Preschool

The field of school psychology has been affected by the burgeoning interest in preschool and early childhood services. The passage of Public Law 99-457, in particular, offered a strong impetus for expanding research, practice, and training in school psychology to incorporate early childhood services. In effect, PL 99-457 mandates the provision of free, appropriate public education to children with handicaps between the ages of 3 and 5 and has initiated the development of service delivery models for young children. As a result of trends in both public policy and clinical practices, school psychologists increasingly are being faced with issues surrounding the provision of comprehensive services to preschool-age children and their families.

Professionals in psychology, education, and medicine have long been aware of the importance of assessment and intervention during children's preschool years. According to Guralnick and Bennett (1987), developmental research supports the notion that preschool years represent a critical period in children's lives. Early childhood is a time during which environmental events can substantially affect children's long-term development. For example, researchers have learned that parental characteristics during the early years, such as the quality and quantity of verbal interactions, are strongly associated with a child's development. Psychologists have also established connections between adverse environmental situations experienced during the preschool years, such as parental divorce or child abuse, and later social or personality development.

A consequence of the recent trend toward preschool services is a growing need for professionals who are appropriately trained to address the assessment and intervention issues involved in early childhood programming. Two potential roles have evolved over recent years for school psychologists: (a) evaluating the extent to which risk factors may be present in young children's lives, such as socioemotional, family, or biological factors, and (b) developing effective prevention and intervention programs to respond to the individual needs of preschoolers who may be at risk for later learning or behavior problems.

Many of the same principles and concepts underlying the provision of services to schoolage children are also important in providing early childhood services. Although the basic assessment, consultation, and intervention skills school psychologists already possess can be applied to their work with preschool-age children, the content of these practices may differ in several ways.

A need for school psychologists to examine and integrate current information related to early childhood issues from multiple perspectives-educational, sociological, as well as psychological-precipitated the development of this volume of Advances in School Psychology. Each chapter presents a comprehensive review of a special topic in the area of preschool and early childhood intervention. Six topics were identified that collectively represent important developments for school psychology. These include: (a) current early childhood education program models; (b) preschool handicapped children; (c) parental involvement; (d) peers and socialization; (e) stress and coping; and (f) computers and young children.

A number of different service delivery approaches and exemplary model programs in early childhood education exist today. Many model programs were developed initially in response to public policy and legislation concerning the nature and availability of early childhood services. Since the initiation of national efforts in the 1960s toward model program development, our knowledge concerning appropriate educational experiences and effective instructional strategies for preschool-age children has increased significantly. Early childhood education and intervention is a rapidly growing area of scientific inquiry.