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Early Intervention
Early Childhood Education > Early Intervention

ment. Some of the first early intervention programs designed

Table of Contents
to serve low-income preschool-age children were the Early
Training Project, High/Scope Perry Project, and Project Head
Abstract Start. Programs were later designed to meet the needs of devel-
opmentally delayed children. In many states, the department of
Overview education oversees the early intervention program for develop-
History mentally delayed children and acts as a major service provider.

Applications
Overview
Children from Low-Income Families
Early intervention is the act of providing services to children
The Early Training Project of school age or younger considered to have—or to be at risk
of developing—a condition that impedes or will impede their
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project
development. Such a condition can stem from a physical,
Project Head Start emotional, or psychological impairment or from less than ade-
quate conditions at home (e.g., unstable family circumstances,
Developmentally Delayed Children financial hardship) that negatively affect a child's self-esteem,
cognitive (intellectual) performance, or drive to achieve. Early
Definition intervention can be remedial (correcting existing developmental
problems) or preventive (preventing their occurrence).
History

Parenting Developmentally Delayed Children Early intervention can involve the child alone or include the entire
family. Services available to at-risk children and their parents
Agencies That Run Early Intervention begin with identification and screening, proceed to assessment
Programs and diagnosis, and culminate with referral to services provided
by any combination of state education departments, public agen-
Texas cies (such as departments of health and human services), and
private organizations.
North Carolina

Terms & Concepts

Bibliography
Suggested Reading
Abstract
Early intervention refers to a system of services designed to
better academic and social outcomes of low-income, academi-
cally at-risk preschool-age children; as well as the services given
to children born with disabilities that impede normal develop-
History
The roots of early intervention can be traced back to the age
of Enlightenment (the eighteenth century). European philoso-
phers of the time were the first to believe that childhood was its
own separate and unique developmental phase. The "nature vs.
nurture" debate also began at this time: Many theorists argued
that children enter the world pure and untainted and are molded
entirely by their upbringing and environment, while others main-
tained that children are born with personalities and behaviors
already present and that environment does little to change this.
Modern theorists and child behavior experts agree that predispo-
sition and environment combine to shape the individual. Though

