Communication (to impart knowledge; to express information easily or effectively), translation (to explain in terms that can be more easily understood), and application (to be pertinent, suitable, or relevant) are 3 words that summarize the important contribution made by Infants & Young Children} (IYC) to the field of early childhood intervention. Over the past 21 years, IYC has effectively communicated and translated theory, research, and innovative ideas into policy and practice applications to improve and enhance the quality of life for vulnerable infants, young children, and their families. This ambitious goal was embraced and nurtured by the first 2 editors of IYC, Drs James Blackman and Michael Guralnick. My task as the incoming editor of IYC is to continue to meet this goal with the same enthusiasm, commitment, and standards of excellence demonstrated by these 2 leaders in our field.

It is quite daunting to follow the legacy of Jim Blackman, who, as the founding editor of IYC, provided 15 years of leadership to establish this journal into the repository of interdisciplinary research and practice it continues to be. After Jim's tenure, Michael Guralnick continued this legacy and expanded the impact of the journal through his 6 years as editor. Both of these editors have provided me the foundation to follow their exemplary leadership and stewardship of the journal.

In particular, I am indebted to Mike Guralnick for encouraging me to pursue this editorial position. Mike has been, and will continue to be, a role model and mentor to me as I pursue my passion for the design, development, and delivery of effective early childhood intervention. I personally thank Mike for the outstanding job he has done editing the 180 articles that have appeared in IYC during his tenure. These articles have contributed the depth and breadth of knowledge that has been critical to the growth of our field. Mike's editorship of IYC resulted in an emphasis on the critical issues facing our field, most notably, a focus on rigorous and defensible methodology aimed at producing and summarizing evidence to support effective interventions. Mike also expanded the international impact of IYC by forging a formal relationship with the International Society of Early Intervention (ISEI). Articles from IYC have appeared on the ISEI Web site, thus broadening the reach of IYC throughout the world. Mike will continue to lead the ISEI, and, as a board member of the ISEI, I am pleased that IYC and ISEI will continue their relationship. I thank him for his support as I strive to maintain the editorial standards he institutionalized at IYC.

Throughout my life and career, I have been very lucky to have been at the right place at the right time many more times than anyone deserves and, as a result, have had incredible learning opportunities. As a lifelong learner, I look forward to continuing to learn as much as I can from the current and future authors of IYC articles. To this end, I will be making a concerted effort to expand IYC contributions (and thus learning for our field) in 3 arenas. The first is our international contributions. Our affiliation with the ISEI allows us the audience from which to encourage international submissions. I am indebted to Dr Robin McWilliam who will serve as the editorial liaison to authors from outside the United States. Dr McWilliam has served as a journal editor, as well as a research collaborator with authors who do not have English as their first language. Dr McWilliam will assist these authors through the submission and editorial processes of IYC. Second, IYC will also make an effort to recruit and publish articles from novice authors beginning their career in early childhood intervention. As a representative of our aging workforce, I feel strongly that it is important to encourage and assist our next generation of leaders to meet the standards for publication we have established for our field. I look forward to personally working with such authors as they pursue publication of their work in IYC. Finally, and in keeping with its interdisciplinary framework and mission, IYC will provide a venue for projects of local or national significance sponsored by members of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). These programs include the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities, and the Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research Centers (IDDRCs). Of course, any submission under these 3 areas must maintain the integrity of the journal by adhering to the rigor of the IYC peer review process, as will all other traditional submissions from the field.

The IYC peer review process is the responsibility of the editorial board. I feel very fortunate that a number of editorial board members have agreed to continue through my transition to editor. I am also grateful to a number of new members who will join the editorial board and continue to ensure the high caliber of articles published by IYC. From my own work on editorial boards for the past 25 years and also as an associate editor on another of our field's highly respected journals for 8 years, I know firsthand how challenging and time consuming editorial work can be. One change we are instituting to assist the editorial board is the move to an electronic Web-based platform for all manuscript submissions and reviews. Thanks to our publisher and the editorial team at Wolters Kluwer Health/ Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, we will be accepting manuscripts for consideration for publication in IYC at http://www.editorialmanager.com/iyc/. There is also author information on the journal Web site at http://www.iycjournal.com. I hope that this electronic mechanism will result in a timely review and publication process that will benefit authors who wish to disseminate the knowledge they have created via a publication in IYC, as well as those in the field who will benefit from the findings and recommendations contained in the articles published in IYC. To do this, I am committed to minimizing the length of time between submission and disposition of a manuscript and will aim to keep this process to 60 days.

