An historical analysis of early intervention efficacy research documents the need for rigorously conducted longitudinal studies of early intervention with handicapped children. In this article the issues to be addressed in a series of 16 longitudinal studies recently funded by the U.S. Department of Education are described, the design characteristics of these studies are discussed, and the projected benefits of such research are summarized.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barnett, W.S. (1986). Methodological issues in economic evaluation of early intervention programs. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 1, 249-268.
2.
Bricker, D., Bailey, E., & Bruder, M. (1984). The efficacy of early intervention and the handicapped infant: A wise or wasted resource. Advances in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 5. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
3.
Brown, B. (1978). Long-term gains from early intervention. Boulder CO: Westview Press.
4.
Casto, G., & Lewis, A. (1984). Parent involvement in infant and preschool programs . Journal of the Division for Early Childhood, 9, 49-56.
5.
Cicirelli, V. (1969). The impact of Head Start: An evaluation of Head Start on children's cognitive and affective development. Report presented to the Office of Economic Opportunity (No. PB 184 328). Westinghouse Learning Corporation for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Institute for Applied Technology.
6.
Dunst, C.J., & Rheingrover, R.M. (1981). An analysis of the efficacy of infant intervention programs with organically handicapped children. Evaluation and Program Planning, 4, 287-323.
7.
Foster, G., Ysseldyke, J., & Reese, J. (1975). I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it . Exceptional Children, 41, 469-473.
8.
Glass, G.V., & Robbins, M.P. (1967). A critique of experiments on the role of neurological organization in reading performance. Reading Research Quarterly , 3, 5-51.
Gordon, I.J., Guinagh, B.J., & Jester, R.E. (1977). The Florida parent education infant and toddler programs. In M. C. Day & R. K. Parker (Eds.), The preschool in action (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
11.
Gould, S.J. (1983). The mismeasure of man. New York: Norton.
12.
Gray, S.W., Ramsey, B.K., & Klaus, R.A. (1982). From 3 to 20: The Early Training Project. Baltimore: University Park Press.
13.
Gross, (1985, October). The Infant Health and Development Program: A national multisite clinical trial for low birthweight pre-term infants. Paper presented at the National Institute of Child and Health Development Conference on Behavioral Interventions with High Risk Infants, Bethesda, MD.
14.
Karnes, M.B., Hodgins, A.S., & Teska, J.A. (1969). Earlier intervention: Effects of the ameliorative program initiated with three-year old children and maintained for two years . Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
15.
Lazar, I., Darlington, R., Murray, H., Royce, J., & Snipper, A. (1982). Lasting effects of early education: A report from the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies: Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 47, (Serial No. 195).
16.
Levenstein, P. (1970). Cognitive growth in preschoolers through verbal interaction with their mothers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry , 40, 426-432.
17.
Mehran, M., & White, K.R. (1986). The effectiveness of parent-child tutoring to enhance compensatory education. Unpublished manuscript. Logan, UT: Utah State University.
18.
Mott, S.E., Fewell, R.R., Lewis, M., Meisels, S.J., Shonkoff, J.P., & Simeonsson, R. (1986). Methods for assessing child and family outcomes in early childhood special education programs: Some views from the field. Topics in Early Education Childhood Special Education, 6, 1-15.
19.
National Center for Clinical Infant Programs (n.d.) There ought to be a law?Washington, DC: Author.
20.
Newell, G.R., & Ellison, N.M. (1980). Ethics and designs: Laetraile trials as an example . Cancer Treatment Reports, 64, 363-365.
21.
Odom, S.L., & Fewell, R.R. (1983). Program evaluation in early childhood special education: A meta-analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 5, 445-460.
22.
Peterson, A., Casto, G., & Lindauer, S.L. (1985). Improving preacademic skills in delayed preschoolers through the use of a highly structured cognitive intervention program. Unpublished manuscript. Logan, UT: Utah State University.
23.
Pruess, J.B., & Fewell, R.R. (1985). Cell therapy and the treatment of Down syndrome: A review of research. Unpublished manuscript.
24.
Ramey, C.T., Collier, A.M., Sparling, J.J., Loda, F.A., Campbell, F.A., Ingram, D.L., & Finkelstein, N.W. (1976). The Carolina Abecedarian project: A longitudinal and multi-disciplinary approach to the prevention of developmental retardation. In T. D. Tjossem (Ed.), Intervention strategies for high risk infants and young children. Baltimore: University Park Press.
25.
Ramey, C.T., McPhee, D., & Yates, K.O. (1982). Preventing developmental retardation: A general systems model. In L. A. Bond, & J. M. Joffe (Eds.), Facilitating infant and early childhood development. London: University Press of New England.
26.
Rosenthal, R. (1976). Experimental effects in behavioral research. New York: Irvington.
27.
Simeonsson, R.J., Cooper, D.H., & Scheiner, A.P. (1982). A review and analysis of the effectiveness of early intervention programs. Pediatrics , 69, 635.
28.
Spring, C., & Sandoval, J. (1976). Food additives and hyperkinesis: A critical evaluation of the evidence. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 9, 560-569.
29.
Swan, W.W. (1983). Efficacy data for decision making in early childhood special education: A review and suggestions. Unpublished manuscript. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.
30.
Trohanis, P. (1985). State profiles: Status in states across twelve dimensions of early childhood special education. Unpublished document available from Chapel Hill, NC: State Technical Assistance Resource Team, University of North Carolina.
31.
Weikart, D.P., Bond, J.T., & McNeir, J.T. (1978). The Ypsilanti Perry Preschool Project: Preschool years and longitudinal results. Monographs of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation (No. 3). Ypsilanti, MI: High/ Scope.
32.
Wender, E.H. (1977). Food additives and hyperkinesis. American Journal of Diseases of Chirdren, 131, 1204-1206.
33.
White, K.R., & Casto, G. (1985). An integrative review of early intervention efficacy studies with at-risk children: Implications for the handicapped. Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities, 5, 3-31.
34.
White, K.R., & Pezzino, J. (1986). Ethical, practical, and scientific considerations of randomized experiments in early intervention efficacy research. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 6(3), 100-116.
35.
White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals (1977). Volume 1: Awareness Papers, 45-49.
36.
Zigler, E., & Balla, D. (1982). Selecting outcome variables in evaluations of early childhood special education programs. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 1(4), 11-22.
