Early Childhood Education (ECE) is education provided to children from infancy to age 5. It includes various daycare, preschool and kindergarten programs. Most ECE programs are not federally funded. Head Start, a preschool program for low-income families, is the one ECE program that is federally funded. Studies have shown that children who receive good-quality early childhood education from infancy through age 5 are less likely to need special education, repeat grades or get into trouble with the law.
Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) offers services for children up to age 9. The services are usually referred because of a developmental delay or disability, and they are almost always federally funded. ECSE was born out of ECE when providers realized that there were no provisions for children with special needs. Some of the services offered through ECSE are speech pathology, physical therapy, occupational therapy and audiology.
ECE and ECSE both provide services to young children with the intention of teaching the skills necessary to have a successful future. Both stress the need for good-quality programming and require a college education and teaching certification. Many colleges and universities offer a combined certificate program for ECE and ECSE.
One of the major differences between ECE and ECSE is that most ECSE programs are free due to federal funding, but most ECE programs require payment. ECSE tracks the child's development more closely than ECE, due to the fact that the child needs to meet special goals to overcome a disability or developmental delay. ECSE also emphasizes, and often requires, more parent involvement due to the fact that special needs are present. In ECE, the environment adapts to the child, but in ECSE, the child must learn the skills necessary to adapt to the environment.There is need for better teacher preparation and a common language between ECE and ECSE, and school systems are working toward that goal.