Evidence-Based Practice in the Early Childhood Field
Virginia Buysse, Ph.D., is Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute and Research Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She has directed research projects on a variety of topics, including early education programs for children who are English language learners, friendships in young children with and without disabilities, early childhood inclusion, parent leadership development, professional development, and models that support collaboration and change such as consultation and communities of practice.  Dr. Buysse serves on the editorial boards of Exceptional Children, Journal of Early Intervention, Infants and Young Children, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, and Young Exceptional Children. She also serves as co-editor of Early Developments, a national publication of the FPG Child Development Institute.Patricia Wesley, M. Ed., is Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she is also Clinical Instructor in the School of Education. Following a decade as the director of an inclusive preschool, in 1990 she became the director of Partnerships for Inclusion, a state-wide training and consultation project supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities and their families in all aspects of community life. In this role, she has developed, implemented, evaluated, and published several models of technical assistance to promote high quality inclusion including a framework for on-site consultation in early childhood programs, a community forum model to raise awareness about special needs, and the project's own organizational structure and approach to evaluation.