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 ​​​Early Intervention​
each is born with certain abilities and personality attributes, he or
she is also susceptible to influence from parenting and the envi-
ronment. In the end, it is the combination of all of these factors
that determines his or her total personality.
As the idea that children are also molded by their environment
gained popularity, more and more attention was given to early
childhood development and education. With the Industrial
Revolution of the nineteenth century came the possibility for
children to grow up without having to take on adult responsibili-
ties. European child development theory soon gave way to the
first organized early education curriculum, as the first kinder-
garten classes appeared in Germany. In time, America's middle
classes enthusiastically adopted the kindergarten model. Eventu-
ally, social activists advocated for kindergarten for the poorer
urban classes, which had swelled from a heavy immigrant influx.
Kindergarten, the activists believed, would encourage social
assimilation and make up for the lack of childhood experiences
enjoyed by children of poor families, while providing child care
services for mothers who were forced to work.
Applications
Children from Low-Income Families
This section discusses the first early intervention studies done
and their findings. These studies are
• The Early Training Project,
• High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, and
• Head Start.
Not long after kindergartens appeared in urban slums, London
gave us the "nursery school," which began as an urban health
clinic, growing later into a program focusing on both health and
education. In America, nursery school became a private insti-
tution, available to middle- and upper-class families who could
afford it. With the exception of the 1940s and World War II—
when federal funding would make it available to lower-income
mothers who were forced to work while their husbands were
away—nursery school remained a luxury for the middle and
upper classes.
But in 1950, the government began spending much more money
on social programs. Between 1950 and 1979, this spending
increased twenty-fold. At the same time, a wealth of research on
early childhood development heightened public awareness as to
the importance of the early years in a child's development. With
the 1960s came the first three most influential early intervention
studies.
The Early Training Project
The Early Training Project was conducted in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, in the early 1960s, beginning from concern over the
poor performance of low-income children in school. It sought
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to improve academic performance by bettering cognition and
producing a stronger urge to achieve. Between 1962 and 1965,
the project placed 65 African American children from low-
income families either into intervention programs that met for
two or three consecutive summers or into a control group that
received no instruction. Those in treatment groups were given
weekly home visits during the school year and also took part in
a 10-week preschool program that met for partial days during
the summer. In addition to being assessed during the program,
participants were also assessed in the years 1965, 1966, 1968,
1975, and 1978 (at the approximate ages of 7, 8, 10, 17, and 19,
respectively). A significant difference was found in IQs between
treatment groups and control groups in the years immediately
following the intervention, with the treated children showing
higher intelligence. In 1965, treated children scored higher on
three of four of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. By fourth
grade, however, this gap had closed, with the treated children
no longer outperforming their control counterparts. In fact, the
final tests (conducted in 1975 and 1978) revealed no significant
difference between performances of the two groups on a number
of different tests. It was concluded that though intervention did
not create lasting differences in the IQs of children, it did reduce
the chances of treated children winding up in special educa-
tion classes, being held back in a grade, or dropping out of high
school (Karoly, 1998).
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, conducted in Ypsilanti,
Michigan, was one of the longest running assessments done on the
effects of early intervention. As with the Early Training Project,
it focused on the underperformance of disadvantaged children.
It sought to improve cognitive performance and achievement in
these children by enrolling them in either one- or two-year pre-
school programs. Between 1962 and 1967, 123 African American
children and their parents participated in the study and were
placed in either treatment or control groups. Between May and
October, treatment groups were given daily 2.5-hour classes at
an intervention center and weekly 90-minute teacher home visits.
These five classes of participants were later assessed at ages 11,
14, 15, 19, and 27. As with the Early Training Project, treated
children demonstrated significantly higher IQ scores than control
children immediately after the intervention, but this gap disap-
peared by the time they entered the second grade. Still, treated
children continued to score higher on tests until age 14 and were
more likely eventually to graduate from high school. Again,
treated children spent less time in special education throughout
school than did control children. Differences still existed in the
final (age 27) assessment. Treated children showed significantly
lower utilization of welfare and a lower incidence of criminal
activity. Employment rates for intervention participants were also
considerably higher (Karoly, 1998).
Project Head Start
Head Start—a gigantic, federally funded early intervention pro-
gram that still exists—started as Project Head Start. The project
originated from a growing concern from policy makers over
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 ​​​Early Intervention​
the increasing number of American children living in poverty.
Launched in 1965, Project Head Start was an eight-week pilot
project in 2,500 U.S. communities, its goal to improve social out-
comes in financially disadvantaged preschool children. The first
season involved 500,000 children ages 4 and 5 and their families,
and provided social, health, and education services. Participation
