Essay: Early Childhood Special Education

Introduction
Early childhood special education offers education services for infants, ranging from birth to kindergarten age, provided they qualify according to federal and state law. In response to providing effective services, various websites and documents, are developed, in order to provide insightful information that might be of help to children under the early childhood special education. Nonetheless, the following is an evaluation of early childhood special education websites and documents, and how these resources impacts early childhood special education.
IDEA Part B regulations (regs) (ages 3-21);
This was website was specially created to offer all the required services, for resources that has to do with IDEA. The site is considered as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for these resources, since it has been integrated with all the latest information related IDEA. Moreover, it is designed in such a manner that information/resources will keep on growing as they are developed.
The website is filled with important features that make it, a very important resource, most particularly for the children under early childhood special education. For instance, it offers cross-referenced content from various laws, which helps to offer direction on how to deal with infants. Such laws include; the Family education rights and privacy Act, The No Child Left behind Act, and many others. Integrating information across the board increases the resources’ depth, making it rich and also reliable. The website has also been incorporated with video clips on various topics about early childhood special education. These video clips offer insightful and practical information that helps one to understand the legal framework of early childhood special education. Moreover, in case of any questions and dilemmas about the legal framework of the subject, the site has provided question and answer interface, where one can submit queries. In addition to this, there are various links to OSEP’s technical assistance and dissemination team, where it is constituted of a tram of experts ready to disseminate any relevant information. (U.S Department of Education, 2004)
The above website is not only relevant, but it is also important to the development of early childhood special education. This is because it offers rich and insightful legal information, which is critical in handling children’s special education. The information provided by the site, often dispels any existing ambiguities that normally exist when dealing with children with disability.
Part C draft regs for children ages 0-3;
This document was created by the department of education in collaboration with the office of special education and rehabilitative services. It is comprised of very important information on early intervention program designed for infants and toddlers. Owing to the current situation about children with disabilities, it was proposed that the regulations overseeing the early intervention program for infants with disabilities to be amended. This amendment would make changes to the individual with disabilities education act. ( Department of Education, 2007)
The document has been specially designed in such a way that it can be used by people across the board. It will be an important document for state lead agencies, parents, early intervention service programs and providers, and many others. The good thing about it is that the information has been integrated into one single document, to ensure there is easy accessibility. With this feature, there is no essence to shift between one document for separate document for the statute and regulations. In as much as the approach is beneficial, it will lead to longer regulations. In response to this, the document have been reorganized by adhering to the general order, structure of provisions in the statute, and substance, instead of using the arrangement of the current regulations. It is no doubt that this change will be beneficial to state lead agencies, parents, and many others.
The document will be a great step in helping early childhood special education, owing to its easy-to-access feature, as well as, ‘one-stop-shop’ aspect. The amended legislation will greatly impact the development of special education, for children with disability. As a matter of fact, the U.S Department of Education has achieved a lot through pushing for the amendment and integration of this legislative document.
Tracking services for infants, toddlers & their families;
The brainchild behind this document and program is, Zero to three policy network. Since the ability of child to grow happily, relies on his or her earliest years of life. The organization has documented an in-depth program, which can be used to track services for toddlers, infants, and their families. This program is developed on the basis that all domains of child development are linked. These domains include physical, social/emotional and cognitive. (Zero to three Policy Network, 2007)
Some of the important features of this document are as follows;
There is an annotated chart, which comprises of a summary of primary federal programs currently being applied on very young children, coupled with respective roles of state, federal, and local governments in these programs. This chart has been simplified for simple understanding, as well as identification of the programs and services, which bets suits an infant. Besides this, there is a number of information regarding federal programs that address the needs of young children. This will help parents to determine, which best method suits their child with disability. The early identification of the best program suitable for a child will help to get rid of any disability in the future, by enrolling in the program at an appropriate stage.
It must be understood that Government programs can sometimes be complex, and daunting to keep track of how they operate. Nonetheless, simplification of this pertinent information will pay an important role in influencing early childhood special education. This whole resource will ensure that children develop good health, exist in strong families, as well as enjoy early learning experiences, which will get rid of possible disabilities in life. This will greatly boost the early childhood special education.
References
Department of Education. (2007). Early Intervention Program Infants &Toddlers With Disabilities. Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 89. Retrieved from: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2007-05-09/pdf/07-2140.pdf
U.S Department of Education (2004). Building the legacy:IDEA. Retrieved from: http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home
ZERO TO THREE Policy Network(2007). Racking services for infants, toddlers & their families: a look at federal early childhood programs and the roles of state and local governments. M Street NW, Suite, Washington, DC. Retrieved from: http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/FedITProgramsAug07.pdf?docID=4041