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CEC Standards for All Beginning Special Education Teachers of Early Childhood Students

• Historical and philosophical foundations of services for young children both with and without exceptional learning needs.
• Trends and issues in early childhood education and early childhood special education.
• Law and policies that affect young children, families, and programs for young children.

• Theories of typical and atypical early childhood development.
• Effect of biological and environmental factors on pre-, peri-, and post-natal development.
• Influence of stress and trauma, protective factors and resilience, and supportive relationships on the social and emotional development of young children.
• Significance of sociocultural and political contexts for the development and learning of young children who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
• Impact of medical conditions on family concerns, resources, and priorities.
• Childhood illnesses and communicable diseases

• Use instructional practices based on knowledge of the child, family, community, and the curriculum.
• Use knowledge of future educational settings to develop learning experiences and select instructional strategies for young children.
• Prepare young children for successful transitions.

• Medical care considerations for premature, low-birth-weight, and other young children with medical and health conditions.

• Implement nutrition plans and feeding strategies.
• Use health appraisal procedures and make referrals as needed.
• Design, implement, and evaluate environments to assure developmental and functional appropriateness.
• Provide a stimuli-rich indoor and outdoor environment that employs materials, media, and technology, including adaptive and assistive technology.
• Maximize young children's progress in group and home settings through organization of the physical, temporal, and social environments.

• Support and facilitate family and child interactions as primary contexts for learning and development.

• Implement, monitor and evaluate individualized family service plans and individualized education plans.
• Plan and implement developmentally and individually appropriate curriculum.
• Design intervention strategies incorporating information from multiple disciplines.
• Implement developmentally and functionally appropriate individual and group activities including play, environmental routines, parent-mediated activities, group projects, cooperative learning, inquiry experiences, and systematic instruction.

Skills:

• Assess the development and learning of young children.
• Select, adapt and use specialized formal and informal assessments for infants, young children and their families.
• Participate as a team member to integrate assessment results in the development and implementation of individualized family service plans and individualized education plans.
• Assist families in identifying their concerns, resources, and priorities.
• Participate and collaborate as a team member with other professionals in conducting family-centered assessments.
• Evaluate services with families.

• Organizations and publications relevant to the field of early childhood special education.

• Recognize signs of child abuse and neglect in young children and follow reporting procedures.
• Use family theories and principles to guide professional practice.
• Respect family choices and goals.
• Apply models of team process in early childhood.
• Advocate for enhanced professional status and working conditions for early childhood service providers.
• Participate in activities of professional organizations relevant to the field of early childhood special education.
• Apply research and effective practices critically in early childhood settings.
• Develop, implement and evaluate a professional development plan relevant to one's work with young children.

• Dynamics of team-building, problem-solving, and conflict resolution.

• Assist the family in planning for transitions.
• Communicate effectively with families about curriculum and their child's progress.
• Apply models of team process in early childhood settings.
• Apply various models of consultation in early childhood settings.
• Establish and maintain positive collaborative relationships with families.
• Provide consultation and instruction specific to services for children and families.