Professionals’ Reported Practices to Involve Families in Initial Evaluations for Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education

It is well recognized and codified into law that families are an important part of early childhood evaluations; how families are included in evaluations in practice is less clear. To learn about family involvement, a nationally distributed survey focused on early childhood professionals’ ( n = 1,118) use of family-centered practices before, during, and after the initial evaluation for early intervention (EI) and preschool special education. A mixed methods design was utilized to explore how professionals reported to involve families before, during, and after initial evaluations. Results varied for professionals involved in initial evaluations for EI versus preschool special education. Qualitative analyses revealed the challenges professionals identified when attempting to engage families in the initial evaluation process. Implications of the study findings are discussed for policy, practice, and research related to family involvement in the initial evaluation process.