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Chapter 4

Assessment of Young Children with Special Needs

What is Assessment?

Assessment is an integral component of early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) services for children birth through age eight with known or suspected disabilities.

Assessment

“The process of gathering information for decision making” (McLean, Wolery, and Bailey, 2004)

“A flexible, collaborative decision-making process in which teams comprised of families and professionals repeatedly revise their judgments and make decisions” (Bagnato and Neisworth, 1991)

Assessment

“A multi-level process, beginning with screening procedures and continuing through diagnosis, planning of intervention, and program monitoring and evaluation” (Richard and Schiefelbusch 1991)

Assessment Purposes

Assessment information is gathered to be used in making a decision in one or more of the following areas:

Screening

Eligibility

Program planning

Progress monitoring and evaluation

“Assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation are overlapping activities”

McCormick (1997)

Linked Assessment Process

Screening: Is further assessment needed?

Eligibility: Is the child eligible for early childhood special education services?

Program Planning: What are the child’s educational needs and baseline skills?

Progress Monitoring: Is the child making progress over time?

General Assessment Considerations

Multidisciplinary Team: The involvement of two or more professionals from different disciplines in EI/ECSE activities

Transdisciplinary Team: Type of model used in EI/ECSE

Composed of family members and professionals representing a variety of disciplines

Addresses specific assessment questions

Assessment Instruments

Different types of tests implemented, depending on the purpose of the assessment

Standardized tests administered during formal testing

Standardized testing instrument

The individual child’s performance or behavior that is exhibited while putting specific skills into action

Interpreted in relation to the performance of a “norming” group

A group of peers of the same age group who have taken the same test

Norm-Referenced Tests

Provide a score that is relative to other children in a particular group

Advantages

Compare children to other children of the same age for eligibility purposes, report reliability and validity information

Can usually be administered in a short period of time

Disadvantages

Administration of the tests usually take place in an unfamiliar setting rather than the natural environment

Criterion-Referenced Assessments

Determine whether a child’s performance meets an established criteria or a certain level of mastery within various developmental domains

Strengths

They offer a continuum of skills linked to the curriculum

Limitations

Time-consuming to administer

May include items that are not appropriate or functional for children

Curriculum-Based Assessments

Similar to criterion-referenced measures

Curriculum-referenced instruments are used to interpret a child’s performance in relation to specific curriculum content

Reliability refers to the consistency or dependability of an assessment instrument

Important for making generalizations about children’s learning and development

Validity

Extent to which an assessment instrument measures what it was designed to measure

Five types

Content validity: Refers to how well the test represents the content it purports to measure

Instructional validity: The extent to which the information gained from an assessment instrument would be useful in planning intervention programs for young children with delays or disabilities

Validity

Construct validity: Focuses on the degree to which a test addresses the constructs on which it was based

Concurrent validity: Concerned with how well a test correlates with other accepted measures of performance administered close in time to the first

Predictive validity: Focuses on the extent to which a test relates to some future measure of performance

Authentic Assessment

The process of observing, recording, collecting, and otherwise documenting what children do and how they do it for the purpose of making educational or intervention decisions

Observational Assessment
Play-based Assessment
Interviews

Considerations and Cautions in the Assessment of Young Children

Developmental domains: The key areas typically addressed in comprehensive assessments of young children

Most assessment instruments for young children seek to measure development in one or more of the interrelated skill domains:

Cognitive skills – Social skills

Motor skills – Adaptive skills

Communication skills

Problems with Traditional Assessment Practices

The problems associated with the use of intelligence tests for young children

The limited number of appropriate instruments for young children with delays or disabilities

The nature and characteristics of young children and families

The cultural bias and lack of cultural sensitivity in traditional assessment procedures

Inappropriate Use of Intelligence Tests with Young Children

Intelligence test: Standardized measure of intellectual functioning

There is an over-reliance on intelligence tests.

Professionals who are responsible for assessment may be unfamiliar with more appropriate ways to determine a true estimate of the abilities of young children (Mclean, Wolery, & Bailey, 2004).

An extensive amount of time is required to conduct a thorough assessment using authentic measures (e.g., observations, family interviews) across multiple settings (e.g., home or school).

Limitations of Assessment Instruments for Young Children with Disabilities

Assessment Problem

Relatively small number of assessment instruments available that are appropriate for young children with disabilities

Most standardized tests are designed for children experiencing typical development and will not reflect the abilities and needs of children with disabilities.

