In an attempt to provide technically adequate screening with criteria for referring children for further evaluation, the Diagnostic Index (DI) was developed. The DI expresses the relationship between a child's chronological and developmental ages, identifies as a percentage of normal development the discrepancy between age appropriate behaviors…

The article describes three preschool units for children with special educational needs and considers the problems in integrating them into the mainstream. They note that true integration must include involvement of parents and collaboration with teachers. (CL)

A multiple baseline design was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a self-instruction training sequence across three groups of three preschool handicapped students to improve their ability to count a requested number of objects from one to ten. Eight of nine students showed improved accuracy in counting objects and generalized these gains to…

The paper proposes a methodological expansion in evaluation research--an eco-behavioral approach. Implications of using the eco-behavioral approach in the evaluation of preschool programs for the disabled are discussed. This methodology is said to allow both determination of early intervention effectiveness and specification of factors responsible…

Current research programs for handicapped preschoolers and their families is reviewed under five administrative roles--program manager, policy planner, monitor-evaluator, advocate, and trainer-facilitator. Implications for administrators include activities/skill building in affective development, family services, technology, policy analysis,…

Meta-analysis techniques were employed to integrate statistically the findings from 74 studies on early intervention with handicapped preschoolers. Findings indicate that early intervention produces positive sizeable effect size; that longer, more intense programs are associated with efficacy; and that little support was found for commonly held…

A parent training program emphasizing acquisition of general (as opposed to task-specific) techniques facilitated spontaneous generalization of parenting skills from the school to the home for one parent, but not for a second parent. (Author/CL)

An alternating treatment design was used to examine differential treatment effects of employing single and multiple peers to promote social interactions of two handicapped preschoolers. Differential treatment results were generally not found. Both types of peer-initiation interventions produced increases in handicapped children's social…

Mothers of delayed boys held an idealized view of "the average child's" problem-solving skills, were significantly less accurate than mothers of control boys in predicting their sons' level of performance, and tended to rate their sons as less cooperative and attentive than the boys were rated by an independant observer. (Author/CL)

The study investigated the extent to which six handicapped and six nonhandicapped preschoolers interacted with other children and adults during free play, fine motor, circle, and snack. Observations and analysis of the interaction revealed that only noticeable differences between the two groups were observed during free play activities. (Author/CL)

The study examined relationships between symbolic play and language in 10 developmentally delayed preschool children. As predicted, individual subject data revealed instances of correspondence and noncorrespondence between developmental levels of symbolic play and communication forms. Several patterns of play-language relationships are discussed…

Scores of 84 referred preschoolers on the Revised Denver Developmental Screening Test and the Developmental Profile II were compared with subsequent standardized tests of cognitive, motor, and language ability. Results suggested that both instruments are imperfect yet useful tools. (Author/CL)

A mother expresses her feelings regarding volunteering her daughter as a model child in a program for preschool handicapped children. She points out that her daughter's experiences in the program may, in the future, make her more understanding of handicapped persons. (SW)

The author responds to a previous article (EC 122 795) explaining and critiquing various efficiency index formulas to quantify the effectiveness of intervention in preschool program for the handicapped. (DB)

Findings indicated that the importance of effective transition was recognized and that transition procedures were written into many programs, but were not followed in practice. Journal availability: see EC 133 846. (Author)