by parents was a cornerstone of Project Head Start. Results from
initial evaluations of Project Head Start done in 1965 were pro-
pitious, showing improvements in IQ of as many as 10 points
in the first summer. It was found that after one summer in the
program, Head Start children were better prepared for school
than their control counterparts, though positive effects from the
program seemed to fade after only a few months. After three
years, President Lyndon Johnson's administration commissioned
a national evaluation of the program. The Westinghouse Report,
published in 1969, found that first and second graders who had
participated in Head Start performed better on school readiness
tests. The report was unable, however, to draw conclusions about
third graders, because of the small number of children sampled.
Further, there were variations in performance that seemed
linked to ethnicity and the geographic location of some children
assessed. In the end, the study concluded that Head Start was
not beneficial, though the validity of these findings have since
been debated. Studies done on Head Start since the original
1969 report have produced findings similar to those produced
earlier by the Early Training and Perry/High Scope projects. For
instance, while participation in Head Start showed immediate
cognitive benefits, these faded in time. Still, participants in the
program were held back in later grades less frequently and were
less apt to need special education (Karoly, 1998).
One thing the earliest Head Start studies revealed was that
parental influence and the quality of a child's home life have
an overwhelming impact on an intervention program's success.
This knowledge helped guide continued study and new interven-
tion models that appeared in the 1970s. Some of these models
strove to intervene earlier in a child's development and use the
parents—as well as the child—as a focal point. These led to
present-day models, which have begun relying on additional cri-
teria to identify academically at-risk children. The trend to catch
children at the earliest ages has continued, with some programs
beginning at birth. Subsequent evaluations have examined larger
experimental and control groups, employed long-term follow-up
and reassessment, and looked at a wider range of outcome crite-
ria to determine success.
Developmentally Delayed Children
Definition
This section examines developmentally delayed children,
developmental milestones (which help doctors assess a child's
development), challenges that exist for the families of develop-
mentally delayed children, and different kinds of intervention
systems that exist in different states.
A child is deemed developmentally delayed when he or she con-
tinuously fails to reach certain developmental milestones at the
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expected times. Developmental milestones are a set of functional
skills and age-specific tasks—and their expected times of mas-
tery and occurrence—used by pediatricians and other specialists
to assess gross motor, fine motor, language, social and cognitive
skill development. Each milestone is given an approximate age
level when it will occur. Every child is different in terms of when
he or she will arrive at a given milestone, but when a child is
consistently late in arriving at milestones in a given category, he
or she may need to be evaluated by a specialist. Developmen-
tal delay can have genetic causes (as in Down syndrome) or be
the result of complications during pregnancy or premature birth.
Some result from hearing loss or lead poisoning (Boyse, 2006).
Others, such as those seen in children with autism spectrum dis-
orders, have unknown causes.
History
Since the 1970s, the field of early intervention for developmen-
tally delayed children has grown in leaps and bounds. During this
time, a number of parent groups and lobbyists successfully put
pressure on the government to enact legislation in favor of early
intervention for these children. In October 1986, the Education
of the Handicapped Act Amendments were passed, creating a
new program providing for early intervention services to infants
and preschool-aged children with disabilities. Interdisciplinary
training programs for physicians and other health professionals
were developed. Behavioral and neurological studies being con-
ducted added to information already known on how infants and
toddlers develop.
Parenting Developmentally Delayed Children
Four significant challenges face the families of children diag-
nosed as developmentally delayed. First, they must wade
through an immense amount of information pertaining to testing
and diagnosis, the nature of their child's condition, and which
programs are most suitable. Second, assessment and diagnosis
undergone by the child create extraordinary stress within the
family. Then there is the challenge of weighing and acting on
information and recommendations. Third, strain is placed upon
family resources. Extra time and money are needed for diagno-
sis and to provide for the child's special needs. Also, one parent
often has to remain home more—at least in the early stages of
diagnosis—which constitutes a loss of income in two-earner
families. Fourth, stress can affect the very act of child rearing.
Parents' confidence in their parenting abilities can be shaken by
the constantly arising, unexpected challenges.
The effects of these four challenges can negatively affect the dis-
abled child's relationship with his or her world in three ways.
First, interactions between child and parents can suffer. An
absence of information regarding the child's condition, for exam-
ple, can leave parents unable to interpret his or her signals and
needs and respond in a nurturing way. Second, the child’s inter-
actions with his or her immediate surroundings and society can
suffer. Initially, parents are prone to selecting toys and activities
inappropriate for the child's special needs. Some families iso-
late themselves socially, robbing their child of opportunities to
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 ​​​Early Intervention​
interact with others, which is crucial to any child's development.
Third, the parents' ability to provide for their child's nutrition,
safety and health can suffer. The drain on financial resources can
affect their ability to provide essential food and medicine. And
some disabled children have special health problems that require
special diets and complex feeding methods, which take time to
