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Screening and Assessment for Infants and Toddlers. Using What you Know to Individualize Your Curriculum. Session Objectives. Understand the difference between Screening and Assessment Understand how both formal and informal methods of assessment provide useful data to support development.
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Screening and Assessment for Infants and Toddlers Using What you Know to Individualize Your Curriculum
Session Objectives • Understand the difference between Screening and Assessment • Understand how both formal and informal methods of assessment provide useful data to support development. • Learn how multiple sources of information can inform curriculum planning for individual infants and toddlers
Activity • Draw a Self Portrait • Trade with your neighbor • What can you learn from this about the artist?
Screening • Developmental • Sensory • Behavioral • Motor • Language • Social • Cognitive • Perceptual • Emotional Head Start must complete screening within 45 days (45CFR 1304.20(b)(1-3):
What is Screening? • A snapshot of one moment in time. • One component of ongoing observations about needs and resources of child and family.
What Does Screening Tell Us? • Whether developmental skills are on track • Whether there is cause for concern and need for further evaluation.
Screening Process • Systematic • Schedule • Communication • Process for referral • Process for tracking referral outcomes • Process for tracking change over time
Screening Process • Screening for infants and toddlers is conducted in natural settings by familiar people.
Screening Process • Includes observations of children’s behavior and actions from • Parents • Staff • Child care providers • Others who work with the child.
Screening Process • Incorporates health and developmental history: • Prenatal care and childbirth • Timelines for developmental milestones • Past and current health issues • Information collected from parents • Initial health examination results.
Screening Process • Sensitive to cultural and linguistic background of the child and family • Considers other family characteristics • Safe housing • Employment • Quality child care • Social and emotional supports • Child-rearing practices in the family • Nature of family relationships that might affect the child • Other vulnerabilities such as exposure to violence, stress or family crisis situations.
Screening Tools • Standardized • Reliable (consistent results over time and among screeners) • Valid (measures what it intends to measure) • Normative (normal or average performance on the test is determined on a large, representative sample of the intended population)
Screening Tools • No requirement to use specific screening tools. • Work with • VA Head Start Infant Toddler Specialist, • Virginia Infant Toddler Network, • Mental Health Professionals or • Part C community partners to find acceptable screening tools. (See handout for resources)
Networking Activity • How do you screen infants and toddlers for possible developmental concerns? • What screening tool to you use? • Who does the screening in your program? • When and where is the screening done? • Can you think of a child you work with for whom concerns were discovered through screening? What happened?
Screening Snapshot Standardized Screens for concerns Multiple Sources Just the beginning!
Developmental Assessment • Ongoing process to measure child’s development over time. • Encompasses all activities that provide information about child’s developmental strengths, needs, resources and family practices
Assessment Process • Informed by screening information • Conducted daily in natural settings • Data aggregated and analyzed periodically throughout the year. • Formal and informal data collection
Collecting and Documenting Data • Formal: • Structured observations • Published developmental checklists or profiles • Medical tests and procedures • Informal • Daily Observations documented by • anecdotal notes • Photographs • Samples of work (such as scribbles or drawing)
Skills for Assessment • Staff who screen and assess young children need: • Excellent observation skills • A thorough knowledge of child development • An understanding of the proper use and interpretation of screening and assessment tools • Relationship-building skills with children and adults • Knowledge of how to best use the results • Ability to effectively communicate the results to parent and other professionals.
Documenting Observations • Objective language: • Avoid adjectives like fussy, angry, happy or sad • Leave no room for interpretation • Describe behaviors, not feelings • Describe actions, gestures, facial expressions • Quote language with no interpretation • Describe creations and related actions • Date and label everything!
Just Blowing Bubbles? • Find a partner. • Look at the picture on the next slide. • Answer the questions beside the picture. • How would you document this event to communicate the information you want people to know about this child?
Just Blowing Bubbles? • What can you determine about this child from this picture? • What questions do you have about this child? • What additional information do you need for this to be useful for ongoing assessment?
Family Partnerships • Integral to ongoing assessment • Frequent communication: • All staff need to be included in information sharing. • All staff need to understand their roles regarding what to share and how to share information with parents. • Information for families should be • Accessible • Understandable and meaningful • Put into action—related to every day activities at home and at the center.
Developmental Assessment • Ongoing • Multiple Sources of Information • Formal and Informal • Natural Settings • Family Partnerships • Documentation • Relationship-based
Data Analysis • We’ve collected the data—Now what do we do with it?
Responsive Process • Ongoing Assessment takes place every day. • Watch: Pay attention to a child’s signals- • Crying • Fidgeting • Smiling or laughing • Ask what the child wants • Slow down, wait and watch for a response • Adapt actions to the child’s interest. • Document your observations
Contact Information Ann Janney-Schultz, Manager, ECE/Infant/Toddler Specialist Virginia Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Center 540-344-4547 (office) 540-520-2171 (Cell) Ajanney-schultz@icfi.com Lisa Wagley ECE Specialist Virginia Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Center (434) 589-2281 (Office) (434) 906-0027 lwagley@icfi.com