This study investigated factors related to successful and unsuccessful collaborations, studied the specific problems that are part of the collaboration process, and identified solutions to minimize their occurrence. Thirty-three stakeholders from nine state departments and three private social services agencies in Ohio were categorized into two groups: program chiefs and program specialists. Participants were interviewed as to their opinions on successes, problems, and solutions related to interagency collaboration. Interviews were transcribed and data were analyzed using content analysis. Significant differences were found in two areas: factors that jeopardized interagency collaboration and areas each group would change in future collaborative efforts. Based on the outcomes of this study, seven factors related to successful interagency collaboration were delineated.

The purpose of this manuscript is to describe a data analysis technique, content analysis, used to examine written or verbal communication, and to discuss the potential of content analysis for application within early intervention. Special attention is directed at the use of referential or thematic recording units derived from data obtained in interview format. The article identifies specific procedural guidelines for the early interventionist researcher to utilize, and addresses issues of rigor, and validity. Discussion follows of the use of content analysis within the field of early intervention.

Special education has supported the implementation and study of a variety of prereferral interventions as a means of reducing the number of inappropriate formal referrals, especially in the field of learning disabilities. Programs of preservice teacher education are beginning to reflect the practice of prereferral activity programmatically by including preparation for teaming and consultation roles. In this article, the assumptions associated with the most prominent categories of prereferral interventions being adopted—consultation and informal problem-solving teams—are examined. A critical analysis of the benefits and limitations of each approach is offered, and alternative conceptions of prereferral practice are then presented.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process used for identifying recommended practices in the field of early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). Work groups were established for 14 areas of EI/ECSE. Participants in these work groups followed a set of 6 criteria in identifying recommended practices in each area. To validate the practices identified by the work groups, a national sample of randomly selected DEC members, persons in higher education, and family members indicated their level of agreement with items representing recommended practices and indicated the frequency of their current use of the items. Ratings from the validation questionnaires indicated substantial agreement that practices identified by the initial work groups would be recommended practices. The discrepancy between recommended practices and current use of the practices was examined.Since the late 1960s, early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) has clearly emerged as a specialization within the field of special education. An active professional literature, specialized professional training programs, teacher credentialing in many states, and an active professional organization (Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children-DEC) all exemplify a profession in emergence. This professional ization of EI/ECSE has been pushed by the recognition of the need for services for young children with disabilities and their families. Indeed, services are now mandated for children with disabilities in all 50 states, and an accessible service system for infants with disabilities and their families exists in many states (Safer & Hamilton, 1993).With the increase in services for young children with disabilities and their families has come a concern about the nature of practices employed in the profession. That is, if El/ ECSE is a profession or specialization, are there specific practices that experts, professionals, and families agree are exemplary? If so, identification of such practices could serve as the basis for guiding the development and delivery of early intervention services to children

This study investigated intervention strategies that general educators use and believe are reasonable for implementation when dealing with children with mild learning and behavior problems. Two sources of data were used. Teachers from Wisconsin and Illinois (n = 232) rated how often they used 57 intervention strategies and how reasonable these strategies were for implementation in the classroom as a means of accommodating the needs of students with mild learning and behavior problems. Teacher ratings of use and reasonability were factor-analyzed, and five factors were generated for each. The two factor structures were interrelated and had similar factors. Factors generated for use were principal involvement, teacher intervention, special education, teacher consultation, and parent involvement. Factors generated for reasonability were teacher intervention, principal/teacher consultation, student alternatives, special education, and data collection. Eighty-seven of these teachers then were interviewed to determine specific issues they consider when determining whether an intervention strategy can be implemented reasonably in their classrooms. These data provide a clear profile of interventions teachers use and find reasonable, as well as an indication of factors that inhibit teachers from selecting intervention strategies to address the mild learning and behavior problems of their students.