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Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How (2008)

Chapter: Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments." National Research Council. 2008. Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12446.
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Page 449
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments." National Research Council. 2008. Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12446.
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Page 450
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments." National Research Council. 2008. Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12446.
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Page 451
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments." National Research Council. 2008. Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12446.
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Page 452
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments." National Research Council. 2008. Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12446.
×
Page 453
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments." National Research Council. 2008. Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12446.
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Page 454

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Appendix D Sources of Detailed Information on Test and Assessment Instruments F or specific information on the features and content of instruments for use with infants and young children, the com­mittee refers the reader to the following sources. They provide information on the construct measured, the content of the instrument, the time to administer, how the instrument is administered (e.g., caregiver or teacher report, direct assessment, interview, observation), the age range and purpose (screening, diagnosis, assessment, etc.) for which each measure is appropri- ate, and the interpretation and use of results. In some cases they offer information on the instruments’ psychometric properties: reliability, validity for various uses, research support for claims of validity, etc. Some also have specific information regarding use with special populations. The ones called “reviews” provide evaluations. Additional reviews of specific instruments may often be found by searching the ERIC (http://www.eric.ed.gov) and PsycInfo (http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/) databases. 449

450 EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT Recent Print Reviews and Compendium Documents Title: The 17th Mental Measurements Yearbook (Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, 2007) Source: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements Notes: Buros publishes periodic editions of its yearbook, the latest of which, the 17th, was released in 2007. The yearbook provides in- depth descriptions and critical reviews of current instruments. Titles: Early Childhood Measures Profiles (Child Trends, 2004); ­ uality in Early Childhood Care and Education Settings: A Compen- Q dium of Measures (Child Trends, 2007) Source: Child Trends Notes: The Child Trends organization has published two recent compendia of instruments for use with young children, one for child assessment and one for assessment of care and education environments. These provide in-depth descriptive informa- tion on each instrument, including descriptions of the norming populations. The compendium of child measures has extensive information on reliability and validity, both from the manual and from other research. The environmental measures compendium describes ways in which each measure addresses diversity, a fea- ture not addressed in many other sources. Title: Resources for Measuring Services and Outcomes in Head Start Programs Serving Infants and Toddlers (Mathematica Policy Research, 2003) Source: Mathematica Policy Research Notes: Mathematica Policy Research developed this compendium of instruments for the Office of Head Start. It is oriented to the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and its Appendix C has useful information on the measures used in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, including descriptions of

APPENDIX D 451 psychometric properties. It covers measures of child develop- ment; parenting, the home environment, and parent well-being; and program implementation and quality. Title: Screening for Developmental and Behavioral Problems Source: Glascoe (2005), Mental Retardation and Developmental Dis- abilities Research Reviews, 11(3), 173-179 Notes: This recent review article by Glascoe describes screening tools and instruments for use with infants and young children and is focused chiefly on instruments for use in pediatric surveillance and screening programs. Similar information authored by Glascoe is available at the DBPeds website (see below). Title: Developmental Screening Tools: Gross Motor/Fine Motor for Newborn, Infants and Children Source: (Beligere, Zawacki, Pennington, and Glascoe, 2007) (available at DBPeds website) Notes: Glascoe and colleagues provide a listing specifically of screening tools for gross motor and fine motor development, also available on the DBPeds website. Title: Assessing Social-Emotional Development in Children from a Longitudinal Perspective for the National Children’s Study: Social- Emotional Compendium of Measures Source: (Denham, 2005) (available at The National Children’s Study website) Notes: Denham provides extensive information on content and psychometric characteristics of social-emotional instruments, with additional comments on their use for the national children’s Study. She includes judgments on strengths and weaknesses of each measure reviewed, and references for research studies of each instrument. Many of the measures reviewed are not for young children.

452 EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT Title: Developmental Screening and Assessment Instruments with an Emphasis on Social and Emotional Development for Young Children Ages Birth Through Five Source: National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) at the University of North Carolina (Ringwalt, 2008) Notes: A new resource, this document provides information, including psychometric properties, for a large number of multi- domain and socioemotional instruments. It is available at http:// www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/screening.pdf. Online Databases of Measurement Instruments Site: Buros Center for Testing URL: http://www.unl.edu/buros/ Notes: This is a service of the organization that has for many years produced the venerable print-based Mental Measurements Year- book (see above). It provides brief instrument descriptions avail- able online at no cost. In-depth test reviews from the yearbook, including information on the psychometric properties of instru- ments and how they were established, are available for purchase online at $15 per title. Site: National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) URL: http://nieer.org/assessment/ Notes: NIEER maintains an assessment database (accessed from the “Facts and Figures” tab on the NIEER homepage by selecting Assessment Database) that provides detailed information on the short list of early childhood measures categorized as “verified,” similar to that found at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) site. Much less information is given for “unverified” instruments. It does not provide much psychometric information but notes what information is available in instrument technical manuals. The site notes that much of its information was obtained from test publishers and other databases, including Buros, ETS, and ERIC.

APPENDIX D 453 (The ERIC database is no longer supported, but refers users to the ETS database.) Site: Educational Testing Service TestLink—“SydneyPlus Knowledge Portal” URL: http://sydneyplus.ets.org Notes: This site provides a database of test and assessment instru- ments, including research instruments. For each instrument it provides a database record with fairly detailed descriptive infor- mation but does not review psychometric properties. Site: DBPeds URL: http://dbpeds.org Notes: This website, the homepage of the American Academy of Pediatrics section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics, provides a great deal of information on developmental screen- ing and assessment, including reviews of instruments, advice on incorporating screening into pediatric practice, and online learn- ing modules for pediatric professionals. It focuses on instruments of use to pediatric professionals. References Beligere, N., Zawacki, L., Pennington, S., and Glascoe, F.P. (2007). Developmental screening tools: Gross motor/fine motor for newborn, infants and children. Available: http://www.dbpeds.org/articles/detail.cfm?TextID=%20738 [accessed June 2008]. Buros Institute of Mental Measurements. (2007). The seventeenth mental measure­ ments yearbook. Lincoln, NE: Author. Child Trends. (2004). Early childhood measures profiles. Washington, DC: Author. Child Trends. (2007). Quality in early childhood care and education settings: A compendium of measures. Washington, DC: Author. Denham, S.E. (2005). Assessing social-emotional development in children from a longitudinal perspective for the National Children’s Study. Washington, DC: Battelle Memorial Institute. Glascoe, F.P. (2005). Screening for developmental and behavioral problems. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 11(3), 173-179.

454 EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT Mathematica Policy Research. (2003). Resources for measuring services and outcomes in Head Start programs serving infants and toddlers. Princeton, NJ: Author. Ringwalt, S. (2008). Developmental screening and assessment instruments with an emphasis on social and emotional development for young children ages birth through five. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center.

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The assessment of young children's development and learning has recently taken on new importance. Private and government organizations are developing programs to enhance the school readiness of all young children, especially children from economically disadvantaged homes and communities and children with special needs.

Well-planned and effective assessment can inform teaching and program improvement, and contribute to better outcomes for children. This book affirms that assessments can make crucial contributions to the improvement of children's well-being, but only if they are well designed, implemented effectively, developed in the context of systematic planning, and are interpreted and used appropriately. Otherwise, assessment of children and programs can have negative consequences for both. The value of assessments therefore requires fundamental attention to their purpose and the design of the larger systems in which they are used.

Early Childhood Assessment addresses these issues by identifying the important outcomes for children from birth to age 5 and the quality and purposes of different techniques and instruments for developmental assessments.

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