Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach

To ensure the best possible outcomes for young children with and without disabilities, early childhood educators must enter the classroom ready to conduct all types of early childhood assessment—including determining if children need additional services, planning and monitoring instruction, and determining program effectiveness. They'll get the preparation they need with this comprehensive textbook, an in-depth blueprint for high-quality assessment in today's age of inclusion, standards-based education, and accountability.

Developed by prominent early childhood special education experts Jennifer Grisham-Brown and Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, this book is a natural follow-up to the bestselling, widely adopted Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings. Future educators of young children will get the research and recommended practices they need to:

• conduct authentic assessment during children's natural routines and play activities, so their true abilities can be accurately measured
• use assessment to inform effective program planning, both for individual children and groups
• ensure that their practices are aligned with DEC and NAEYC recommendations
• involve families as collaborative partners in the whole assessment process, from planning the assessment to determining if the results represent the child's abilities
• select and use assessment instruments with documented evidence of technical adequacy
• conduct eligibility assessments and identify children for special services under IDEA
• assess children with diverse abilities, including children who have severe or multiple disabilities, are from diverse cultural backgrounds, and are dual or multi-language learners
• engage in assessment to plan and revise quality instruction
• collect reliable program evaluation data at classroom, program-wide, state, and national levels

Guiding future educators through every aspect of skillful assessment, this textbook gives readers vignettes of common dilemmas teachers may encounter, classroom examples featuring diverse children, and practical aids such as assessment checklists and excerpts from select tools.

An essential textbook for all preservice early childhood educators, this book is also a key resource for a wide range of in-service professionals: from principals and consultants to teacher study groups. Educators will learn how to confidently implement high-quality assessment and reap its benefits: inclusive, family-centered programming that improves outcomes for all children.

Table of Contents

About the Authors

Contributors

Foreword

Stephen J. Bagnato

Preface

Acknowledgments

• Chapter 1. Introduction - Jennifer Grisham-Brown & Kristie Pretti-Frontczak

Section I. Recommended Practices

• Chapter 2. Authentic Assessment - Whitney A. Stevenson, Jennifer Grisham-Brown, & Kristie Pretti-Frontczak
• Chapter 3. Family Involvement in the Assessment Process - Anna H. Hall, Julie Harp Rutland, & Jennifer Grisham-Brown
• Chapter 4. Recommended Practices for Assessing Children With Diverse Abilities - Sandra Hess Robbins, Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, & Jennifer Grisham Brown
• Chapter 5. Recommended Practices for Determining Technical Adequacy - Kristie Pretti-Frontczak & Nicole Shannon

Section II. Reasons for Conducting Assessment

• Chapter 6. Recommended Practices in Identifying Children for Special Services - Jennifer Grisham-Brown, Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, & Sophia Hubbell
• Chapter 7. Assessment for Program Planning Purposes - Sarah R. Hawkins, Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Jennifer Grisham-Brown, Teresa L. Brown, & Lydia Moore
• Chapter 8. Performance Monitoring within a Tiered Instructional Model - Carrie Pfeiffer-Fiala, Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Lydia Moore, & Ashley N. Lyons
• Chapter 9. Program Evaluation - Jennifer Grisham-Brown & Kristie Pretti-Frontczak

References

"A comprehensive and valuable resource for early childhood practitioners ... addresses both the process and purpose for assessment of all children in inclusive classroom settings."
- Dathan Rush, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, Associate Director, Family, Infant, and Preschool Program; J. Iverson Riddle Development Center, Morgantown, NC