A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF TYPE OF CLASSROOM AND SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS ON TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

This article presents a descriptive analysis of 37 toddler-age childre n in early intervention. The children had disabilities that ranged fro m moderate to severe, and they attended classroom settings that were e ither segregated (children with disabilities only) or inclusive (child care classrooms having no more than two children with disabilities). T he two groups of children were comparable on indices of child developm ent and family background, and they were placed in classrooms accordin g to service availability and family preference. A number of service c haracteristics differentiated the two types of classrooms, including a higher intensity and frequency of related services being delivered to children in segregated classrooms and larger groups of children and s lightly longer hours in the childcare classroom. After 1 year of inter vention, there was no difference in developmental progress between the two groups of children; that is, inclusive childcare settings were as effective as segregated classrooms for the group of toddlers discusse d in this article.