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Purposes and Functions of Assessment

Anna Faust

SPED 63971-001: Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Services

Dr. Chen

April 13, 2022

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Introduction

There are many reasons why the assessment system throughout early childhood is

extremely important. Assessments provide educators, clinicians, and families with important

information regarding a child’s development. Assessments can cover the developmental domains

of a child to make sure they are meeting milestones. They can also help provide information on

children who may need additional support or services. Assessments are also important to have

data on children to make sure an individualized plan is created. There are different types of

assessment and they each have their own purpose and use. Assessment tools can range from a

quick checklist to make sure there are no areas of concerns to more in-depth assessments to see

which areas need support. The assessment tools that will be discussed in this paper are screening

tools, norm-referenced diagnostic assessment, and curriculum-based assessment.

Screening Tool

From the ages of birth to five, children are growing and developing rapidly. If proper

screening occurs frequently during this age range, child can be provided the proper supports or

interventions earlier on (Moodie, et al., 2014). Screening tools are the first of the assessment

system. Screening tools are meant to be a quick assessment. The purpose of the screening tool is

to see if there are any “red flags” that may alert the child having a disability or delay which

would then signify to the clinician that the child may need a further evaluation or receive a move

intensive diagnosis. Screening tools are only able to indicate the possibility of a developmental

delay or difference but is not a definite announce the extent of a disability (Moodie, et al., 2014,
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p. 2). Screening helps fill the gap of children who may go under-detected. Screening is

conducted using appropriate screening tools by trained professionals or an early intervention

team. A few examples of screening tools include:

● Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3)

● Ages and Stages Questionnaires Social-Emotional (ASQ: SE-2)

● PEACH survey

● Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers Revised (M-CHAT-R/F)

● Brief Early Childhood Screening Assessment (Brief-ECSA)

Norm-Referenced Diagnostic Assessment

If a child was below cutoff during a screening tool, then a trained professional would

administer a norm-referenced diagnostic assessment. Some norm-referenced assessments can be

delivered in a classroom setting, while others are conducted by professional therapists in a

medical setting. Norm-referenced diagnostic assessments are often used during the evaluation

process to see what service(s) a child would qualify for. Typically, one would use a norm-

referenced diagnostic assessment along with some other testing, observation, etc., to diagnose a

disability or a delay. This type of assessment tool can allow help in determining eligibility for

IDEA programs or accommodations. A norm-referenced diagnostic assessment compares the

child’s performance to other children. Norm-referenced diagnostic assessments are specialized

and standardized to make sure that a developmental age or percentile score is given accurately.

This type of assessment tool allows clinicians to not only know if a child is eligible for services,

but more especially which area the child needs services. Assessment items are non-functional. A

few examples of norm-referenced diagnostic assessments are:

● Battelle Developmental Inventory, 3rd Edition (BDI-3)

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● Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 4th Edition (Bayley-4)

● Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, 3rd Edition (ABAS-3)

● Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition ('PDMS-2)

● Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS)

Curriculum-Based Assessment

Curriculum-based assessments give a comprehensive assessment of a child’s

developmental repertoire. These types of assessments allow the educator to meet the child where

they are at as well as to be used to make sure a child is making progress. Curriculum-based

assessments use “curricular objectives” that “act as the criteria for the identification of

instructional targets and for the assessment of status and progress” (Bagnato & Neisworth, 1991,

p. 97). If a child is coming into school with a diagnosis already, then curriculum-based

assessments can help “guide development of individual goals, interventions, and

accommodations; and allow for continual monitoring of developmental progress” (McLean et al.,

2004). The continual monitoring of developmental progress can be done through observations of

the child. With observations, the clinician or educator can gather information on the child’s

behaviors, interactions, and interests. These are all important areas to note as they can be used to

plan instruction. As data is collected as an ongoing matter, then the instruction or intervention

can change as the child does. The curriculum-based assessment is doing observations, recording

the data, reviewing the data, summarize the data, and then instruct again. A few examples of

curriculum-based assessments are:

● Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP): B- 6

● Teaching Strategies GOLD (The Creative Curriculum): B-6

● Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment (TPBA): B-6

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● Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) (2002)

● The Carolina Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers with Special Needs, 3rd ed. (CCITSN)

(2004)

Summary

Assessment tools have many purposes throughout early childhood. They are beneficial

for flagging any children who may be experiencing a delay to then be referred to services. They

also help children receive a proper diagnosis after an evaluation. Assessment tools in early

childhood can help families and professionals collaborate and communicate about important

milestones in the child’s development and work together to support the growth and development

of that child. Curriculum-based assessments allow all students regardless of development

(atypical or typical) to be monitored in schools, to ensure they are learning and growing with the

curriculum or modifying the instruction if needed. Curriculum-based assessments also allow

educators to look at the students’ strengths. These assessment tools can range from very brief

screenings to in-depth assessments that have multiple parts. These tools bring together

information that helps inform decisions, determine eligibility, and monitor progress of every

child. Understanding when and how to use different assessment tools is an important aspect for

working in early intervention and early childhood.

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References

Bagnato, S. & Neisworth, J. (1991). Assessment for early intervention: best practices for

professionals. New York: Guilford Press.

McLean, M., Wolery, M. & Bailey, D. B. (Eds.). (2004). Assessing infants and preschoolers with

special needs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Moodie, S., Daneri, M. P., Goldhagen, S., Halle, T., Green, K., & LaMonte, L. (2014). Early

childhood developmental screening: A compendium of measures for children ages birth

to five (OPRE Report 2014-11). United States, Administration for Children and Families,

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/compendium_2013_508_compliant_final_

2_5_2014.pdf

Screening. ECTA Center. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2022, from

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%20conducted%20using%20appropriate,need%20of%20early%20intervention

%20services.