Besides the active recruitment of journal submissions from the 3 targeted populations previously mentioned, and the move to a technology-based electronic review process, I do not foresee any major change in goal or direction from where the journal has evolved. Mike Guralnick so aptly characterized his phase of editorship as the IYC adolescence. I submit that during my tenure as editor, we will continue to be in a prolonged adolescence reflective of the dynamic nature of the field of early childhood intervention. As our field continues to grow and change, we continue to attempt to institutionalize intervention strategies, services, and supports, both here and abroad. The changes we are experiencing are sometimes contradictory and always challenging. One such example being the impetus to merge the early childhood disability field into the growing number of local, state, and national early care and education initiatives, while also expanding the availability and rigor of specialized and intensive interventions for growing subpopulations of children such as those on the autism spectrum. Our field reflects the larger challenges within our society, such as the cost of serving a growing population of infants and young children in need of intervention within a rapidly declining national and global economy. In spite of these, our field continues to build upon a growing knowledge base, maturity, and wisdom to articulate and institutionalize effective practices and programs for vulnerable children and families. However, the prevailing question of what interventions are most effective for what type of child and family, at what intensity, and at what cost to society and families, has yet to be answered.

I am very lucky to have a career that I love. Although challenging (at times), my professional endeavors have brought me nothing but personal satisfaction and joy as I have interfaced with colleagues, students, and, most important, children and their families as we collectively strive to use our knowledge to improve the lives of those most vulnerable. Thus, I am proud to be able to introduce to you the stellar authors and the articles that appear in this issue of IYC. The first article by Kathleen Hebbeler and her colleagues provides an important methodology for analyzing the costs associated with early intervention. They also challenge our field to include cost as an accountability measure as we begin to analyze outcomes associated with service delivery variations for children of differing etiologies and needs. Catherine Scott-Little and her colleagues present to us an analysis of state infant-toddler early learning guidelines. They provide direction to the field on the use of these guidelines, as we attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of early childhood models that include a diversity of learners. Particular applications of these guidelines are made to those who qualify for Part C services and participate in the accountability systems under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

As the numbers of children diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum continue to grow, the article by Sara Jane Webb and Emily Jones is extremely timely because it should assist our readers to understand early indicators of autism spectrum disorders. These authors further provide recommendations for the evaluation of age-appropriate interventions to the autism spectrum disorder population. I am also very pleased to have an article in this issue jointly authored by colleagues from Finland, Anja Rantala and Sanna Uotinen, and their US collaborator, Robin McWilliam. The article compares the practices of interdisciplinary early intervention staff in Finland to those practices implemented in the United States. The authors offer recommendations for both groups, as well as for those in the early childhood intervention workforce from around the world. I am also excited to provide an article about an evaluation innovation used in a service delivery model that has been a hallmark in early childhood intervention: home visiting. Lisa Vaughn, Janet Forbes, and Britteny Howell have demonstrated a unique method of evaluating the effectiveness of home visiting for a group of high-risk families using an innovative application of technology. Through a pilot of this technology, the authors were able to demonstrate its use and value to the field as we attend to the need for outcome evaluations of children and families as a result of service participation. The last article in this issue also contains information on the use of technology. Deborah Chen, Diane Klein, and Lavada Minor provide evidence in the use of Web-based instruction for an interdisciplinary course in early intervention. They provide rich insight into a growing venue for professional development.

In closing, I wish to state that as the editor of IYC, I will be guided by our goal to translate and communicate theory, research, and innovative ideas into applications of policy and practice that improve and enhance the lives of infants, young children, and their families. As one who continues to be humbled by the extraordinary contributions made by IYC authors to the field of early childhood intervention, I look forward to serving as the custodian of this journal for the next 5 years. As a field, we must unite and use our knowledge base to improve the lives of those most vulnerable. I hope this journal is one vehicle to make that happen. To paraphrase our president (and a cartoon friend named Bob the Builder), "Can we do it? Yes we can!!"

-Mary Beth Bruder, PhD

Director of University of Connecticut A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service, University of Connecticut Health Center