INTERACTION BETWEEN EARLY INTERVENTION CURRICULA AND STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

This study examined the relative effects of two highly contrasting ear ly intervention programs, Mediated Learning (ML) and Direct Instructio n (DI), in a randomized design. Subjects were children (ages 3-7 years ) with mild to moderate disabilities in cognitive, language, socioemot ional, and motor development. No main effect differences between the t wo groups were found on a battery of cognitive, language, and motor me asures. Aptitude-x-Treatment Interaction (ATI) analyses of pretest and posttest results indicated that, contrary to conventional wisdom, rel atively higher performing students gained more from DI, whereas relati vely lower performing students gained more from ML. Although ATIs were significant, the effect sizes were modest (3%-8% of variance) and do not yet warrant major changes in educational practices.