Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment
The National Association of School Psychologists believes that early
identification of developmental and learning problems in infants and
young children (ages birth through five years) is essential because
of young children's broad and rapid development. Intervention services
for these children's psychological and developmental difficulties are
essential, beneficial, and cost-effective (e.g., Barnett, 1993; Dawson & Osterling,
1997; Schweinhart, Barnes, Weikart, Barnett, & Epstein, 1993).
Because the accurate and fair identification of the developmental needs
of young children is critical to the design, implementation, and success
of appropriate interventions, school psychologists must play a key
role.
Evidence from research and practice in early childhood assessment
indicates that issues of technical adequacy are more difficult to address
with young children who have little test-taking experience, short attention
spans, and whose development is rapid and variable ( Greenwood , Luze & Carta,
2002). Therefore, standardized assessment procedures should be used
with great caution in educational decision-making because such tools
are inherently less accurate and less predictive when used with young
children (Meisels & Atkins-Burnett, 2000).
Multidisciplinary team assessments must include multiple sources of
information, multiple assessment approaches, and be conducted in multiple
settings and across time in order to yield a comprehensive understanding
of young children's skills and needs ( Neisworth & Bagnato, 2000)
. Alternative assessment methods and procedures, including transdisciplinary
arena assessment, curriculum-based assessment and play-based assessment
should be considered (Losardo & Notari-Syverson, 2001). Assessments
should center on the child in the family system and home environment,
both substantial influences on the development of young children. Similarly,
families' self-identified resources, priorities and concerns should
drive the decision-making process concerning the identification of
child and family services (Bailey, 1996).
Because categorical identification of infants, toddlers, and young
children is ineffective in most cases for meeting the special needs
of young children, assessment of infants and young children requires
specialized training and skills beyond those required for the assessment
of older children (Mowder, 1996). Longitudinal and functional assessment
of behavior and functional developmental skills of infants, young children,
and families in a variety of settings is needed to evaluate and document
progress and response to intervention over time, and must guide early
intervention strategies in meaningful ways (Bagnato, Neisworth, & Munson,
1997) .
Therefore, the National Association of School Psychologists will promote
early childhood assessment practices that are:
- developmentally appropriate, flexible, ecological, whole-child
focused, strength-based, skills-based, and family-centered (Bagnato
et al., 1997; Bricker, 2002);
- conducted by a multi-disciplinary team (Nagle, 2000);
- linked to intervention strategies designed for young children (Meisels,
1996);
- based upon comprehensive, educational and/or behavioral concerns,
rather than isolated deficits identified by individual assessments
(Bagnato et al., 1997);
- nondiscriminatory in terms of gender, ethnicity, native language,
family composition, and/or socio-economic status (Lynch & Hanson,
1996); and
- technically adequate and validated for the purpose(s) for which
they are used, including the provision of norms, where applicable,
for minority children and children with physical disabilities (DeMers & Fiorello,
1999).
Role of the School Psychologist
NASP encourages the adoption of family-centered practices for early
childhood assessment and intervention, including full integration of
parents and families into the assessment and intervention components
of early childhood services. This mandates methods of naturalistic
and systematic observation and information gathering, including work
sampling procedures and the involvement of the family, home environment,
daycare/preschool, and the community ecology as part of the comprehensive
assessment (Nuttall, Nuttall-Vasquez, & Hampel, 1999). School psychologists
should provide leadership to the multidisciplinary team in ensuring
that all information gathered through the assessment is clearly understood
by parents so that they can make fully-informed decisions about interventions
for their children.
NASP also advocates for pre-service and in-service education for school
psychologists and other professionals to address the following issues:1)
normal and atypical developmental patterns of infants and young children;
2) practices, procedures, and instrumentation appropriate for screening
and assessment of young children, their families, and their environments;
3) the selection of assessment techniques and utilization of findings
from such assessments for the design, implementation, and efficacy
evaluation of interventions; and 4) standards for early childhood mental
health, behavioral, and educational assessment, including legal, ethical,
and professional issues - all in the context of noncategorical service
delivery for young children and their families.
