Training Professionals in Early Childhood Special Education : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ECSE/TESOL) / Liz Rothlein and Sharon Vaughn.

This final report describes the objectives, activities and outcomes of a federally funded project that was designed to provide a high quality, interdisciplinary graduate degree program in Early Childhood Special Education with an emphasis on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ECSE/TESOL) at the University of Miami, Florida. A portion of the coursework focused on infants and toddlers with disabilities, birth through two. However, the major focus was to prepare personnel to work with children with disabilities, aged three to five, including those who may come from homes where English is not the primary language. The report describes: (1) recruitment strategies used by the program; (2) advising, financial and administrative support given to the students during their course of study; (3) coursework, field and practicum/internship experiences offered by the program; (4) program evaluation methods and results; and (5) suggestions for improvement. Advisory board evaluation feedback identified the following as strengths of the program: (1) key personnel in the program; (2) the practicum/internship experience; and (3) student support in the form of tuition assistance. Suggestions for improvement included: (1) longer practicum experiences; (2) hands-on workshops on feeding, positioning, and handling medically fragile children; (3) administering assessment instruments; (4) constructing classroom materials; and (5) a practicum/internship orientation meeting with the University of Miami supervisors to review guidelines and requirements. (SG)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.