The Relationship Between Time in Integrated Environments and Developmental Gains in Young Children with Special Needs

This article describes an investigation between time spent in integrated school settings and developmental gains. Subjects were 135 children with special needs, 58 of whom had Down Syndrome. Subjects resided in 14 locations across the United States, and all were enrolled in outreach sites of the Model Preschool Program for Children with Down Syndrome and Other Developmental Delays. Subjects were assigned to one of three levels of time (minutes) in mainstreamed environments. There were no significant differences between the three groups in rate of gains in any of the six domains. When data were analyzed for Down syndrome subjects only, a single significant difference was found in the domain of expressive language, favoring children in sites with no integration. The results suggest the variable of time in integrated settings lacks the power to substantially impact developmental outcome.