Summary
NASP supports early childhood assessment practices that allow for
accurate and fair identification of the developmental needs of infants,
preschoolers, and young children and facilitate interventions that
involve parents and other caregivers. Sound early childhood assessment
should involve a multi-disciplinary team, including school psychologists
with specialized training in the assessment of the young child who
view behavior, mental health, and development from a longitudinal perspective.
Annotated Bibliography
Berman, C., & Shaw, E. (1996). Family-directed child evaluation
and assessment under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). In S. J. Meisels & E. Fenichel (Eds.), New visions
for the developmental assessment of infants and young children (pp.
361-390). Washington , DC : Zero to Three.
This chapter is a wonderful resource for those wanting to learn about
putting a family-directed assessment process into action. It describes
and illustrates characteristics of family-directed assessment, including
issues related to families, the assessment process, personnel preparation
issues, and system level issues.
Bracken, B. A. (2000). The psychoeducational assessment of preschool
children (2 nd ed.). Boston : Allyn & Bacon.
This edited text is a comprehensive volume addressing multiple aspects
of preschool assessment. It includes chapters on preschool assessment
history and issues, common assessment instruments, and methods of assessing
various developmental domains and populations.
Greenwood , C. R., Luze, G.J & Carta, J. J. (2002). Best practices
in assessment of intervention results with infants and toddlers. In
A. Thomas, & J. Grimes (Eds), Best Practices in School Psychology
IV (pp. 1219-1230). Bethesda , MD : National Association of School
Psychologists.
This chapter discusses basic knowledge and skills needed to assess
infants and young children, as well as focusing on the assessment of
early intervention results. It outlines the approach for progress monitoring
for infants and toddlers developed by the Early Childhood Research
Institute on Measuring Growth and Development. A case study is included.
Katz, L. (1997). A developmental approach to assessment of young
children . Champaign , IL : ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary
and Early Childhood Education.
This paper describes the concept of developmental appropriateness
as it applies to the assessment of young children. The various purposes
of assessing individual children are discussed. A match between plans,
strategies, and assessment instruments and specific assessment purpose
is mandated.
McConnell, S. R., Priest, J. S., Davis, S. D., & McEvoy, M. A.
(2002). Best practices in measuring growth and development for preschool
children. In A. Thomas, & J. Grimes (Eds), Best Practices in
School Psychology IV (pp. 1231-1246). Bethesda , MD : National
Association of School Psychologists.
This chapter discusses Individual Growth and Development Indicators
for preschool-aged children, newly developed, repeatable measures which
sample performance in each major developmental domain. It describes
the indicators that have been developed to measure each domain, as
well as future directions for development.
Meisels, S. J., & Atkins-Burnett, S. (2000). The elements of early
childhood assessment. In J. P. Shonkoff & S. J. Meisels (Eds.), Handbook
of early childhood intervention (2 nd ed.) (pp. 231-257). New
York : Cambridge University Press.
This chapter addresses issues relevant to early childhood assessment
by discussing principles of responsive assessment (e.g., the importance
of development, considering strengths and functional skills) and then
discussing in detail five elements of assessment, with a focus on targets,
contexts, and methods of assessment, as well as assessment personnel
and the fusion of assessment and intervention.
Neisworth, J T.., & Bagnato, S. J. (2000). Recommended practices
in assessment. In S. Sandall, M. E. McLean, & B. J. Smith (Eds.), DEC
recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special
education (pp. 17-27). Longmont , CO : Sopris West.
This chapter lists practices recommended by the Division for Early
Childhood for assessment in early intervention and early childhood
special education programs for infant and young children with special
needs and their families. Suggested standards are listed and defined
(e.g., utility, authenticity, equity). The chapter concludes with a
list of recommended assessment practices that should be useful to practitioners
or programs wanting to assess the extent to which their practices are
in line with DEC recommendations.
Nielson, S., & McEvoy, M. A. (2003). Functional behavioral assessment
in early education settings. Journal of Early Intervention, 26 (2),
115-131.
This article provides an overview of functional behavior assessment
theory and methods. In addition, it discusses application of FBA to
work with young children, and it describes how FBA methods can be used
in conjunction with family-based practices and services in natural
environments.
