Early Childhood Special Education Programs and Practices

Early Childhood Special Education Programs and Practices is a special education textbook that prepares pre- and in-service teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to deliver evidence-based instruction to promote positive academic and behavioral outcomes for young children (prekindergarten through second grade) with development delays and/or disabilities.

Early Childhood Special Education Programs and Practices intertwines inclusive early childhood practices by using real-life anecdotes to illustrate evidence-based practices (EBPs) and procedures. The authors, experts in their fields, emphasize high-leverage practices, EBPs, and culturally sustaining pedagogy and align them with the practices, skills, and competencies recommended by the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood. Families, administrators, and teacher educators of pre- and in-service early childhood special education and general early childhood education programs alike will find this book useful.

Included in Early Childhood Special Education Programs and Practices are:

• An overview of early childhood and development of children ages 4 to 8
• Strategies for relationship building with students, families, communities, and school personnel
• Tips on creating a caring and positive classroom environment
• Chapters devoted to evidence-based instruction in core subjects of reading and writing, mathematics, science, and social studies for students with disabilities in pre-K to second grade
• More than 80 images, photos, tables, graphs, and case studies to illustrate recommended Practices

Also included with the text are online supplemental materials for faculty use in the classroom, consisting of an Instructor’s Manual and PowerPoint slides.

Created with the needs of early childhood special educators in mind, Early Childhood Special Education Programs and Practices provides pre- and in-service teachers with the skills and practices they need to serve young children, their families, and communities across settings.

Karin M. Fisher, PhD, CDE started her career in education when she earned her master’s of art in teaching special education from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. She taught students with moderate intellectual disabilities and autism as a self-contained, resource, and inclusion teacher for 8 years. She was also the co–department chair for her school’s large special education department. Her Ph.D dissertation compared standardized science scores with participation in extracurricular science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities. Currently, Dr. Fisher teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Georgia Southern University in the Department of Elementary and Special Education in Statesboro, Georgia.

Kate E. Zimmer, PhD received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Saint Leo University, St. Leo, Florida, and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. In 2013, she graduated with her PhD in special education from the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, where she examined the effects of a storybook reading intervention on the initiation of joint attention in young children with autism. Dr. Zimmer is currently Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity’s Director of the BIRCH Professional Learning Center in Austin, Texas. In this role, Dr. Zimmer collaborates with the BIRCH professional learning and development team to create goals and design trainings for in-person and virtual programs, resources, and learning communities. Dr. Zimmer has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses that focused on autism, behavior, curriculum and instruction, and instructional practices. She developed an online graduate endorsement in autism spectrum disorders and works closely with the Early Childhood Faculty Special Interest Group in the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. Her numerous peer-reviewed presentations, articles, and grants along with her passion for teacher education make her an excellent co-author and editor for this textbook.