Early Intervention Key to Overcoming Issues in Special Education

According to educators at the Critical Issues in Urban Special Education institute, recent research shows that early intervention and high-quality preschool programs can improve special education students’ outcomes later on.

“We need to become far more sophisticated about many issues — one of those is early childhood education,” said the institute’s cochair Professor Thomas Hehir during his welcome address. The one-week institute, offered by HGSE’s Programs in Professional Education (PPE), examined current best practices and provided opportunities for educators to incorporate these practices in the classroom.

The institute attracted a diverse group of 84 participants from around the country, many of whom work as principals, superintendents, English-language learner teachers, lawyers, advocates, professors, and consultants.

Throughout the week, participants learned about the science of early childhood development, early literacy instruction, and the achievement gap. In addition, the program allowed participants to work in small study groups each day in order to promote learning from each other.

“The educators who attended the institute were very committed to prevention and early intervention, especially concerning the development of literacy skills,” said Lecturer Pamela Mason, who led a session on early literacy instruction. “Having an opportunity to share concerns and effective practices with educators from various parts of the country and from different types of educational settings is always renewing.”

When Mason asked participants to remember how they learned to read it became clear that many of them learned to read in different ways. While educators often try to stick to the rules when teaching reading, Mason encouraged participants to go beyond just using the “big five” instructional tools: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Outside of these tools, Mason said writing — even before reading — can also help develop students’ literacy skills and that educators need to use a child’s own motivation as well.

“Children go into kindergarten wanting to read,” she said. “You need to capture that motivation even with children who have learning difficulties.”