Effectiveness of Early Intervention Program EIP

¶ … EIPs

Early Intervention Programs have been on the top of the minds of educators and educational psychologists for as long as there has been recorded and statistical student success within them. "...children enrolled in early intervention programs can expect, on average, to achieve an increase on standard tests of intelligence of approximately 8-12 IQ points in comparison to those children not receiving intervention services." (Guralnick, 1991) Ideas associated with the intellectual, psychosocial and language development of children occurring at a younger and younger age has spurned educators to track the long-term success of both early, preschool educational intervention and also standard kindergarten models of EIPs. "EI programs are, by nature, programs that deliver comprehensive services." (Dinnebeil, Hale & Rule, 1999, p. 225) Those comprehensive services are usually family focused, as the early childhood experience takes place mostly within the home.

The challenges associated with the new era of research on the subject include conducting efficacy research based upon the data and outcomes units of some of the EIPs. Within this work four main questions will be answered: According to researchers what makes an effective Early Intervention Program? Does research show that family centered programs are most effective? Does family intervention include more support service access that in the past and if so why and how? What models and methods are most useful in bridging the educational gap between at risk children and their peers?

The early intervention model has been in play since the early seventies and with the ages of many of its students reaching what researchers would consider the long-term level, studies have been done to once again measure the effectiveness of certain techniques and early intervention plans associated with the 0-3 and 0-6 age groups. The experts associated with this review recognize that the most effective early intervention programs are those that can demonstrate consistent measurable long-term results such as those mentioned in the IQ point increase example above. Both disabled children and normal learners with environmental or situational at risk factors receive moderate but real results from early intervention programs. "Results revealed that the decline in intellectual development of children over a 1-year-period was minimized for those parents who were more satisfied with their level of social support." (Guralnick, 1991)

It seems that the turn of the century has marked an important stage for the collective reporting upon the past and the future of EIPs. (Guralnick, 1991) Educators are defining new contexts and utilizing twenty years of EIP work to demonstrate the usefulness of the programs in an increasingly sparse educational economy. "...legislators are scrutinizing budgets with unusual care, and documentation of the effectiveness of programs and their immediate and long-term effects can be highly persuasive." (Guralnick, 1991) Guralnick believes that the most important function of research on the early intervention model is consistent and definable reporting that can be compared to develop a statistical model without vulnerability.

One of the most clearly defined answers to the development of effective early intervention programs, with statistically effective long-term results is the use of a family centered early intervention plan. (Dunst, Johanson, Trivette & Hamby, 1991) (Bruder, 2000, p. 105) "In a family-centered approach, professionals collaborate with families to select and implement early intervention services, requiring active efforts to support families as full partners (Shelton, Jeppson, & Johnson, 1987)." (Bailey et al., 1998) Family centered EIPs are by far the most common, so much so that the outcome for the entire family is now suggested to be a previously neglected but important tool for assessing the effectiveness of any EIP. (Bailey et al., 1998) The challenge then becomes determining what outcomes can be measured and by what means the challenges of the family can be addressed and possibly solved not only for the betterment of the EIP experience for the enrolled child but for the entire family.

According to Guralnick and the experts he has reviewed, "...early intervention is now thought to be most valuable if it is directed primarily toward strengthening natural parent-child relationships, rather than encouraging parents to assume therapeutic or educational roles -- roles that often require didactic activities similar to those of professionals (Affleck, McGrade, McQueeney, & Allen, 1982)." (Guralnick, 1991) Up to this point there is some evidence to suggest that the multi-faceted role of families and especially parents in the household of an at-risk learner, and especially that of a disabled child may severely hinder the relationship the child has in the home and with the family.

Providing some sort of comprehensive service overview and assessing the availability of regional services, as an entry point for supportive health and disability care can be one of the primary roles of a EIP professional within the home. It has been shown that when the parent has more opportunity to simply be the parent, rather than the health care provider, educator, behavioral professional and so on...children and families benefit from the experience. In this way EIP programs can be entry points for alternative sources of support for what in most cases would be considered additional rather than normal parenting tasks.

As a point of conclusion the final addressed question, (What types of programs and techniques are most useful in bridging the educational gap between at-risk learners and their peers?) will be answered. This question is associated more with the socio-economic and environmental at-risk students than it is with the developmentally challenged student yet the answer to it can serve as a good starting point for additional research associated with those children most likely to be left out of EIP services. Recognition of risk factors in children up till the last twenty years has erroneously been left to the early educational system. EIPs clearly attempt to recognize children with mild to moderate learning challenges as early as possible and are most effective in doing so when the program is family centered, supportive and collaborative in nature.