Early education as community intervention: Assisting an ethnic minority to be ready for school

An early education program designed for an ethnic minority of Native Hawaiians implemented at the community rather than the individual child level of intervention is described. The program development effort is theory driven and provides an opportunity to investigate the application of neo-Vygotskian theory to an applied community educational problem. Though not specifically derived from the work of O'Donnell, Tharp, and Wilson (1993), the project reported here shares a common intellectual heritage. This paper demonstrates the parallels between the early education program developed for Hawaiian children and the applicability of the theory presented in the work of O'Donnell et al.Portions of this research were supported by Grant #40212121 and Grant #MCJ495051 from the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health and Resource Management, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded to the Center of Development of Early Education, Kamehameha School, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817, and to the Early Intervention Research Institute, Center for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University, respectively.