Assisting Parents of Bilingual Students to Achieve Equity in Public Schools

This article provides school-based consultants with an overview of the English language learner (ELL) student population and common programs available to ELL students (such as English-only programs, pull-out English as a second language [ESL], content-based ESL, transitional bilingual programs, maintenance bilingual programs, and two-way or dual language bilingual education programs). Past and current research examining bilingual education programs and guidelines and recommendations for the application of bilingual education knowledge to consultative practice with school personnel and culturally and linguistically diverse parents are discussed. Because of the paucity of research regarding school-based consultation related to bilingual education issues, guidelines and recommendations are presented within the larger framework of multicultural and cross-cultural consultation. Recommendations for future research regarding school-based consultation related to bilingual education issues are provided.     

Global Consultation Processes: Lessons Learned from Refugee Teacher Consultation Research in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The process of global consultation has received little attention despite its potential for promoting international mutual understanding with marginalized communities. This article details theory, entry, implementation, and evaluation processes for global consultation research, including lessons learned from our refugee teacher intervention. The first half of the article addresses the entry process, culture-specific strengths, and challenges that can be faced in global consultation, including our experience with a lack of formal regulatory oversight of refugee education. The second half of the article details feedback collected from consultants, peer trainers, and peer trainees indicating which training content was most valuable; how some Burmese refugee teachers strive for a more student-centered, “free” classroom for their refugee students; and, finally, the toll that intense refugee teacher consultation took on the consultants.     

What We Know about Integrating Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs: A Review,a Reminder and a Request

In the last two decades, a myriad of political and social factors have converged and had a dramatic impact on Early Childhood Education (EC) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). There have been sweeping changes in policy and shifts in society that have resulted in greater numbers of programs serving young children of all abilities and their families. Great strides in research related to early childhood development and early intervention have provided a growing knowledge of how children learn. The combination of these factors has created a call for increasingly higher quality services for young children. Professionals in both EC and ECSE have been responding to the demands and taken steps to prepare more and better-qualified teachers for children enrolled in early childhood programs. The most immediate avenue for effecting change in the profession is through the programs that prepare our teachers for the classrooms and the child care centers. This article reviews the research and the rationale regarding the implementation of integrated EC/ECSE programs.     

Shifting to Remote Learning During COVID-19: Differences for Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education Teachers

This study explored similarities and differences in how early childhood education (ECE) teachers (n?=?947) and early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers (n?=?160) provided remote learning to young children and their families following COVID-19 shelter in place orders in the spring of 2020. The most utilized remote learning activities for both ECE and ECSE teachers were the provision of activities for families to use at home, communication with families, online lessons, and singing songs and reading books. Both types of professionals spent more time planning and communicating with families than providing instruction to children. Results of chi-square tests of independence revealed differences in activities provided, how time was spent, and training received by professional role. Open-ended responses revealed particular challenges for ECE and ECSE teachers. Findings are discussed in the context of how the early childhood field adapted quickly to remote learning during COVID-19 and the implications for ongoing technology support for early childhood personnel based on their professional role.

     

Assessing,Teaming, and Reflecting: Student Outcomes From Participating in a Play-Based Assessment

Preparing early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE) professionals to work with young children with and without disabilities entails the acquisition of content, its application, and opportunities for reflection. This article describes a component of an ECSE assessment course focusing on the logistics and process to conduct a play-based assessment (PBA). Demographic characteristics are provided for participating students, children and, parents. The components of assessing, teaming, and reflecting as related to preparing, conducting, and writing the results are presented within the context of preservice student outcomes with corresponding student comments. Possible PBA difficulties and solutions are also described. Implications for teacher preparation in ECE and ECSE are also offered.     

Diversity Competencies within Early Childhood Teacher Preparation: Innovative Practices and Future Directions

With classrooms becoming increasingly diverse due to children’s various cultural backgrounds and varying abilities, early childhood teacher education programs face the challenge of how best to prepare the workforce. Various initiatives have been implemented in teacher preparation programs to prepare early childhood educators to become competent in relating to all children and families. Infusing components of diversity into all courses and field experiences and engaging in community–university partnerships, as well as unifying early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE) program components, are promising practices for the field. An examination and evaluation of these initiatives are discussed in this article, as well as future directions for research and practice.     

