Assessment and the Family-Professional Partnership in Early Intervention

This book demonstrates how to do authentic classroom-based assessment and then how to interpret and use that information to plan curriculum. Curriculum should be responsive to and supportive of children’s learning and take into consideration the way young children develop and learn, as well as the early childhood teacher’s assessment responsibilities.

This text book includes information on performance assessment, portfolios, and other methods of reporting a child’s performance. Written for future teachers and current teachers of young children, this book ncludes information about standardized tests and other types of assessments that are appropriate for young children. Chapter 5 addresses documentation.

Focusing on the assessment of infants, toddlers, and preschool children with or at risk for developmental disabilities, this text provides an overview of multiple assessment techniques and contextual issues involved in assessment, such as environment and culture.

This book discusses and analyzes numerous aspects of assessment in early intervention and early childhood special education, including evaluations of early development, severe disabilities, cognitive functioning, and school readiness.

The DEC recommended practices provide guidance to families and professionals about the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes and promote development of young children, birth through age 5, who have, or are at-risk for, developmental delays or disabilities.

This lecture discusses assessment tools to identify the early and subtle signs of autism and offers treatment techniques that effectively interrupt and replace the development of many “coping behaviors” exhibited by children with autism (ages 0-5).

This book explains why observation is one of the best methods to get to know each child well, track progress, and plan individualized curriculum. It also provides tools and techniques to help you strengthen your observations, create portfolios with rich documentation, and support each child.

Examining the process of assessment from the perspectives of multiple disciplines, this book demonstrates how to create new interdisciplinary assessment teams or expand existing teams to ensure that children and their families receive the best care possible. Case studies provide examples of effective collaborations between disciplines in assessment and the design of interventions.

In this video, four families discuss their journey of raising and caring for children who have progressive, life-limiting illnesses. Parents share their reflections on care assistants, medical staff, and embracing their children’s lives with courage and hope.

A mother describes her journey of her son’s diagnosis of Down syndrome through family support, early intervention, therapy, and doctor appointments.

This kit and video provide training materials for professional in-service presentations. Materials cover the purposes of assistive technology (AT) for young children, legal requirements, a family-centered approach, and teaming around AT.

This practical guide provides examples and best practices for building relationships with families and facilitating adult-child interaction.

With a focus on how families and professionals can collaborate effectively so that infants and toddlers learn, grow, and thrive, this book reflects research and best-practices in the field of early intervention. The book includes a chapter on assessment and planning outlining how parents and professionals can work together throughout the process.

This book is a compilation of information for professionals who conduct home visits. Expectations are explained and situations that the professionals may encounter during home visits are explored. The book discusses ideas for how to build the bonds between professionals and families. Several sections discuss difficulties and dilemmas that some professionals have dealt with during home visits.

The articles in this monograph are focused on contemporary assessment practices with particular attention paid to gathering information about young children’s development in authentic and familiar settings such.

• Improving child find through tailored outreach to primary referral sources / Carl J. Dunst, Carol M. Trivette, & Glinda Hill
• Developmental screening in early childhood : potential roadmaps for those considering the journey / Jantine Clifford
• Assessment of family-identified needs through the routines-based interview / R.A. McWilliam
• Using the assessment of family activities and routines to develop embedded programming / Philippa H. Campbell
• Using your good judgment : informed opinion for early intervention / John T. Neisworth & Stephen J. Bagnato
• Using digital video to enhance authentic assessment / Larry Edelman
• Bringing pieces together : assessment of young children’s social-emotional competence / Rosa Milagros Santos
• Evaluating young children who are dual language learners : gathering and interpreting multiple sources of data to make informed decisions / Lillian K Durán, Gregory A. Cheatham, & Rosa Milagros Santos
• Using goal attainment scaling to monitor the developmental progress of young children with disabilities / Laurie A. Dinnebeil, Margie Spino, & William F. McInerney
• Building good assessment into accountability systems for early childhood programs / Kathleen Hebbeler
• Resources within reason : assessment / Camille Catlett.

Appropriate assessment of infants and toddlers is strengths based, identifying and building on children’s capabilities, not what they cannot do, and is not used to “label” them. This article provides an overview of observation, documentation, screening, assessment, portfolios and goal/outcome setting. Direct link is available.

The author provides a planning guide to support early child care workers in implementing authentic assessment in inclusive settings and natural environments.

This article describes one child care organization’s integrated, collaborative assessment approach that involves families throughout the process.

This article discusses the importance of involving parents and families in the assessment of young children. The author offers suggestions and examples to help the early intervention professional.

This article provides an overview, summary of the research, and a history of the shift in early intervention toward authentic assessment, which captures real-life competencies in everyday routines.

In this article, the author writes from her own experience as a mother of a child with special needs and discusses the complications of parent-professional partnerships. She identifies five distinct features, or dimensions, that both entangle and enhance the partnership dance: choice, forced intimacy, identification of partners, role expectations, and differing priorities.

This article provides the pediatric health care provider with a summary of key components of the most recent version of this law. Guidance is also provided to ensure that every child in need receives the EI and special education services to which he or she is entitled.

The mission of the PACER Center (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights) is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children with special needs and their families based on the concept of parents helping parents. The Web site contains information and free resources, including materials on parent-professional partnerships in early intervention. Many resources have been translated into Hmong, Somali and Spanish.

The page on AT includes an overview, information on federal and state laws on AT, training resources, information on universal design for learning, and several extensive bibliographies of articles on AT and early intervention.

This page includes links to many resources, including overviews of assessment methods, information on the assessment of young English-language learners, and position papers on assessment from several national organizations such as Head Start and the National Association of School Psychologists.

In this online video, a physical therapist discusses authentic assessment practices such as observation and collaborating with families.

This video describes how an EcoMap can help families and providers identify supports, both formal and informal, when looking at resources, priorities and concerns during the IFSP process.

This free, downloadable guide that is designed for use by early childhood professionals. The guide includes explanations of best practices in assessment as well as a compendium of assessment instruments.

This online chapter from the book Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How discusses assessing young children who are members of ethnic and racial minority groups in the United States, young children whose home language is not English, and young children with disabilities. The entire book is available to download for free.

This Web site includes a list of what to include in portfolios, which can be a helpful tool to document milestones, acknowledge progress, and provide an assessment resource to help support a child’s learning.

This position statement endorsed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) includes an overview of issues related to assessment in early intervention and early childhood special education, the listing of important quality indicators for those involved in the assessment process, and information about additional resources to assist those interested in implementing assessments. Specific recommendations are made related to selecting assessment tools, communicating assessment results, and ensuring ethical and legal practices.

Developmental screening? Comprehensive assessment? Ongoing assessment? Parents often wonder what these terms mean. All are processes for gathering information about an infant, toddler, or preschooler. The first step in gathering information about a child is to complete a developmental screening.