A Comparison of the Effects of Academic and Cognitive Curricula for Young Handicapped Children One and Two Years Postprogram

Abstract

Follow-up testing of graduates from two highly contrasting models of early intervention, Direct Instruction and Mediated Learning, was conducted at 1 year and 2 years postintervention. Children from both programs generally maintained or increased cognitive and academic skills following intervention. Trends suggesting differential effects for subscales of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test and the Stanford-Binet (fourth edition) were noted in the first-year follow-up. The differential effects decreased by the second year postintervention, although the overall benefits of early intervention appeared to continue. Professionals in the area of early childhood special education need to know which theoretical models work, with whom they are effective, and for how long the effects are maintained. While few would argue with these basic premises, the task of evaluating curricula is difficult, and progress has been slow in providing interpretable results. Guralnick (1981) identified some of the persistent problems involved in conducting valid efficacy research, including identification of outcome criteria, establishment of proper controls, and adequate selection and assignment of subjects in an unbiased manner. To these can be added maintaining a highly valid implementation of the curricula, establishing adequate procedural validity, and assessing in an unbiased manner.

Individual Differences in Language Delayed Children's Responses to Direct and Interactive Preschool Instruction

“…The current finding of no main effect differences for either program is not surprising. Earlier research has found either limited differential effects (Dale & Cole, 1988;Cole et al, 1989) or equivalent overall gains in language development for children with handicaps who are presented with divergent curricula (Friedman &c Friedman, 1980;Cole & Dale, 1986;Jenkins, Cole, Dale, & Mills, 1989;Yoder et al, in press).…”

A Preliminary Evaluation of Learning Within Developmentally Appropriate Early Childhood Settings

“…Other studies have shown that children will learn more when instruction is responsive to child interest and initiations (Cole, Dale, & Mills, 1989;Dunst & Lesko, 1988;Yoder, Kaiser, &c Alpert, 1991). Further, longitudinal research with preschoolers at environmental risk indicated that early childhood programs based on childinitiated learning activities produced more favorable long-term social effects (and equivalent academic outcomes) than did didactic programs focused on remediating learner difficulties (Schweinhart, Weikart, &C Larner, 1986;Weikart, Epstein, Schweinhart, & Bond, 1978).…”

A Comparative Study of the Effects of a Developmentally Based Instructional Model on Young Children with Autism and Young Children with Other Disorders of Behavior and Development

“…Strain (1988) pointed out the potential dangers of borrowing an instructional 30, TOPICS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIAL EDUCATION 11:2 model that was developed for and validated with one group of children (e.g., children from low income families) and applying that model to children who differ in many ways from the group for whom the model was developed (e.g., children with Down syndrome) without having studied the effectiveness of the model on the second group of children. In order to help practitioners choose appropriate instructional models for children's individual needs, the field needs studies that examine the effects of specific instructional models on children with specific handicapping conditions, as exemplified by the work of Cole, Mills, and Dale (1989) in their comparison of curricula models.…”