NANCY BROCKWAY, M.A., OTR/L

ROBIN HOOFNAGLE, M.S. CCC-SLP

YVONNIE HUTCHISON, OTR/L, MSOL

CREATING CONNECTIONS FOR SHINING STARSJULY 24, 2013

Be Informed! Be Authentic!Think Outside the Box of

Your Standard Test Tool Kit

“Much of developmental psychology (earlychildhood testing) as it now exists is the

science of the strange behavior ofchildren with strange adults in strange

settings for the briefest possible periodsof 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 ContrastWHY?

Conventional Authentic

Unfamiliar professionals

Family

Caregivers

Familiar adults in child’s life- baby sitters, neighbors

Unfamiliar professionals

Compare and ContrastWHO?

Conventional Authentic

Contrived environment/clinic setting

Natural learning environments:

HomeDaycareGrocery storePlace of worshipCommunity center

Compare and ContrastWHERE?

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 ContrastHOW?

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 ContrastWHEN?

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 ExampleObtains 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 ExampleObtains 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 ExampleObtains 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, 17-22

Bronfrenbrenner, U. (1977) Toward an Experimental Ecology of Human Development. American Psychologist, 32 (7), 513-531

Shonkoff, Jack P., M.D., The Limitations of Normative Assessments of High-Risk Infants. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. April 1983. p 29-43.

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. www.ehhs.kent.edu/ceecrt/wp.../preconferencerev-with-kpf-edits2-1.pdf.

OSEP TA Community of Practice-Part C Settings http://ectacenter.org/topics/natenv/natenv.asp

Shackelford, Jo. National Early Childhood TA Center. Informed Clinical Opinion. NETAC Notes, Issue No. 10 May 2012 http://www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/nnotes10.pdf

The Colorado Department of Education http://www.cde.state.co.us/resultsmatter/RMVideoSeries_EarlyIntervention.htm#top

Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development. http://eipd.vcu.edu/ -Early Intervention Strategies for Success. http://veipd.org/earlyintervention/category/recent-articles/