1. Considerations in Selecting Developmental Screening and Assessment Measures
Laurie Ford
Dept. of Educational & Counselling Psychology & Special Education- UBC
Mary Stewart
Infant Development Program
Early Childhood Education- UBC
Early Childhood Assessment Conference
Vancouver, BC - May 21, 2009

2. Objectives for the Session
Review a framework for selecting a screening and /or assessment tools
Discuss the important considerations when selecting a screening or assessment tool
Discuss common assessment terms
Discuss types of assessments
Critical evaluation of screening and assessment tools commonly used in ECE.

3. Getting to Know You In partners: Introduce yourself
Where you are from and what work you do.
What is one question you want answered from this workshop.
After 5 minutes:
Introduce your partner to the group and list your question.

4. Evaluation Who uses developmental screening tools on a regular basis?
What screening or assessment tools are used?
This is our pre-assessment.

5. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
1. Screening and assessment should be viewed as services- as part of the intervention process and not only as a means of identification and measurement.

6. Screening Diagnostic assessment Discussion about legislation in the US
Canada/ or BC does not have a systematic screening protocol.
Diagnostic assessment

7. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
2. Processes, procedures and instruments intended for screening and assessment should only be used for their specific purpose.

8. What is assessment?
Why do we do assessments with children in our programs?
Discussion may include:
To get information
To educate others
For programming purposes
To apply for funding
To get accepted into the program
To monitor progress or change

9. Assessment Methods Observation Informal and structured interviews
Children
Children and Adults
Informal and structured interviews
with children
with parents and child care providers
Rating scales or questionnaires
Direct Assessment

11. Screening Assessment Diagnostic Assessment
Screening tools are used to determine if a child has a developmental delay
or does not have a developmental delay
Screening tools can be in one domain- such as vision- hearing – or global such as ASQ
Assessment is “the process of obtaining information for the purposes of making evaluative decisions” (Meisels & Fenichel) To identify child and family strengths and needs and to propose strategies for intervention.
Can be in one developmental domain- such as the a vision assessment, hearing assessment, AIMS Alberta Inventory of Motor Skills – looks at motor skills- MacArthur assesses language development
We typically use global developmental assessments in our practices such as Gesell and Batelle
Diagnostic assessment “to determine existence of delay or disability”
Diagnostic
Assessment

12. Screening
Screening is a brief evaluation to identify which children need further more in-depth assessment
Sensitivity and specificity are terms only used with screening tools and that is because it determines how well a tool will identify a child with a developmental delay or will correctly identify a child without developmental delays.
A brief evaluation process
May be completed by a caregiver or professional
May be direct assessment, interview or checklist
These terms are important to our practice because if we have a test with low sensitivity it means that the test does not correctly identify children with a delay.. This means we will miss children that would benefit from intervention.
If a tool has low specificity it will identify children as not having a delay when indeed they do, this will also be costly to programs and an issue for the child and families because they will not get a intervention when they need or they may get referrerd when they do not need intervention.
The sensitivity for the ASQ is about 72%
The specificity for the ASQ is about 81% at 16 months to 92% at 36 months

13. Screening
Sensitivity: Ability of the test to correctly identify children with developmental delay
Specificity: Ability of the test to correctly identify children without developmental delays
Sensitivity and specificity are terms only used with screening tools and that is because it determines how well a tool will identify a child with a developmental delay or will correctly identify a child without developmental delays.
If a screening tool does both things it is a VALID screening tool
These terms are important to our practice because if we have a test with low sensitivity it means that the test does not correctly identify chidlren with a delay.. This means we will miss children that would benefit from intervention.
If a tool has low specificity it will identify children as not having a delay when indeed they do, this will also be costly to programs and an issue for the child and families because they will not get a intervention when they need or they may get referrerd when they do not need intervention.
The sensitivity for the ASQ is about 72%
The specificity for the ASQ is about 81% at 16 months to 92% at 36 months

