighting those practices that have been shown to result in better outcomes for young children with disabilities, their families, and the personnel who serve them.
The DEC Recommended Practices consist of 66 evidence-informed practices for early intervention and early childhood special education organized into eight topic areas:
- Leadership
- Assessment
- Environment
- Family
- Instruction
- Interaction
- Teaming and Collaboration
- Transition
The DEC Recommended Practices (RP) products developed by the ECTA Center are intended to illustrate the manner in which different RPs can be used by practitioners and parents and to assist professional development and program improvement efforts.
Child Outcomes Integration
Integrating the three early childhood outcomes into the IFSP and IEP processes helps us be better able to accomplish the goal of early intervention and preschool special education programs, which is to "enable young children to be active and successful participants during the early childhood years and in the future in a variety of settings - in their homes with their families, in child care, preschool or school programs, and in the community."
As such, integration of the child outcomes goes beyond streamlining forms or making the entire process feel more cohesive for families. Those benefits will occur, but the main reason for integration is to ensure that the three outcomes become the guiding framework for viewing child functioning and planning intervention.
This framework is helpful throughout all phases of the IFSP and IEP processes. The following interactive graphic gives some recommended ways that child outcomes can be integrated into our practice.
If the interactive displays errors or is not showing up for you, access the interactive through the following link: Integrating COS into the IFSP / IEP Process.
