Citation

Gilliam WS, Ripple CH, Zigler EF, Leiter V. Early Child Res. Q. 2000; 15(1): 41-59.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0885-2006(99)00041-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) was a demonstration project designed to test a specific model of service delivery for young children and families in poverty. Following the evaluation's failure to show strong impacts, early intervention has come under fire from opponents in the popular literature and in Congress. We conclude that shortcomings in both implementation and evaluation contributed to the failure to demonstrate effectiveness. Lessons learned from the CCDP are articulated, addressing the roles of demonstration projects and their evaluations, the problems associated with evaluating programs early in their implementation, the importance of assuring appropriate treatment quantity and quality, and the judicious use and interpretation of large-scale randomized evaluations.