Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this replication study was to examine the effects of special education preschool programs upon early school success of mildly developmentally delayed students. Methodology. This was an ex post facto study. Three groups of students were compared on five variables: special education placements, grade level retentions, acting out behaviors, shy/anxious behaviors, and learning skills. The treatment group was made up of sixty mildly developmentally delayed students who participated in a special education preschool program. Comparison group 1 consisted of sixty mildly developmentally delayed students who did not participate in a special education preschool program. Comparison group 2 included sixty students who had no identified developmental delays prior to entering kindergarten. A chi-square test of independence was used to compare special education placements and grade level retentions. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the acting out behaviors, shy/anxious behaviors, and learning skills. The ANOVA was also used to determine whether or not gender and socioeconomic level played a significant interactive role in the comparisons of the treatment and two comparison groups and their relationships to the acting out behaviors, shy/anxious behaviors, and learning skills. The Scheffe procedure was used to determine where significant differences existed among the treatment and two comparison groups. Findings. The treatment group did as well as comparison group 1 and better than comparison group 2 in all areas except shy/anxious behaviors. Gender and socioeconomic level had no interactive effects upon the five dependent variables across the three groups. Conclusions. With respect to the percentages of special education placements and grade level retentions, the treatment group experienced more early school success than comparison group 1 and nearly as much success as comparison group 2. Participation in a special education preschool program may help reduce acting out behavior problems and enhance learning skills. Recommendations. The following recommendations for further research are submitted for the purpose of expanding upon this study: (1) Replicate this study in a metropolitan area; (2) replicate this study using a quasi-experimental design; (3) replicate this study adding the variable of cost effectiveness to the methodology; (4) longitudinal research should be conducted examining the same treatment and comparison groups.