APPENDIX A
DESCRIPTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION PROGRAMS MENTIONED IN THE REPORT
Abecedarian Project
The Carolina Abecedarian Project was designed to test the effectiveness of intensive early intervention with children from low-income families. All 111 children who participated received nutritional supplements during the first years of life, and their families received social service referrals (when needed) until the participating child was 8 years old. In addition, 57 of the participating children received a year-round, all-day, educational childcare/preschool program emphasizing the development of cognitive, language, and adaptive behavior skills, until they were 5 years old. The parents also participated in parent group meetings.
Burchinal, M.R. , F.A. Campbell , D.M. Bryant , B.H. Wasik , and C.T. Ramey 1997 Early intervention and mediating processes in cognitive performance of children of low-income African American families. Child Development 68 : 935-954 .
Campbell, F.A. , and C.T. Ramey 1994 Effects of early intervention on intellectual and academic achievement: A follow-up study of children from low-income families. Child Development 65 : 684-698. Ongoing updates on this project can be accessed online at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~abc.
Brookline Early Education Project
The Brookline Early Education Project provided home visits to families, parent training, parent support groups, toddler and preschool education through play groups and a prekindergarten program, health and developmental exams, and toy and book lending libraries for 185 children. It was part of the Brookline Public School system in Brookline, MA.
Schultz, T. , E. Lopez , and M. Hochberg 1996 Early Childhood Reform in Seven Communities: Front-Line Practice, Agency Management, and Public Policy . Washington, DC : Office of Educational Research and Improvement , U.S. Department of Education .
Early Training Project
The Early Training Project was an educational intervention that involved 92 black American 3- to 4-year-old children from low-income families in two small southern cities. The project placed half of the children in a 10-week summer preschool program for the two or three summers prior to the first grade, and the families of these children also received weekly home visits during the remainder of the year. The other half of the children were in control groups. The program emphasized both affective and cognitive development, and aimed to impact attitudes relating to achievement and school performance.
Gray, S.W. , B.K. Ramsey , and R.A. Kalus 1982 From 3 to 20: The Early Training Project . Baltimore : University Park Press.
Infant Health and Development Program
The Infant Health and Development Program was a comprehensive intervention for low birth weight and premature children and included 985 children spread over 8 diverse sites across the country. All of the children received pediatric surveillance and community referral services. One third of the families also received family support through home visits, full-day child care in the IHDP sites' Child Development Centers, and regular group meetings for the parents.
Gross, R.T. , D. Spiker , and C.W. Haynes , eds. 1997 Helping Low Birth Weight, Premature Babies: The Infant Health and Development Program . Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press .
Milwaukee Project
The Milwaukee Project targeted mentally retarded parents and their children and included 35 economically disadvantaged families. From birth until age 6, when they started school, the children in 17 of the families participated in a specialized nursery and preschool program that promoted language and cognitive development, and reading and math skills. Their mothers received parenting education and access to social services through a home visitor. In addition, the mothers in these families were enrolled in adult education classes, received vocational training, and were helped to find a job.
Garber, H.L. 1988 The Milwaukee Project: Preventing Mental Retardation in Children At Risk . Washington, DC : American Association on Mental Retardation.
Perry Preschool Project
The Perry Preschool Project included 123 3- and 4-year-old children who were assigned to either the intervention or the control group. The intervention group received 2.5 hours of preschool experience 5 days a week for 7.5 months each year for 2 years (except for one small group of children who received only one year of services). In addition, teachers visited each mother and child at home for 90 minutes once per week during the school year.
Schweinhart, L.J., and D.P. Weikart 1997 Lasting Differences: The High/Scope Preschool Curriculum Comparison Study Through Age 23. Ypsilanti, MI : High/Scope Press .
Project Care
Project CARE targeted children from birth through the preschool years who lived in families with low socioeconomic status. The 65 children who participated were split up in to three groups: the first group participated in high-quality child care that ad-
dressed both cognitive and social development and received family education through home visiting; the second group received only family education through home visiting; and the third group received only nutritional supplements. All groups had access to a social worker.
Wasik, B.H., C.T. Ramey, D.M. Bryant, and J.J. Sparling 1990 A longitudinal study of two early intervention strategies: Project CARE. Child Development 61(6) : 1682-1696.
Syracuse Program
The Syracuse University Family Development Research Program was designed to support parenting strategies that enhanced children's development. It provided extensive child care, home visiting, health and nutrition, and human services resources to 108 families, beginning in the third trimester of pregnancy and continuing throughout the first five years of the children's lives.
Honig, A.S. 1977The Children's Center and the Family Development Research Program . Pp. 81-99in Infant Education: A Guide for Helping Handicapped Children in the First Three Years .B.M. Caldwell and D.J. Stedman , eds. NewYork : Walker & Co.