NANCY BROCKWAY, M.A., OTR/L ROBIN HOOFNAGLE, M.S. CCC-SLP YVONNIE HUTCHISON, OTR/L, MSOL CREATING CONNECTIONS FOR SHINING STARS JULY 24, 2013 Be Informed! Be Authentic! Think Outside the Box of Your Standard Test Tool Kit

“Much of developmental psychology (early childhood testing) as it now exists is the science of the strange behavior of children with strange adults in strange settings for the briefest possible periods of time.” (Bagnato p. 118)

Best Practices in Assessment 1.Family and professional collaboration in planning and implementing assessment 2.Assessment is individualized and appropriate for child and family 3.Assessment provides useful information for intervention 4.Information is shared by professionals in respectful and useful ways 5.Legal and procedural requirements are met (Bagnato, PP. 7-15)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Compare and contrast Conventional Assessments and Authentic Assessments. 2. Develop strategies to capture useful and authentic information during assessment for service planning and ongoing assessment. 3. Identify strategies to promote caregiver participation in order to achieve more accuracy in understanding and reporting family routines and priorities to develop functional outcomes.

WHY DO WE ASSESS? Assessment – is a process for gathering information to make decisions about young children. (Bagnato Power Point, slide 3)

Purposes for Assessment Screening: Does the child require further assessment? Determining Diagnosis/Eligibility: Does the child qualify for services? Intervention Planning: What should I teach and how should I modify instruction? Progress Monitoring: Is the child making progress developmentally? Evaluating Program effectiveness: Meeting the needs of children and families?  Federal requirements-OSEP Child Outcomes/Indicators: -Positive social-emotional skills -Acquisition and use of knowledge -Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.

Which tool are you using

Conventional Authentic For purposes of diagnosis, delay or disorder (Bagnato, S.A., Neisworth, J.T., Pretti-Frontczak, K. P.6) To compare scores to peers who are typically developing To get a true picture of what the child can and can not do for the purpose of treatment planning (Bagnato, et al. P.13-14) To identify child’s strengths and needs for intervention planning. Compare and Contrast WHY?

Conventional Authentic Unfamiliar professionals Family Caregivers Familiar adults in child’s life- baby sitters, neighbors Unfamiliar professionals Compare and Contrast WHO?

Conventional Authentic Contrived environment/clinic setting Natural learning environments: Home Daycare Grocery store Place of worship Community center Compare and Contrast WHERE?

Conventional Authentic Highly scripted event Use of standardized objects and procedures. Specific criteria for obtaining credit for the test item Systematic recording of developmental observations overtime Observations of child’s play and responses to daily routines. Use of child’s toys, home or daycare items Compare and Contrast HOW?

Conventional Authentic Scheduled when evaluator is available. Time that meets child’s/family’s schedule Flexible process Observations made over time within daily routines Compare and Contrast WHEN?

Why We Embrace Tenants of Authentic Assessment Creates partnerships and values expertise of parent/caretaker Supports assessment and intervention in natural learning environments Looks at child in more meaningful functional manner Captures uniqueness of each child and family Fair assessment of all children regardless of functional limitations

Why We Embrace Tenants of Authentic Assessment Supports integration of information gathered at intake visit into ASP/ IFSP development Aligns with Early Indicators Adheres to the Key Principles for Providing Early Intervention Moves toward best practice Offers opportunity to integrate observation and clinical knowledge

Activity To use authentic assessment practices during an ASP,  look at the underlying skills and abilities that the test item requires for the child to be considered successful.  With the team members, including parents/caregivers, find alternative activities that demonstrate the child’s functional competence in the task/area being measured. Identify some questions you can ask the parents/caregivers to elicit information related to their child’s functional competency as an alternative to the specific test items?

Activity Example When considering assessment results and writing IFSP goals with families, think about what a missed skill tells you about the child’s development. Break that skill down into its parts and think broadly. Target the underlying skills and abilities the child needs to learn. Plan- within daily routines in the natural learning environment, develop strategies with the family that address these learning needs using different, interesting materials in lots of different ways.

