An Investigation of the Influence of a Six-Week Extended School Year Program on Maintaining the Development Level of Young Children with Disabilities

This study investigated the difference in pretest and posttest scores between those children who attended an extended school year program and those children who did not. Twenty-five early childhood special education (ECSE) students, ranging in ages from 3 to 6 years, attending an ECSE program in a small rural area in central Kansas, participated in this study. The students were pretested and post tested using the Battelle Developmental Inventory. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the retention of skills between the children who attended the extended school year program and those who did not in the personal -social, adaptive, fine and gross motor, and cognitive domains. The children were also compared by ages and gender. When compared by ages, the significant difference was greater between the 4-year-olds than the 5-year-olds. The comparison by gender showed the significant difference was greater between the boys than the girls