EVALUATION OF A RURAL-BASED EARLY INTERVENTION PERSONNEL PREPARATION PROJECT

To meet the critical need for early intervention/early childhood speci al education (EI/ECSE) personnel in rural areas, the Rural Early Inter vention Training Project was developed. The content of this program wa s designed to assist students in developing competencies in 8 areas, w ith an emphasis on practicum activities in the rural locale. Universit y professors traveled to a designated rural community to conduct cours ework each month, and a practicum supervisor observed students bi-mont hly. Project evaluation results suggested student acquisition of inter vention skills and high student satisfaction with coursework, supervis ors, and instructors. In addition, results on the Early Intervention S elf-Rating instrument (Ryan-Vincek & Losardo, 1987) reflected a signif icant positive linear trend in students' self-ratings for 14 of 16 rat ings.