Screening, Evaluation and Assessment

Screening, evaluation and assessment are distinct processes with different purposes under the provisions of Part C and Part B. Screening (including developmental and health screening) includes activities to identify children who may need further evaluation in order to determine the existence of a delay in development or a particular disability. Evaluation is used to determine the existence of a delay or disability, to identify the child’s strengths and needs in all areas of development. Assessment is used to determine the individual child’s present level of performance and early intervention or educational needs. The Early Head Start National Resource Center developed a technical assistance paper (PDF: 187kb) that defines the concepts and discusses practices related to developmental assessment.

Screening

Materials from the National Conversation on Developmental Screening: Promising Practices for Coordination of Services conference call (June 21, 2007) are available online. This call was sponsored by the National Medical Home Autism Initiative (NMHAI), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC).

The Center for Disease Control's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities has a Web page on child development that includes sections on developmental milestones and developmental screening.

Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics On-Line Community has published an article on Developmental Screening that gives an overview of screening, when children should be screened, pitfalls of screening and screening tools.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has developed a number of policy statements on screening including Developmental Surveillance and Screening of Infants and Young Children (RE0062) (2001) and Identifying Infants and Young Children with Developmental Disorders in the Medical Home: An Algorithm for Developmental Surveillance and Screening (2006).

The AAP’s Medical Home Screening and Surveillance Program describes the rationale for improving developmental screening using primary care physicians. See the Developmental Surveillance and Screening Algorithm for guiding providers through the delivery of developmental surveillance and screening. See also the related parent resources and training/education.

One of the AAP’s Medical Home Screening and Surveillance Program screening initiatives is Newborn Metabolic and Genetic Screening.

The Save Babies Through Screening supports, assists and advocates for disorders that are detectable through filter paper newborn screening, are unlikely to be clinically diagnosed without screening and cause mental retardation, physical disability and/or death in early childhood when left untreated. Their website lists states and their newborn screenings, frequently asked questions and a guide about newborn screening for parents (in both English and Spanish).

The General Accounting Office (GAO) released the following report: Newborn Screening: Characteristics of State Programs (PDF: 469kb). The GAO was asked to prepare a report on the variations among state newborn screening programs, including information on criteria considered in selecting disorders to include in state programs, education for parents and providers about newborn screening programs, and programs’ expenditures and funding sources. Highlights of the report are also available.

Evaluation and Assessment

Part C requires a timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation of each child, birth through age two, referred for evaluation, and a family-directed identification of the needs of each child's family to appropriately assist in the development of the child. Evaluation and assessment (34 CFR 303.322) are considered processes that have different purposes under Part C. Evaluation is defined as the procedures used by "appropriate qualified personnel to determine a child's initial and continuing eligibility", consistent with the state definition of infants and toddlers with disabilities' and includes determining the status of the child in each of the developmental areas (cognitive development, physical development, including vision and hearing, communication development, social or emotional development and adaptive development). "Assessment means the ongoing procedures used by appropriate qualified personnel throughout the period of a child's eligibility under this part to identify - (i) the child's unique strengths and needs and the services appropriate to meet those needs; and (ii) the resources, priorities, and concerns of the family and the supports and services necessary to enhance the family's capacity to meet the developmental needs of their infant or toddler with a disability."

Part B (34 CFR 300.15) defines evaluation as the procedures used in accordance with Sec. 300.304 through 300.311 to determine whether a child has a disability and the nature and extent of the special education and related services that the child needs. Under 34 CFR 300.304 a full and individual initial evaluation is conducted for each child being considered for special education and related services under Part B of the Act to determine if the child is a "child with a disability" and to "determine the educational needs of the child." Evaluation and assessment are not defined as separate processes. For further information, see 34 CFR 300.300 Parental Consent, 300.301 Initial Evaluations, 300.302 Screening for instructional purposes is not evaluation, 300.303 Reevaluations, 300.304 Determination of Eligibility, 300.310 Observation, 300.311 Specific Documentation for Eligibility Determination.

NECTAC convened a web-enhanced conference call on Recommended Practices for Assessing Young Children in Early Childhood Settings (birth to eight years). Drs. John T. Neisworth and Stephen J. Bagnato presented information during this teleconference that addressed the following content and objectives: 1) To justify fundamental changes in the process and practices of assessment in early childhood and early intervention settings. 2) To present an overview of the DEC and NAEYC recommended practice standards for early childhood assessment. 3) To define 8 overarching benchmarks that characterize a more developmentally appropriate assessment approach and which enable professional sand parents to critique and select assessment materials and methods. 4) To identify several specific assessment instruments and methods that best match the 8 benchmarks. For more information on DEC’s Recommended Practices and a literature review go to http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices.html#literatureSources.

NECTAC developed a publication on Family-Directed Child Evaluation and Assessment Under IDEA: Lessons From Families and Programs. Based on interviews by NECTAC staff, practices that families and program staff identified as contributing to quality family-directed child evaluations and assessments are discussed.

National Association of School Psychologists has developed a Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has developed a policy fact sheet on Preschool Assessment: A Guide to Developing a Balanced Approach (PDF: 1,514kb) . The complete policy brief (PDF: 295kb) includes an overview of effective assessment and all references.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) provides ongoing support for federal collaboration on early childhood research through the Science and Ecology of Early Development (SEED) initiative, ASPE and the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) contracted with Child Trends to develop profiles of early childhood measures. This project produced a compendium of early childhood assessments, Early Childhood Measures Profiles, (PDF: 3,647kb) commonly used to measure domains of development, including language and literacy, cognition, mathematics, social-emotional competency, and approaches to learning. Various types of ongoing observational assessments were also included. A profile of each assessment includes the purpose of the measure, key constructs, administration, and reliability information.