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This article reports the results of a national survey of 318 fathers participating in programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Head Start, and Part B and Part C programs in six states. Fathers reported
their participation in the activities offered to them by these early childhood education programs. Fathers of children with and without disabilities preferred activities in which all family members could be involved. Fathers were also asked to identify the program characteristics that facilitated their participation. This article discusses implications of this information for service providers.
Fathers frequently get left out of the family, as early childhood programs define it. Most often when providers talk of families or family involvement, the child's mother is the family member who has been invited to participate or who is consulted regarding decisions related to the child (Able-Boone, 1993; Polmanteer & Turbiville, 2000; Sparling, Berger, & Biller, 1992).
Service providers focus their interactions on mothers for many reasons. Convenience may be one of the biggest; the mother is generally the family member who is most available for interaction (Murray & McDonald, 1996). Others suggest that providers, who are most often women, are uncomfortable in interactions with fathers (Flynn & Wilson, 1998; May, 1991; Sparling et al., 1992). Also, educators, who are not generally trained to work with families are even less prepared to work with fathers (Butera, Matuga, & Riley, 1999; Sparling et al., 1992). This preference for work with mothers is not limited to direct service providers; a review of early childhood program effects found that virtually all studies focused on mothers rather than on fathers or both parents (Brooks-Gunn, Berlin, & Fuligni, 2000). Clearly, fathers are not customarily included in either early childhood family research or intervention.
Although fathers are frequently left out of the picture, there is legislative and research support for including both parents in programs for young children. Legislatively, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; IDEA Amendments of 1997) requires family involvement; however, this is often viewed as involvement only with the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or the Individualized Education Program (IEP; Gallagher & Desimone, 1995; Turnbull & Turnbull, 1997). Furthermore, although the legislative wording supports participation by either parent (IDEA Amendments...