Call for Manuscripts: YEC Special Issue - EI/ECSE Practice-based Professional Preparation Standards

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), in partnership with CEC’s Division for Early Childhood (DEC) released the Initial Practice-Based Professional Preparation Standards for Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators (EI/ECSE) (birth through age 8) in 2020. The EI/ECSE standards represent the first standards to focus specifically on the preparation of early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) providers who work with young children ages birth through eight who have or are at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities and their families, across home, classroom and community settings.

Research has consistently indicated that effective early childhood educators are critical to ensuring that each and every young child, birth through age 8, has equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities that lead to positive outcomes for the child and family (Martinez-Beck & Zaslow, 2006). The field, through NAEYC’s Power to the Profession initiative, created nationally agreed-upon professional standards and competencies (knowledge, understanding, abilities, and skills) for early childhood educators (NAEYC, 2019). While the ECE professional standards provide the foundation of what every early educator must know and be able to do, the EI/ECSE standards building upon that foundation focus on specialized knowledge and practices that may be needed to support young children who have or are at-risk for developmental delays or disabilities equitable access and participation in high quality learning opportunities. The EI/ECSE standards are grounded in current evidence based practices in EI/ECSE, which reflect research as well as professional and family wisdom; are designed to provide a foundation that will be consistent across educator preparation programs in EI/ECSE; and, provide guidance for state licensure that is aligned with research, policy, and professional opinion related to young children, families, and services.

The purpose of this special issue is to provide guidance to a range of “on the ground” audiences as to their roles and potential use of the EI/ECSE standards as they engage in advocacy for and implementation of high quality learning opportunities for all young children. Potential audience focuses include: higher education faculty developing pre-service program curriculum; practitioners reflecting on their own practice and professional development; state level leaders developing license/certification expectations; families as they look to understand what they should be able to expect from those who work on behalf of their child and family; and professional development providers as they design comprehensive systems of professional development for continuous improvement.

The Special Issue Editors recommend authors complete the intent to submit form here by Monday, June 14th, 2021.

Manuscripts are due by Monday, August 16th, 2021 with a target publication date of September of 2022. All manuscripts must follow YEC manuscript submission guidelines: Http://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/YEC

For questions regarding this YEC special issue, please contact Special Issue Editors Eva Horn at evahorn@ku.edu and Megan Purcell at meganpurcell@purdue.edu.