Early intervention services are designed for children from birth up to age three. For some children, services during these earliest years provides enough support to launch them on their way. And, some children need continued support during their preschool years to maximize their growth and development. Since services under early intervention end when a child turns three, planning for the transition to preschool is very important. The following resources provide useful information about making the transition from early intervention to preschool.
Out of EI and into preschool: What's it all about?
www.handsandvoices.org/articles/education/law/transition.html
Here's a decent explanation, including why it's important to plan for this transition; the benefits to children, families, and teachers of such planning; and the chief differences between the EI system and preschool service system in terms of child find, referral, evaluation, eligibility, family involvement, the type of plan that's written and the services that are delivered.
Pull a thread and find a minibibliography.
www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/transition.pdf
Transitions From Infant Toddler Services to Preschool Education - Minibibliography is available online from NECTAC, the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. This annotated bibliography presents resources related to transition from infant-toddler services to preschool education. 2004, 8 pages.
Who's in charge of preschool services, and what are they doing?
www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/sec619_2007.pdf
Find out in the 2007 edition of this annual NECTAC publication, which contains information on state policies, programs, and practices under the Preschool Grants Program (Section 619 of Part B) of IDEA. Information supplied by the coordinators of state and jurisdictional Section 619 programs updates the following content areas: program administration, funding, and education reform; charter and private schools; interagency coordination; personnel; transition; programming; accreditation and monitoring; performance outcomes; public awareness; IEPs, IFSPs, and family-centered services; state preschool program data from www.ideadata.org; and contact information for state and jurisdictional program coordinators.
Recommended transition practices.
www.clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech4.html
This paper from CLAS examines current transition practices within the context of culturally and linguistically diverse groups, highlighting the transition from early intervention services to preschool services. An overview of recommended practice indicators in EI/ECSE and ECE is presented.
Have you visited the center that's looking only at what makes for effective transitions?
http://www.ihdi.uky.edu/nectc/
The National Early Childhood Transition Center (NECTC) is investigating and validating practices and strategies that enhance the early childhood transition process and support positive school outcomes for children with disabilities. Search NECTC's transition literature database, tell your transition story, and keep track of NECTC's emerging results and recommendations.
Visit the FACTS/LRE Project: Family and Child Transitions into Least Restrictive Environments.
http://facts.crc.uiuc.edu