Program evaluation findings of an intensive early intervention program

An intensive early intervention program was evaluated through determining child gains made by 44 children with special needs in cognition, gross-motor, fine-motor, receptive language, and expressive language domains. Gains were examined for the total group and two subgroups based upon their delays at pretesting. Analyses comparing actual to predicted posttest scores for the total group did not reveal statistically significant gains in any domains. Findings by subgroup revealed that in cognition, gross-motor, and fine-motor domains, the group with less severe impairments made more progress. Results were interpreted in light of constraints imposed by the measurement tools and discussed in terms of policy implications and the limitations involved in conducting quality program evaluation in early intervention.