Effective Assessment

Rely on sensitivity to the age of the child and the nature of the child’s disability or delay.

Characteristics of Young Children and Their Families

The nature and characteristics of young children can be particularly challenging during the assessment process.
Assessment results will be more accurate if testers allow time for children to become familiar with them.
In addition, familiar surroundings may help children feel more at ease and yield a more accurate portrayal of their abilities.

Cultural Issues

Culturally biased assessment: Measures only skills and abilities valued by the dominant Western culture

Children from non-dominate or non-Western cultures are placed at a unique disadvantage

Professionals must strive for accurate and appropriate assessments of children from diverse backgrounds

Requires attention to the uniqueness of each child’s culture and experience

Recommended Practices and
Standards for Assessment

The Utility of the Assessment

The Acceptability of the Assessment

The Authenticity of Assessments

Collaboration in the Assessment Process

Convergence of Assessment Information

Equity

Sensitivity of Assessment

Congruence

Guidelines for Assessing Children

Screening Young Children

Screening is an assessment procedure designed to determine, from within a large population of children, those who need to be referred for further assessment in one or more areas of development
A screening procedure may last anywhere from five to fifteen minutes

Screening Young Children

The screening process begins immediately following birth.
One of the first screenings experienced by infants and their families is the Apgar Scale
Infants are screened at one-minute and five- minute intervals following their birth in the following areas: (a) heart rate, (b) respiration, (c) reflex response, (d) muscle tone, and (e) color)

Screening Young Children

Blood and urine tests are additional routine procedures used to detect metabolic disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU), referred to as a PKU screening.
The levels of sensitivity and specificity measure the screening tool’s validity, which tells us the extent to which a test measures what it says it measures.

Determining Eligibility for Services

Eligibility Criteria

For early primary-level children, the IDEA 1997 allowed for the developmental delay eligibility category to be extended to age nine, if states desire

Eligibility Procedures and Instruments

Recommended practice suggests that no major decision about child’s eligibility should be made solely on the results of a single test

Assessment for Program Planning in Early Childhood Special Education

To make an accurate appraisal of the child’s strengths and needs, assessment for program planning purposes should focus on the whole child within the context of the natural environment (e.g., home, child care, preschool, or school settings).

Assessment for Program Planning in Early Childhood Special Education

Program planning assessment is an ongoing process that focuses on children’s skill levels, needs, backgrounds, experiences, and interests, as well as the family’s preferences and priorities.

Family Involvement in the Assessment Process

“Top-down” or “outcome- driven” model suggests using family-identified outcomes for the child as the starting point of the assessment.

Family Involvement in the Assessment Process

Assessment information should be collected from families on an ongoing basis, should be an integral part of the planning process, and should be a collaborative effort; therefore, it is essential for families to develop trust and be confident that the assessment process will maintain privacy and confidentiality.

Naturalistic Assessment

Also referred to as ecological assessments

Increasingly being used to replace traditional assessment practices for young children with delays or disabilities

The best place to determine if a child has a functional skill is in the environment(s) where he or she uses that skill

A functional skill is a basic skill that is required on a frequent basis in the natural environment

Progress Monitoring and Program Evaluation

Monitoring Child Progress and Outcomes

Collecting individual, child-focused information can serve as a valuable monitoring tool to provide input about child outcomes and program effectiveness

Variety of methods should be used to ensure a collection of reliable, valid, and useful progress monitoring data

(Branscombe, Castle, Dorsey, Surbeck. & Taylor, 2003; Wolery, 2004)

Anecdotal Recording

Anecdotal records may entail written notes on specific behaviors, including events that preceded and followed each behavior observed (e.g., skill development for a child in a specific domain, what words a child used during certain activities, and in what situations a child engaged in spontaneous communication).

Portfolio Assessment

A portfolio is a systematic and organized record of children’s work and behaviors that is collected at regular intervals that can be used for qualitative comparisons of their knowledge, skills, efforts, and progress over time.

Overall Program Effectiveness

Program evaluation has been defined as an objective, systematic process for gathering information about a program, or set of activities.

Early childhood special education programs must have well-developed purposes and evaluation plans prior to the beginning of services to increase the programs’ ability to document outcomes.

Chapter Summary

Assessment of young children with delays or disabilities is a comprehensive process with overlapping components rather than a single procedure.
Assessment must be useful, acceptable, authentic, collaborative, convergent, equitable, sensitive, and congruent.