Activity Example Obtains Toy with a Stick 17 months Cognitive #62; Fine Motor #51 Materials: Small rubber toy; Table; Stick Procedure: Placer rubber toy on table in front of child, just out of reach, Place the stick so that it touches the toy and points toward child. Then say “I can make the toy (or name the toy) come”, and pull the toy towards the child using the stick. Replace toy and stick and say “You make the toy come.” Demonstrate again if child seems unsure. Criteria: Credit if child makes purposeful attempt to obtain toy, although muscular coordination may be lacking to be successful. Child should attain toy successfully by 20 months.

Activity Example Obtains Toy with a Stick What is that test item testing – underlying skills and abilities? Tool use Motor Planning - evaluate situation, then plan/sequence actions and then execute action Eye-hand Coordination; Visual-Motor Planning - reach with stick to attain toy; speed, accuracy Spatial Orientation - away from body vs. directed to one’s body (brush hair/teeth, comb hair) Grasping Pattern on Stick Problem Solving- motor solution to a cognitive problem Attention/Persistence to Task Imitation of Adult Model Direction Following What other factors are involved? Interest/Motivation in Activity Positioning

Activity Example Obtains Toy with a Stick How else can we find out about the child’s functional skills that are being targeted with that test item? Ask the family if they have ever seen their child purposely use a “tool” (toy, broom, stick) to: Try and retrieve a toy that rolled under the couch Pick up toys with a large magnet Hammer to pound nails Retrieve objects outside (maybe inside too!) with a toy rake, golf club, hockey stick Help wipe crumbs off the table with a sponge or cloth

Strengths Limitations Value Parent input and expertise relating to their child. Local system recognizes the potential benefits of more Authentic Assessment. An increasing number of providers are becoming more aware of the importance of gathering functional information, in part due to the training initiative on OSEP indicators. Statistics # of children, #of evals, home and center based evaluations Inability to provide consistent interventionist from ASP through ongoing intervention. Limited time for assessment and constraints of individual provider’s schedule Use of center-based assessments Initial assessment purpose is primarily to begin services Current Local System Practices

Clinical Opinion “ Informed clinical opinion makes use of qualitative and quantitative information to assist in forming a determination regarding difficult-to- measure aspects of current developmental status and the potential need for early intervention.”

Informed Clinical Opinion Qualitative and Quantitative information is gathered by the following means: clinical interviews with parents evaluation of the child at play observation of parent-child interaction information from teachers or child care providers neurodevelopmental or other physical examinations

How do We Get There from Here? More Authentic Assessment Practices Begins with educating and supporting staff, families and community about Authentic Assessment practices Respect the value and limitations of a conventional test Create a culture that values: the family's’ role and expertise; a child’s functional competence; and team members’ clinical judgment Be open to using tools that are sensitive to small changes, adaptable to all children and curriculum based Is sustained by making small changes Be Informed! Be Authentic! Think Outside Your Standard Test Tool Kit!

“tests do not make decisions--- people do (Bagnato, P. 5)

Resources Bagnato. S.J. (2007). Authentic Assessment For Early Childhood Intervention. New York, NY. The Guilford Press Bagnato, S.J., Neisworth, J.T., Pretti-Frontczak, K. (2010). LINKing Authentic Assessment & Early Childhood Intervention, Best Measures For Best Practices, Second Edition. Baltimore, Maryland. Brooks. Bagnato, S.J., The Authentic Alternative for Assessment in Early Intervention: An Emerging Evidence-Based Practice. Journal of Early Intervention, 2005, Vol.28, No. 1, Bronfrenbrenner, U. (1977) Toward an Experimental Ecology of Human Development. American Psychologist, 32 (7), Shonkoff, Jack P., M.D., The Limitations of Normative Assessments of High- Risk Infants. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. April p

References “Authentic Assessment Practices: How to be a Critical Consumer Across Assessment Purposes.” Grishman-Brown, J., University of Kentucky, Bagnato, S. J. The UCLID Center at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh school of medicine, PFEIFFER, C. Kent State, Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Research and Training.  OSEP TA Community of Practice-Part C Settings  Shackelford, Jo. National Early Childhood TA Center. Informed Clinical Opinion. NETAC Notes, Issue No. 10 May 2012  The Colorado Department of Education  Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development.  -Early Intervention Strategies for Success.