This consortium implementation project involved five partners in the European Union and three partners in the United States committed to a collaborative graduate training program in early childhood intervention. The consortium built on a history of collaboration among the partner institutions and faculty with four main objectives: 1) expand and strengthen the policy, practice, and scientific base of human services for young children with disabilities and their families; 2)contribute to the preparation of professionals for leadership roles through cross-cultural training encompassing practical research and policy experiences; 3)establish a mechanism for ongoing transatlantic exchange of information and promotion of collaborative coursework and research among faculty and students; and 4) serve as a base for the development of long-range collaborative efforts including the development of a joint degree program.

The first and second year of collaboration were devoted to developing the international curriculum, establishing a project Web site, developing student exchange agreements, identifying candidates for the student exchange, developing training materials, and initiating learning placements. The first institute was held in Sweden in 2003, followed by three institutes conducted at the University of North Carolina and Vanderbilt University in the United States and Universidade do Porto in Portugal during 2003-2004.

The project has been productive and accomplished student and faculty mobility activities in an efficient manner. The result was that both the EU and the U.S. partners realized savings with remaining funds approved for no-cost extensions for expanded implementation of project goals. These funds were used to send additional students for extended stays; in the case of the U.S. partners, six additional students were involved in extended visits to collaborating EU partner universities. A meeting of consortium faculty was also held in Europe in the spring of 2006 to summarize evaluation activities, finalize versions of curricular materials, and plan for continued collaboration.

ONLINE REFERENCES: 

EC/US Early Childhood Intervention 2002-2004
   http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~mleskine/eu-usa/  

Transatlantic Consortium on Early Childhood Intervention
   http://www.transatlanticconsortium.org  

Rune J. Simeonsson
Project Director
U.S. Lead

University of North
  Carolina
School of Education
CB # 3500
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500
Tel: 919-962-2512
Fax: 919-962-1533

Eva Bjorck-Akesson
European Lead

Mälardalens Högskola
Department of Social
  Sciences
Box 883
Vasteras SE 721 23
Sweden
Tel: 46-2110-1428

Dale Farran
U.S. Partner

Vanderbilt University
Peabody College, Department
  of Teaching & Learning
Box 330
Nashville, TN 37203
Tel: 615-343-9515
Fax: 615-343-0988

Donna Wittmer
U.S. Partner

University of Colorado at
  Denver
School of Education
PO Box 173364, VC
Denver, CO 80217
Tel: 303-556-4367
Fax: 303-556-4479

Joaquim Bairrao
European Partner

Universidade do Porto
Department of Psychology &
  Educational Science
Rua do Campo Alegre, 1055
Porto 4150
Portugal
Tel: +351/260-79700
Fax: +351/260-79725

Ulf Jansson
European Partner

Stockholms Universitet
Department of Education
Frescati Hagväg 20-26
Stockholm 10415
Sweden
Tel: +46/8/16 36 42
Fax: +46/8/15 83 54

Franz Peterander
European Partner

Ludwig-Maximilians-
  Universität München
Psychologie und Pädagogie
Leopoldstraße 13
München 80802
Germany
Tel: +49/89/22 23 841
Fax: +48/89/29 52 43

Riitta Viittala
European Partner

Jyväskylän yliopisto
Department of Education
PL 35
Jyväskyla 40351
Finland
Tel: +358/14/260-1627
Fax: +358/14/260-1621