Advances in the Theory and Practice of Rational-Emotive Behavioral Consultation

This article provides an overview of the current theory and practice of rational-emotive behavioral consultation (REBC). Its purpose is to highlight for psychological and educational consultants the crucial role of consultee extreme, negative emotional reactions to adverse events in the consultation process. It is proposed that unless these emotional reactions are addressed in consultation, the effectiveness of consultation may be minimized. This article discusses the nature of irrational beliefs of consultees and reviews research that supports their relation with consultee emotionality. A variety of REBC techniques that consultants can use to encourage consultees to reduce their extreme emotions are presented. Consultants can teach consultees to identify and dispute irrational beliefs that are hypothesized to underlie extreme levels of anger, anxiety, and self-downing. A review of available research that examines the effects of REBC techniques including their use in staff development and parent education is presented.     

Teachers’ Literal and Inferential Talk in Early Childhood and Special Education Classrooms

Research Findings: This study examined preschool teachers’ literal talk (LT) and inferential talk (IT) during shared book readings in early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms. We aimed to characterize and compare teachers’ LT and IT in these 2 classroom contexts and determine whether differences in LT and IT are predicted by classroom type, teachers’ educational background, or children’s average language skills. We examined the shared book reading activities of 52 teachers (26 ECE classrooms, 26 ECSE classrooms). Results revealed that ECSE teachers used significantly more LT and showed more variability in their LT and IT than ECE teachers. ECSE classroom type predicted teachers’ use of LT when we controlled for teacher education and children’s language skills, whereas teacher education predicted teachers’ use of IT when we controlled for classroom type and children’s language skills. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for best practice guidelines and policies, particularly for ECSE environments.     

Educating Practitioners as Consultants: Development and Implementation of the Instructional Consultation Team Consortium

The continuing education of current practitioners as consultants is an area requiring both practical consideration and further research. The Instructional Consultation Team (IC-Team) Consortium represents a comprehensive, statewide effort to systematically train a diverse group of educational practitioners as instructional consultants within the context of a team service delivery model. This article describes the IC-Team Consortium and summarizes the empirically based professional development process used to support practitioners' consultation skill development and application. The article summarizes the multi-tiered system of professional development that includes an intense introductory training of consultation skills followed by a structured process of coaching during application. In addition, the article describes the use of the IC-Team as an arena for team members' continued development of consultation skills.     

美国早期特殊教育师资培养体系反思及启示

早期特殊教育不仅在促进每个障碍儿童的发展和提高其家庭生活质量方面起着至关重要的作用,而且有着巨大的社会效益和经济效益,是和谐社会的重要组成部分。美国法律规定0—21岁的所有障碍儿童有权获得免费和适当的教育,由具有专业化水平的相关人员为这些儿童提供服务和支持。本文从政策层面到实践层面对美国的早期特殊教育师资培养体系进行了系统、全面地分析,了解其现状和存在的挑战,以及未来发展的趋势,以期为促进我国早期特殊教育师资培养体系的发展提供一些理论和实践上的参考。     

Teacher expectations on the directiveness continuum in consultation

The study investigated the consultation approaches of collaborative‐directive and collaborative‐nondirective and the influence of teacher expectations for consultation on their ratings of consultation success. Teachers viewed videotaped consultation sessions of a collaborative‐directive or collaborative‐nondirective consultation session that either matched or mismatched their expectations. The study found significantly higher ratings for the consultants and interventions when the collaborative‐directive approach was used. In addition, teachers in conditions that matched their expectations for consultation rated consultants and interventions significantly higher than did teachers in mismatched conditions. The importance of this line of research lies in its practical application, allowing practitioners of consultation and trainers of school psychologists greater knowledge in selection of the appropriate consultation approach to maximize perceived consultant effectiveness and intervention acceptability. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Changing Role of Teachers of Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Consultation as an Increasing Part of the Job

ABSTRACT

The majority of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students are educated at least part of the day in general education classrooms taught by teachers who may not have any experience working with this population. DHH students make up a unique, heterogeneous group with a wide range of communication modalities, technology utilization, early intervention experiences, and educational placements. In addition to providing direct service to support these students, teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (ToDHH) collaborate and consult with classroom teachers and school staff on classroom accommodations and modifications. However, recent research shows that ToDHH often feel unprepared to engage in the consultative aspect of their role. Since the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed 43 years ago, the field of deaf education has increasingly called for research on consultation models to apply to their unique population and to teach in their teacher preparation programs. This article identifies the characteristics of DHH learners and synthesizes current research on consultation in the field of deaf education. Three consultation models are examined to determine their level of fit within the field of deaf education. The author ends with a call for future research that can best be met through an interdisciplinary research approach between the field of deaf education and the fields of educational and psychological consultation.     

Barriers to Treatment Success in Behavioral Consultation: Current Limitations and Future Directions

Behavioral consultation is a prominent indirect service model in the practice of psychology in the schools. Despite some empirical support for the use of behavioral consultation strategies, consultants frequently face a number of barriers to implementation of treatment in practice. This article outlines a number of these barriers in behavioral consultation, including the lack of standardization of consultation, lack of specific training of consultants, little or no consultee (teacher) training, problems surrounding target behavior identification, and external constraints to consultation. Each of these areas is described along several dimensions that need to be addressed in future research.     