Shephard, L., Kagan, S., & Wurtz,E. (1998) Principles and
recommendations for early childhood assessments . Washington
DC : National Education Goals Panel. http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/Reports/prinrec.pdf
This booklet discusses best practices for assessment of young children
considering their unique development, recent abuses of testing, and
legitimate demands for clear and useful information. General principles
of assessment included address benefits, reliability and validity,
age level appropriateness and language, and parent role in assessment.
Tomlin, A. M., & Viehweg, S. A. (2003). Infant mental health:
Making a difference. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice , 34 ,
617-625.
This article provides an overview of infant mental health, with a
focus on principles for the appropriate assessment and intervention
with very young children. The article nicely links services typically
provided by psychologists in mental health settings to developmental
services typically provided under Part C.
References
Bagnato, S. J., Neisworth, J. T., & Munson, S. M. (1997). LINKing
assessment and early intervention: An authentic curriculum-based
approach . Baltimore : Paul H. Brookes.
Bailey, D. B. (1996). Assessing family resources, priorities, and
concerns. In M. McLean, D. B. Bailey, & M. Wolery (Eds.), Assessing
infants and preschoolers with special needs (2 nd ed.) (pp. 202-233).
Columbus , OH : Merrill.
Barnett, W. S. (1993). Benefit-cost analysis of preschool education:
Findings from a 25-year follow-up. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63 (4),
500-508.
Bricker, D. (2002). AEPS: Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming
System for Infants and Young Children (2 nd ed.). Baltimore
: Paul H. Brookes.
Dawson, G., & Osterling, J. (1997). Early intervention in autism.
In M. J. Guralnick (Ed.), The effectiveness of early intervention (pp.
307-326). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
DeMers, S. T., & Fiorello, C. (1999). Legal and ethical issues
in preschool assessment and screening. In E. V. Nuttall, I. Romero, & J.
Kalesnik (Eds.), Assessing and screening preschoolers: Psychological
and educational dimensions (pp. 50-58). Boston : Allyn & Bacon.
Losardo, A., & Notari-Syverson, A. (2001). Alternative approaches
to assessing young children . Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
Lynch, E. W., & Hanson, M. J. (1996). Ensuring cultural competence
in assessment. In M. McLean, D. B. Bailey, & M. Wolery (Eds.), Assessing
infants and preschoolers with special needs (2 nd ed.) (pp. 69-95).
Columbus , OH : Merrill.
Meisels, S. J. (1996). Charting the continuum of assessment and intervention.
In S. J. Meisels, & E. Fenichel (Eds.), New visions for the
developmental assessment of infants and young children (pp. 27-52).
Washington , DC : Zero to Three.
Mowder, B. A. (1996). Preparing school psychologists. In D. Bricker & A.
Widerstrom (Eds.), Preparing personnel to work with infants and
young children and their families: A team approach . Baltimore
: Paul H. Brookes.
Nagle, R. J. (2000). Issues in preschool assessment. In B. A. Bracken
(Ed.), The psychoeducational assessment of preschool children (3
rd ed.) (pp. 19-32). Boston : Allyn & Bacon.
Nuttall, E. V., Nuttall-Vasquez, K., & Hampel, A. (1999). Introduction.
In E. V. Nuttall, I. Romero, & J. Kalesnik (Eds.), Assessing
and screening preschoolers: Psychological and educational dimensions (pp.
1-8). Boston : Allyn & Bacon.
Schweinhart, L. J., Barnes, H. V., Weikart, D. P., Barnett, W. S., & Epstein,
A. S. (1993). Significant benefits: The High/Scope Perry Preschool
study through age 27 . Ypsilanti , MI : High/Scope Press.
- Original version adopted by NASP Delegate Assembly, March
1991
- Revision adopted by NASP Delegate Assembly, July
2005
© 2005 National Association of School Psychologists,
4340 East West Highway, Suite 402, Bethesda MD 20814 - 301-657-0270.
Please note that NASP periodically revises its Position Statements.
We encourage you to check the NASP website at www.nasponline.org
to ensure that you have the most current version of this Position Statement.