Comparison of State Certification and Professional Association Personnel Standards in Early Childhood Special Education

• Published in: Topics in early childhood special education Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 24 - 37
• Main Authors: Stayton, Vicki D., Smith, Barbara J., Dietrich, Sylvia L., Bruder, Mary Beth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2012; SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Associations; Certification; Children with disabilities; Comparative Analysis; Content Analysis; Disabilities; Early Childhood Education; National Standards; Professional Associations; Professional standards; Special Education; Special Education Teachers; State Standards; Young Children; teacher certification; personnel standards; standards alignment; ECSE standards
• ISSN: 0271-1214; 1538-4845
• DOI: 10.1177/0271121411436086

An item-by-item comparison of states’ certification standards and/or competencies for Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) with those of national professional association standards (i.e., Council for Exceptional Children [CEC] Common Core, Division for Early Childhood [DEC] of CEC ECSE, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children personnel standards when relevant) is reported in this article. Results of the content analysis are reported specific to the percentage of national standards met by states’ policies overall and the percentage of national standards met for each of the five major certification models found to be used by states for certifying personnel to work with young children with delays and disabilities. Descriptive information is also provided as to the professional association standards most and least likely to be included in state standards. Implications for state and professional association policy are provided, as well as recommendations for further research.