Child outcome assessments are ongoing activities to measure children’s learning and development. The results inform program administrators, early childhood teachers and providers, policymakers, parents, and the public about both children’s progress over time and the quality of early childhood programs and services. Some specific goals of child outcome assessments include identifying children eligible for special services, modifying curriculum to meet the needs of individual children, and easing the transition for children and families from home to school. This document provides basic information, examples and definitions, and resources on child assessment.
Additional information about assessment is available on NCCIC’s Web site at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/topics/topic/index.cfm?topicId=7. NCCIC does not endorse any organization, publication, or resource.
There are many different types of assessment tools for young children. Assessments vary based on their focus. Assessments can measure developmental growth in young children within a single area or multiple areas or be used to screen for abnormalities and exceptionalities in development. The following is an overview of these different types of assessments:
The following table includes information about child assessment tools and how they can be used to measure development in young children.
Assessment Tool | Assessment Description | Age Level(s) |
---|---|---|
Child Development Assessments: Multi-Domain | ||
The Creative Curriculum® Developmental Continuum Assessment | The Creative Curriculum assesses social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. | Infant, toddler, and preschool |
Galileo Preschool | Galileo Preschool is a comprehensive early childhood knowledge management system that measures cognitive, social, and physical development. | Preschool |
The High/Scope Child Observation Record (COR)® | COR is an observational assessment tool that assesses initiative, social relations, creative representation, movement and music, language and literacy, and mathematics. It can be used in a variety of early childhood settings. | Infant, toddler, and preschool |
Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI) | IGDIs are quick, efficient, and repeatable measures of components of developmental performance. They sample child performance in major developmental domains (i.e., language, social, cognitive, motor, and adaptive), with a special emphasis on assessment related to long-term developmental outcomes that are common across the early childhood years. | Toddler, preschool, and school age |
The Marazon Systems | The Marazon Systems (i.e., Classroom System, Home Visitor System, Family Child Care System, Christian System, and Parent System) are developmentally appropriate planning and assessment systems designed for a variety of educational settings for children of all ages. The systems assess six domains: affective (relating to self), social (relating to others), creative (originating from self), cognitive (thinking), language (communicating), and physical (doing) development. | Information not available |
The Ounce Scale | The Ounce Scale assesses six major areas of development: personal connections, feelings about self, relationships with other children, understanding and communicating, exploration and problem-solving, and movement and coordination. It provides a way to evaluate children’s accomplishments, areas of difficulty, and approaches to learning. | Birth to age 3 |
The Work Sampling System® | The Work Sampling System documents children’s skills, knowledge, behavior, and accomplishments across a wide variety of curriculum areas on multiple occasions in order to enhance teaching and learning. Curriculum areas include personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific thinking, social studies, the arts, and physical development. | Preschool and school age |
Child Development Assessments: Single Domain | ||
Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation |
This assessment measures social-emotional development (i.e., social competence, emotional expression, and adjustment). | Toddler, preschool, and school age |
Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL) |
TROLL assesses literacy skills (i.e., language use, reading, and writing). | Preschool |
The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) |
DECA assesses social-emotional development (i.e., initiative, self-control, and attachment). |
Infant, toddler, and preschool |
Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Tool (ELLCO) | ELLCO measures five key literacy elements: classroom structure, curriculum, the language environment, books and book reading, opportunities, and print and early writing supports. | Preschool and school age |
Developmental Screening Assessments | ||
Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS) for Infants and Children® | AEPS assesses fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, adaptive, social-communication, and social-emotional development. | Birth to school age |
Bayley Scales of Infant Development | This scale assesses physical, motor, sensory, and cognitive development in babies and young children. | Infant and toddler |
Battelle Developmental Inventory | This inventory assesses personal-social, adaptive, motor, communication, and cognitive abilities. | Birth to school age |
Brigance Inventory of Early Development | This inventory is used to diagnose delays, disabilities, giftedness, and other exceptionalities. The tool assesses motor, language, cognitive, daily living, and social-emotional skills. | Birth to school age |
Child Development Inventory | This inventory measures development in eight areas: social, self help, gross motor, fine motor, expressive language, language comprehension, letters, and numbers. | Toddler and preschool |
The Carolina Curriculum | This curriculum assesses five developmental domains: cognition, communication, social adaptation, fine motor, and gross motor. | Infant, toddler, and preschool |
States and Territories use Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) monies to develop, revise, and/or implement early learning guidelines (ELGs), which identify outcomes in language, literacy, mathematics, and other developmental domains for young children. In response to these efforts, many States support a variety of child assessment initiatives that are aligned to their respective ELGs. These aligned initiatives are designed to encourage and strengthen the capacity of early care and education programs to increase positive outcomes for young children birth to 5 years.
Representative examples have been included from the CCDF Plans for FY 2008–2009 to illustrate the different kinds of assessment initiatives States are implementing across diverse care settings and age levels. These examples do not include all State child assessment initiatives, but are meant to represent a range of approaches States have taken to address these issues. Minor revisions were incorporated in order to enhance readability. NCCIC does not endorse any practice, organization, publication, or resource.
The California Department of Education’s (CDE) Child Development Division has developed a desired results assessment system that is compatible with CDE’s accountability system for elementary and secondary education. Desired Results for Children and Families is a comprehensive system that allows educators to document the progress made by children and families in achieving desired results based on the California Early Learning Foundations (standards). It also allows educators to retrieve information to help practitioners improve child care and development services. A selection of Desired Results assessment materials and forms is available on the Web at www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/desiredresults.asp.
The Department of Education has approved the following list of kindergarten assessments to be used to implement the requirements of HF 761. If a school district administers an assessment that is not on this list, the district will be required to demonstrate how it addresses the literacy components and meets technical adequacy for a kindergarten assessment.
The following list of assessments is standardized criterion referenced or norm referenced assessment instruments that appropriately assess literacy concepts in kindergarten children:
Maryland assesses the readiness of all children entering kindergarten each fall through the Work Sampling System (WSS). Since the implementation of the WSS assessments, the readiness of children in the State has increased due in part to the availability and implementation of the Guidelines, Maryland Model for School Readiness and other quality initiatives.
In the fall of each year, children are randomly sampled to participate in the study. Teachers rate the school readiness of each child during the first six weeks of kindergarten using a customized Work Sampling System assessment that includes 32 indicators in five domains, including personal and social development, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, the arts and physical development and health. The developmental domains and indicators in the Preschool-4 Work Sampling System Developmental Guidelines used in this study are consistent with and align with Minnesota’s early learning guidelines for 3–5 year olds. Results of these studies are published on the Department of Education website at
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Learning_Support/Early_Learning_Services/Publications/index.html.
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) utilizes the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation instrument (ELLCO) in its state funded programs to do the following:
The ELLCO is a tool designed to gather data and develop profiles of classroom instruction and environment. It was selected because it provides an overall view of effective practice with particular emphasis on language and literacy, identifies the critical features of early literacy learning and is grounded in the research on emergent and early literacy development. The ELLCO is conducted by two trained independent observers in a 25 percent stratified random sample of classrooms implementing the Early Learning Initiative. ODE plans to expand the use of ELLCO in its other state funded programs, including Early Childhood Education (formerly public preschool) and Preschool Special Education.
Pennsylvania is developing an early childhood assessment and accountability system that is based on the Early Learning Guidelines and uses the Work Sampling System. The assessment system was piloted in programs in September 2007 and will be required across all early childhood programs starting in September 2008.
Updated September 2008