14. Assessment
Assessmnt
Assessment is the process of obtaining information for the purposes of making evaluative decisions.
To identify child and family strengths and need and to propose strategies for intervention.
Screening tools are used to determine if a child has a developmental delay
or does not have a developmental delay
Screening tools can be in one domain- such as vision- hearing – or global such as ASQ
Assessment is “the process of obtaining information for the purposes of making evaluative decisions” (Meisels & Fenichel) To identify child and family strengths and needs and to propose strategies for intervention.
Can be in one developmental domain- such as the a vision assessment, hearing assessment, AIMS Alberta Inventory of Motor Skills – looks at motor skills- MacArthur assesses language development
We typically use global developmental assessments in our practices such as Gesell and Batelle
Diagnostic assessment “to determine existence of delay or disability”

15. Assessment Norm- referenced
Focus on comparing a child’s performance to other children (their relative development)
Criterion-referenced
Identify what skills a child has and had not yet developed (compared to themselves)
Screening tools are used to determine if a child has a developmental delay
or does not have a developmental delay
Screening tools can be in one domain- such as vision- hearing – or global such as ASQ
Assessment is “the process of obtaining information for the purposes of making evaluative decisions” (Meisels & Fenichel) To identify child and family strengths and needs and to propose strategies for intervention.
Can be in one developmental domain- such as the a vision assessment, hearing assessment, AIMS Alberta Inventory of Motor Skills – looks at motor skills- MacArthur assesses language development
We typically use global developmental assessments in our practices such as Gesell and Batelle
Diagnostic assessment “to determine existence of delay or disability”

16. Diagnostic Assessment
Diagnostic approaches tend to identify whether a children have significant symptoms of certain conditions

17. Standardized The standard materials used in each situation.
The standard method of presentation of materials in each situation
Refers to the standard practice of implementation of the assessment to ensure the same questions are asked in the same way with the same materials etc.
Changes in the questions asked or changes to the materials used in the screening or the assessment, change the validity and reliability of the tool.
This ensures that each time we present the materials to the child it is actually measuring the same skill from the last time, we can be reasonably sure that we are measuring a change in the child’s development not just to tools.
Why is this an issue?
What do you do about this?

18. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
3. Multiple sources of information should be included in screening and assessment

19. Multiple sources

20. Child in Different Environments
Different environments and different times of day etc

21. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
4. Developmental screening should take place on a recurrent or periodic basis. It is inappropriate to screen young children only once during their early years. Similarly, provisions should be made for reevaluation or reassessment after services have been made.

23. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
5. Developmental screening should be viewed as only one path to more in-depth assessment. Failure to qualify for services based on a single source of screening information should not become a barrier to further evaluation for intervention services if other risk factors (e.g. environment, medical, familial) are present.

24. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
6. Screening and assessment procedures should be reliable and valid.

25. Assessment
Reliability: how reliably an instrument or rater measures a variable
Validity: the degree to which a test measures what it is intends to measure

26. Assessment What population was this test “normed” on?
The experiences of these children with “sand” and the elements will be very different
For example the ASQ- was Normed with 2008 children ethnically and socioeconomically heterogenous population 81% were judged to be at risk.
ASQ -3 has different norms.- children in Oregon, what population?
Criterion referenced means that there is a criterion for successful completion of the task, but the child is not measured against other children in a population.

27. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
7. Family members should be an integral part of the screening and assessment process. Information provided by family members is critically important for determining whether or not to initiate more in-depth assessment and for designing appropriate intervention strategies. Parents should be accorded complete informed consent at all stages of the screening and assessment process.

29. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
8. During screening or assessment of developmental strengths and problems, the more relevant and familiar the tasks and setting are to the child and the child’s family, the more likely it is that the results will be valid.

30. Which “shoe” will child know?

31. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
9. All tests, procedures and processes for screening or assessment must be culturally sensitive.

32. Different families will have different values, what is important to them
Cultural sensitivity will be reflected in everything.
The understanding of developmental delay or information
Work from U of A.
Work from University of Victoria

33. Guidelines for screening and assessment (Miesels and Provence, 1989)
10. Extensive and comprehensive training is needed by those who screen and assess very young children.