diagnose, understand, and provide.
The above-mentioned challenges (overwhelming information,
stress on family members, drain on resources, impact on child
rearing) and their possible effects (interactions between child
and parent; interactions between child and immediate surround-
ings and society; provisions for the child's nutrition, safety, and
health) can greatly compromise the well-being and development
of the developmentally delayed child. Without early intervention,
their effects can cause a downturn in intellectual development
between infancy and age five.
Fortunately, early intervention systems have become more
responsive to challenges families face in three significant ways.
First, most areas of the country offer a wealth of information on
intervention services and financial assistance. Second, support
groups, counseling services, and community networks that help
families have become abundant. Third, most states have estab-
lished straightforward and easy-to-navigate early intervention
systems.
Agencies That Run Early Intervention Programs
In many states, the department of education oversees the early
intervention program for developmentally delayed children and
acts as a major service provider. In the District of Columbia,
Guam, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Oregon, South
Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont, the department even handles
special education for infants and toddlers, as state special educa-
tion laws also apply to children in this age range (Early Childhood
Technical Assistance Center, 2013). In some states, the educa-
tion department plays little or no role at all. In Arkansas, Hawaii,
Idaho, and Massachusetts, for example, departments of health or
human services oversee the program (Early Childhood Technical
Assistance Center, 2013).
Private agencies are often service providers. Some early inter-
vention systems rely on them heavily, while others use almost
none. United Cerebral Palsy, the Arc of the United States, and
Easter Seals are just a few who participate. In some cases, the
department of education or a public agency (e.g., the Department
of Health and Human Services) does processing and assessment,
and the family is referred to an intervention program offered by
a private organization.
Following are examples of different early intervention systems
for developmentally delayed children offered in two different
states:
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Texas
The Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services
consists of a number of formerly independent state agencies and
oversees the Texas' early intervention system, Early Childhood
Intervention (ECI) Services. The council oversees local public
and private agencies that administer the system in assigned areas
of the state. ECI handles the processing, evaluation, and assess-
ment of individual cases, and provides intervention services in
home, school, and community center settings.
North Carolina
North Carolina's early intervention system is overseen by the
Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Sub-
stance Abuse Services(MH/DD/SAS), which is part of the state's
Department of Health and Human Services. Other public agen-
cies—such as the North Carolina Division of Public Health—are
also involved in case processing, coordinating, and tracking.
Entry into North Carolina's early intervention system is done
through local branches of the MH/DD/SAS called “local man-
agement entities” found in every county across the state.
Much data and anecdotal evidence (accounts of parents and teach-
ers) have been amassed on the effectiveness of early intervention
programs since the first intervention projects were launched in
the '60s. Despite the unevenness of early assessments done on
Early Training, Perry/High Scope, and Head Start and the incon-
clusiveness of findings, studies since then have added a wealth
of information. It is believed that early intervention programs
do bring about long-term developmental and academic gains for
children. Further, they improve family functioning and interac-
tion and produce lasting benefits for society. It has been proven
that children who go through early intervention programs are
less apt to need special education services later or be retained
in later grades. Some developmentally delayed children become
indistinguishable from their regularly functioning classmates
years after intervention has ceased.
Terms & Concepts
Cognition: The mental process of knowing, including aspects
such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment.
Developmentally Delayed: Continuously failing to reach on time
milestones that indicate normal development.
Developmental Milestones: Set of functional skills and age-
specific tasks—and their expected times of mastery and
occurrence—used to assess gross motor, fine motor, language,
social and cognitive skill development in children.
Early Intervention: Providing services to children of school age
or younger considered to have—or to be at risk of developing—a
condition that interferes with their development.
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 ​​​Early Intervention​
Early Training Project: Study conducted in the early ’60s that
sought to improve academic performance in low-income chil-
dren by giving them year-round weekly home visits from a
teacher and 10-week summer preschool classes.
Perry/High Scope Project: Study in the ’60s that tried to improve
academic performance of low-income children by giving them
weekly home teacher visits and weekly preschool five months
a year.
Project Head Start: Federally funded study similar to the Early
Training and Perry/High Scope Projects but using a much larger
number of children; gave way to the Head Start, a nationwide,
federal early intervention program for low-income children.
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Essay by John Thomas
Edited by Karen A. Kallio, M.Ed
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Page 6
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Copyright of Early Intervention -- Research Starters Education is the property of Great Neck
Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a
listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.
Copyright of Early Intervention -- Research Starters Education is the property of Great Neck
Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a
listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.