AN EVALUATION OF DISSEMINATION PRACTICES IN THE HANDICAPPED CHILDREN'S EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAM

This study evaluates the success of dissemination activities carried out by ten developer projects funded by the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program (HCEEP) of the United States Department of Education. Each developer project completed a 43 item questionnaire and provided a list of target sites that they had served via outreach training. A second 30 item questionnaire was sent to these identified target sites. All ten developer questionnaires were returned and 222 target site questionnaires were returned of which 186 contained sufficient information for inclusion. Results indicate no significant relationship between a clearly articulated dissemination philosophy by developers or frequency, length or location of training upon success of programs at target sites as perceived by these target sites. The impact of the Handicapped Childrens Early Education Program indicates that larger numbers of handicapped young children are served by outreach activities than previously estimated. Data analysis reveals significant (.05) variation between outreach training proposed and reported by developers and that actually experienced by the target sites served. More than half of the target sites, 63%, reported that outreach training was critical to the success of their service projects. Reasons for success at target sites in addition to outreach training are staff expertise and administrative and parental support at the local level. Preferred training procedures and suggestions for improved outreach assistance are reported. A total of 80% of the target sites surveyed reported that they were partial replications or adapted development of the original developer model rather than total replications. This study concludes that evaluation of dissemination programs needs to focus on adapted development based on local needs rather than replication fidelity. The variation between proposed and actual practices by developers indicates a need for more efficient planning and procedural evaluation of outreach efforts to align proposed and reported practices by model developers with actual experience of target sites receiving training.