How Reflective are Teachers? A Study of Kindergarten Teachers' and Special Teachers' Levels of Reflection in Day Care

The purpose of this study is to examine teachers' reflections of their early childhood special education work in Finnish day care. Work contents and work roles have faced many challenges in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), and therefore general reflection and research need to be developed. Teachers (n?=?218) evaluated, via an electronic survey, the work fields of ECSE. Reflectivity is assessed by means of open-ended questions in the different fields of ECSE. All the answers were divided into the following categories: the technical, practical, and critical level of reflection. The researchers compared their evaluations and found the baseline to be very similar. The data revealed that the reflectivity was mainly at the technical level. It was almost impossible to reach the critical reflection level.     

Educating Consultants for Multicultural Practice of Consultee-Centered Consultation

ABSTRACT

Literature about educating consultants with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work effectively within culturally and linguistically diverse schools is scarce. Research suggests that additional attention is needed on the preparation of consultants to practice with multicultural competence. This article reviews theories and research and presents four educational strategies for preparing consultants for multicultural practice of consultee-centered consultation (CCC). Specific attention is given to ways that educators can teach and supervise learners of CCC by integrating issues of worldview, culture, and different perspectives, thereby scaffolding learning toward the development of multicultural competence in consultation.     

A 30 Year Perspective On Best Practices for Consultation Training

This article uses the author's 30 years of teaching consultation as a basis for developing suggestions for those providing training in this field. The article addresses questions about what the content of training should be, how consultation training can link theory to practice and how to respond to persistent challenges to training (e.g., freedom versus constraint, multicultural consultation, and when consultation training should be offered within a preservice curriculum for developing school-based consultants). The training suggestions derive from a model of consultation and consultation training that is based in constructivism and seeks to enhance feelings of empowerment and long term implementation of consultation on the part of the trainee. The article proposes a practitioner-researcher model in which practicing consultants view themselves as researchers who collect data and share information about their practice with other school-based consultants. These shared practices are used to inform the knowledge base and are used as a basis for contributing to the scholarly literature. Finally, this article proposes directions for researching the process and outcome of consultation training that cut across all of the issues raised in this article.     

Literacy Practices in Head Start and Early Childhood Special Education Classrooms

A preliminary study was conducted to investigate the literacy experiences of preschoolers in Head Start and early childhood special education (ECSE) class- rooms. Two groups of teachers (10 Head Start teachers and 20 ECSE teachers) completed surveys that gathered information relative to the literacy activities occurring in their classrooms, the priority given reading and writing goals, and their attitudes about the literacy development of their students. The results indicated similarities between the two groups of teachers regarding the relatively low priority placed on reading and writing goals at preschool, and the ways in which children were involved in reading activities. The two groups differed in their use of supportive interactions during TV viewing-and writing/drawing activities, and the expectations the teachers held for the children's future literacy abilities. The need for further research describing emerging literacy practices with at-risk and disabled groups of children is discussed.     

An Examination of Professional Cultures: Implications for the Collaborative Consultation Model

Through collaborative consultation, school personnel belonging to varied professional cultures work together to solve classroom problems. Each professional culture adheres to particular paradigms that may become barriers if consultants and consultees are not able to view problems from mutual perspectives. Paradigms are reflected in professional discourses and can be identified by examining the content of what professionals write. The. purposes of this study were to examine the content and bibliographic citations of a random sample of articles found in Exceptional Children, Elementary School Journal, and Journal of School Psychology. The journals were chosen with the assumption that each represented the paradigms of the professional cultures of special education, general education, and school psychology, respectively. Overall, results indicate little overlap in terms of the topics addressed and sources referenced across the three journals sampled. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the process of collaborative consultation.     

Meeting the Challenges of the Future: Integrating Public Health and Public Education for Mental Health Promotion

The 2002 Future of School Psychology Conference called for reform of current models of professional school psychology, including a paradigm shift toward a public health model of practice. This article explores the role of school psychologists in efforts to achieve an integrated public health and public education model for delivering comprehensive school-based mental health services. Building on expertise as psychological and educational consultants, school psychooogists can play a unique role in facilitating the necessary systemic reform and capacity building for comprehensive mental health service delivery. This revised role requires redefining school-based consultation to include consultation for capacity building, and rethinking professional preparation to ensure expertise in public health models, inter-agency and interdisciplinary collaboration, participatory action research, and comprehensive service delivery.