A Bibliometric Research from Past to Present on the Development of Individual Educational Plan (IEP) Studies in Early Childhood Education

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine scientific studies published in world literature on Individualized Education Program (IEP) applications in early childhood education through bibliometric methods. In addition, it aims to provide researchers with in-depth information on the matter; as well as to shed light on publications to be made about it. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study is a descriptive study. The population of the research is made up of 108 studies in English published about this subject in journals scanned in the Scopus database between 1977 and 2019. In the analysis processes, open source code R statistics program was preferred. With the bibliometric analysis, both descriptive findings and social and intellectual findings of the research field were included. Findings: According to the findings obtained from the research, there has been an increase in the studies carried out in this field in the last 10 years. It has been stated that American-based studies come to the fore in collaborative studies. It was observed that the first three articles with the most citations were studies mainly in the field of health and were included in journals published in the field of medicine. When the journals that publish the highest number of publications on IEP in early childhood are examined, it is seen that the journals "Exceptional Children", "Journal of Early Intervention" and "Topics in Early Childhood Special Education" have the most publications on the subject. Conclusion: In this study, the literature on IEP applications, which are critical for children with special needs in early childhood practices, was reviewed and the characteristics of the studies were revealed. In this context, this research is important in terms of providing descriptive, social and intellectual information about the subject to those who want to make new research on this subject. It is thought that as studies on this subject increase, the quality of the practices related to meeting the needs of children with special needs and families in early childhood stage will also increase.