36. Some Common Screening Tools
Ages & Stages Questionaire (ASQ)
Parkyn Screen
Nipissing District Developemental Screen (NDDS)
Denver-II
Developmental Indicators of the Activities for Learning (DIAL-3)
Early Screening Inventory- Revised (ESI-R)
Brigance Screening

37. Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
Squires, Potter, & Bricker (1999)
Publisher: Paul H. Brookes
Caregiver Report is the informant
Families and children between the ages of 4 and 60 months

38. Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
Training Administration & Scoring Requirements:
Questionairres are written at a 6th grade reading level
Each questionairre takes about 15 minutes to complete
Interpretation must be done by professionals or para professionals
Training materials provided in Users Guide and extra video is also available
No adaptation for individuals with disabilities

39. Ages & Stages Questionnaire- Social Emotional (ASQ-SE)
Can be administered by parents, child care providers, and preschool teachers. If parents, staff should train parents
Designed to compliment the ASQ by providing information on social-emotional functioning for children 3 months to 66 months

40. Nipissing District Developmental Screen (NDDS)
13 versions (1 month to 6 years)
Number of items 4 to 22
Vision, hearing, speech-language, gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, self-help
English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese
Developed in Ontario during the mid 90s

41. Early Screening Inventory- Revised (ESI-R)
Examines development in three major areas:
Visual-Motor/Adaptive
Language and Cognition
Gross Motor
Examine in each each area but you also get a total score

42. Early Screening Inventory- Revised (ESI-R)
Brief developmental screening instrument that is individually administered to children ages 3 to 6 years.
Designed to identify children who may be in need of special services to perform successfully upon school entry
ESI-P: Preschool Version 3 yrs-4 yrs 6 mos
ESI-K: Kindergarten Version 4 yrs 5mos -5 yrs 6 mos.

43. Early Screening Inventory- Revised (ESI-R)
Visual-Motor/Adaptive
Fine Motor
Eye Hand Coordination
Short term Memory
Language & Cognition
Language comprehension
Verbal Expression
Reason & Count
Auditory Sequences
Gross Motor

44. Common Developmental Assessment Tools
Cognitive - Level C
Bayley Scales of Infant Development- 2nd Edition
Stanford-Binet Scales of Intelligence - 5th Edition
Wecshler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence - 3rd Edition
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children - 2nd Edition
Leiter - Revised
? Others you have seen ?

45. Bayley Scales of Infant Development - 2nd Edition
Designed for children from birth to 3 years, 6 months
Includes a mental and a motor scale
The mental scale measures cognitive, sensory, and early language skills but just gives you an overall score

46. Common Developmental Assessment Tools
Language Tests
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - 4th Ed
Expressive Vocabulary Test
Bracken Basic Concept Scale-Revised
Multiple Domain Tests
Mullen Scales of Early Learning
Battelle Developmental Inventory - 2nd Ed

47. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - 4th Edition
Used with a wide age range starting at 2 years, 6 months to 90+
Best thought of as measure of receptive language.
The child has to point to the correct of 4 pictures.
Used by psychologists and speech-language pathologists

48. Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition
Jean Newborg
Riverside Publishing/Nelson Canada

49. Domains and Sub-domains of the BDI2
Attention and Memory
Reasoning and Academic Skills
Perception and Concepts
Gross Motor
Fine Motor
Perceptual Motor
Receptive Communication
Expressive Communication
Adult Interaction
Peer Interaction
Self-Concept and Social Role
Self-Care
Personal Responsibility
Motor Domain
Communication Domain
Personal-Social Domain
Adaptive Domain
Cognitive Domain

50. Some Common Criterion Referenced Assessment Tools
Gessell
Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development- Revised
Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS)
Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
Others?

51. Gesell Developmental Schedules
A developmental schedule used primarily with infants and very young children
Examines fine and gross motor, communication, personal-social, and adaptive behaviors in children 4 to 72 months
Developed to help describe key benchmarks.
Will provide a Developmental Quotient (DQ) but mostly reported as age-equivalents.

52. Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development
Direct child and parent assessment; parent observations
Birth to 7 years of age
Training: The examiner should have in depth knowledge of child development and be familiar with the manual procedures

53. Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS)
Bricker, Cripe, & Slentz (1993)
Paul H. Brookes

54. Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS)
Observation, direct assessment, and parent/caregiver/therapist report
Age Range (two versions): Birth to 3 years: 3 to 6 years
Designed to be used on an on going basis to monitor progress
Can be used by direct service personnel and specialists

55. Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
Two versions - Birth to Three and Preschool (3 to 6 years)
Areas include: cognitive (including receptive language), expressive language, fine & gross motor, self-help adaptive, and social.
Allows for adaptations for students with special needs.
Home and Center based formats