This article utilizes four knowledge sources to characterize a current gap in policy and practice related to serving families in early intervention (birth to 5) programs. It argues that the field of early intervention has focused primarily on implementing family-centered practices by focusing on how families and professionals should interact. The field has not sufficiently addressed what supports and services should be offered to families to enhance the likelihood of positive outcomes for families themselves and for their children with disabilities. The paper concludes with recommendations for enhancing policy, research, and professional development related to family services and supports.

We present two scenarios involving a family's experience in accessing a quality inclusive education for their young child to illustrate what it might look like if all stakeholders assumed responsibility for implementing the available research-based information to facilitate inclusive early childhood education. The influence and role of each stakeholder group (i.e., families, administrators, practitioners, college and university faculty, researchers) are discussed. We suggest that to move from mediocrity to excellence in providing inclusive early childhood education, professional empowerment must occur at the individual and program levels.

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP), an observation measure designed to assess the quality of classroom practices in inclusive preschool programs. The measure was field tested in 51 inclusive classrooms. Results confirmed and extended previous research findings, providing further evidence for the measure's interrater reliability, factor structure, and construct validity. New information from testing the relationship between the ICP and key program characteristics provided support for the measure's discriminant validity. Reports on the ease of use of the ICP from state assessors involved in collecting data for the study indicate that the ICP holds promise for use in quality assessment. Findings from the present study are discussed with respect to implications for use of the ICP in research, policy, program evaluation, and professional development.

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