Developmental

Screening & Assessment

You may be wondering, what is the difference between developmental screening and developmental assessment? If you weren’t wondering before, you might be wondering now! Each is an important component of early childhood care and education.

Developmental Screening — assures that any potential developmental concerns are identified and documented for referral to Early Intervention systems and other systems, as appropriate.

Ongoing Developmental Assessment — determines how a child is progressing across domains for purposes of planning individualized curriculum.

Screening

At least once a year, I encourage each family to participate in using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3) screening tool. If you already participate with another organization, such as Family Futures Connections Program, I encourage you to continue and share the results of your child’s ASQ-3 screenings with me, especially if you ever have any concerns with the results so that we can work together to find answers to your questions and get the help your child may need.

Ages & Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3)

The ASQ-3 is a developmental screening tool which relies on parents as experts, is easy-to-use, family-friendly and creates the snapshot needed to catch delays and celebrate milestones.

ASQ-3 questionnaires:

  • are available in English or Spanish

  • take just 10–15 minutes for you to complete

  • highlight your child’s strengths as well as concerns

  • teach you about child development and your own child’s skills

  • highlight results that fall in a “monitoring zone,” to make it easier to keep track if your child is at risk

  • can be completed at home

When it is time to complete the ASQ-3 with your child, I will provide you with a bag of materials which you can borrow to administer the screening tool at home and when you are done, you simply return the bag with the questionnaire and I will score it. In addition to providing you with the results, I can also give you ideas of activities to do with your child to support your child’s development. Using the ASQ-3 can help give you peace of mind so that you are not worrying if your child should or shouldn’t be doing something.

If you or I have concerns about your child’s social-emotional development, we can also complete an Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2) screening. The ASQ:SE-2 is used specifically to identify and exclusively screen social and emotional behaviors. “Accurately identifying behavior through ASQ:SE-2 paves the way for next steps—further assessment, specialized intervention or ongoing monitoring, for examples—to help children reach their fullest potential during their most formative early years.”

Assessments

The Ounce Scale® and The Work Sampling System® are used to assess each child's development and are explained in further detail below. Using the assessments and sharing what we observe at family conferences, we will get a clearer picture of your child than either of us would alone. We will be partners working together to find the best ways to help your child learn and develop. As a parent, if you have any questions about the results of your child's developmental assessment, please contact me. We will have conferences twice a year (November and May), but I am also willing to set up a conference to discuss your child's development at any time of the year.

The Ounce Scale®

The Ounce Scale is an assessment system for babies and toddlers. Parents will receive a new developmental profile every four months for a child aged twelve months or younger, and every six months until the child is three and a half years of age or has started preschool.

The Ounce Scale is not a test. It is a way to observe children as they play and take part in daily activities, such as eating lunch or snacks, diapering or toileting, dressing, playing, and being with children and adults. The Ounce Scale focuses on what children can do, not what they can't do.

As the caregiver, I will use what I learn to plan ways we can work together to help your child grow.

I will keep track of the following areas of development:

  • It's About Trust: How your child shows trust

  • Learning About Me: How your child expresses who he is

  • Child to Child: How your child acts around other children

  • Child Talk: How your child understands and communicates

  • Child Discoveries: How your child explores and figures things out

  • Children in Motion: How your child moves her body and uses her hands

In addition, as a parent, you have the option to record what you learn about your child in Family Albums. If you choose to purchase Family Albums, you will receive an album for every four months until your child is twelve months, and every six months until your child is three and a half years of age for a total of eight albums. These albums have space for you to write down stories about your child and to paste in photos or draw pictures. They are memory books for you to keep and enjoy for years to come. If you feel the Family Albums would be beneficial to your family, you may order the "Parent Family Album Kit" here http://www.pearsonclinical.com/childhood/products/100000403/ounce-scale-the.html.

The Work Sampling System®

The Work Sampling System is an assessment system for preschoolers. It is designed to help me learn about your child’s skills, behaviors, and academic achievements. Work Sampling gives me the information I need to work effectively with your child, build your child’s motivation and self-confidence, and report child progress to you.

The Work Sampling System focuses on seven areas of the curriculum:

  • Personal and Social Development

  • Language and Literacy (with performance indicators for English language learners)

  • Mathematical Thinking

  • Scientific Thinking

  • Social Studies

  • The Arts

  • Physical Development, Health, and Safety

The Work Sampling System is composed of three interrelated parts:

Developmental Guidelines and Checklists — Lists of age- or grade-level expectations that are used for guiding my observations about your child’s achievements.

Summary Reports — A profile of your child’s performance based on the Checklist observations. It includes brief comments from me about your child’s progress, strengths, and areas of concern and is sent home three times per year.