Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach - Softcover

Anna H. Hall, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University. She earned her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education from the University of Kentucky.

Julie Harp Rutland, M.S. is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education at Morehead State University. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Grisham is Professor in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She received her doctorate in education from the University of Kentucky. She is also Faculty Director of the Early Childhood Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, an inclusive early childhood program for children from birth to 5 years of age.

Dr. Grisham has directed research projects on topics including linking assessment and instruction, early care and education program quality, and individualizing instruction for young children with disabilities. In addition, she has conducted research on the effectiveness of instructional procedures that are embedded into developmentally appropriate activities, the application of multi-tiered systems of support in early childhood settings, and coaching teachers and caregivers to implement evidencebased instructional strategies with fidelity. Dr. Grisham is Project Director for the Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project, which provides technical assistance to families and service providers of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with deaf-blindness. She coauthored a book titled Reach for the Stars: Planning for the Future (with D. Haynes; American Printing House for the Blind, 2013), which is used to support families of young children in planning for their children’s future and articulating their priorities to educational team members, as well as Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings, Second Edition (with M. L. Hemmeter; Brookes Publishing Co., 2017), and Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach (with K. Pretti-Frontczak; Brookes Publishing Co., 2011).

Finally, Dr. Grisham directed the nationwide field test for AEPS-3. Dr. Grisham is frequently asked to provide professional development to state departments of education, universities, and local education agencies on topics for which she conducts research throughout the country. Dr. Grisham is co-founder of a children’s home and preschool program in Guatemala City, Hope for Tomorrow, where she accompanies students for the education abroad program. Dr. Grisham also works internationally in other locations to promote inclusion of young children with disabilities.

Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak is a highly sought-after speaker, accomplished author, and educators’ educator. With nearly three decades of educational experience, Kristie cultivates real change within educational systems. She instills an impressive sense of joy, humor, and fun in creating inclusive educational practices and empowering teachers and leaders to spread wellness both in and beyond the classroom walls. Along with Dr. Julie Causton, at Inclusive Schooling, Kristie designs and delivers transformative professional development that addresses and supports the wholeness of the adult professional and helps leaders create school cultures that ensure all children experience a sense of belonging. Kristie spent 16 years, as faculty, at Kent State University and has published extensively in peer-referenced journals and is an author of over 10 books and monographs. Since 2013 she has followed her true passion, which is supporting adult learners. As a result, she has accumulated over 50,000 hours of helping educators and leaders work from a place of compassion, hope, and love in locations from Cincinnati to Singapore. She currently resides in Northeastern Ohio. You can learn more about Kristie and Inclusive Schooling at www.inclusiveschooling.com.

Check out our spotlight on Kristie Pretti-Frontczak! Discover bestselling books, an engaging webinar recording on inclusion, and download a free classroom poster!

Stephen J. Bagnato, Ed.D., NCSP, is a developmental school psychologist and professor of pediatrics and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Education. Dr. Bagnato holds joint appointments in psychology in education/applied developmental psychology and clinical/developmental psychology at the university. He is Director of the Early Childhood Partnerships Program at the university and Core Interdisciplinary Leadership Team Faculty Member for The University, Community, Leaders, and Individuals with Disabilities (UCLID) Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1986, Dr. Bagnato received the Braintree Hospital National Brain Injury Research Award for his research on the impact of interdisciplinary intervention for young children with acquired and congenital brain injuries. In 2001, he was recipient of the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Distinguished Public Service Award for the innovation and community impact of his consultation and research programs in early childhood partnerships, and in 2008, Dr. Bagnato received The Pennsylvania State University Excellence in Education Alumni Award for his career of innovative national and international service and research in education and psychology. Dr. Bagnato was recently appointed to Governor Rendell's Pennsylvania Early Learning Council, a task force to influence early childhood intervention policy and practices through systems integration efforts among education, public welfare, and health.

Dr. Bagnato specializes in authentic curriculum-based assessment and applied program evaluation research for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers at developmental risk and with neurodevelopmental disabilities and neurobehavioral disorders and their families. He has published more than 120 applied research studies and professional articles in early childhood care and education, early intervention, early childhood special education, school psychology, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and developmental neuropsychology.

Dr. Bagnato is Director of Early Childhood Partnerships (ECP; http://www.earlychildhoodpartnerships.com), a community-based consultation, training, technical assistance, and research collaborative between Children's Hospital and The UCLID Center at the University of Pittsburgh with community partners. For more than 10 years, Dr. Bagnato and his ECP program have been funded by the Heinz Endowments to conduct longitudinal research on the impact and outcomes of high-quality early childhood intervention programs on nearly 15,000 high-risk children in 30 school districts and regions across Pennsylvania (e.g., Early Childhood Initiative, Pre-K Counts).

Dr. Bagnato is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Division 16 and he received the 1995 Best Research Article Award from Division 16 of APA (with John T. Neisworth) for his "national study on the social and treatment invalidity of intelligence testing in early childhood intervention." He is coauthor of the professional "best practice" policy statements and standards on early childhood assessment, evaluation, and early intervention for The National Association of School Psychologists and the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Excerpted from Chapter 4 of Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach, by Jennifer Grisham-Brown, Ed.D., & Kristie Pretti-Frontczak, Ph.D. Copyright© 2011 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

This section provides specific recommendations for assessing children who have severe or multiple disabilities, who are from diverse cultural backgrounds, or who are dual- or multilanguage learners. The section provides specific recommendations regarding what and how information is gathered across assessment purposes. The recommendations provided will apply to all of the specified populations of children (children with diverse abilities) unless otherwise specified by one of the following: children with multiple or severe disabilities, children from diverse cultural backgrounds, and children who are dual- or multilanguage learners.

What to Assess

When assessing children with multiple or severe disabilities, teachers need to gather information about the general effects of the disability on typical development to support their interpretations of test results (i.e., determine whether a documented delay should be considered an area of need or if the delay is within the typical trajectory for same-age peers with the same disability). For most children with multiple or severe disabilities, the course of development is different, not necessarily slower (Ferrell, 1998). For example, research has shown that children with visual impairments learn things in a different sequence and at a different rate than children who are typically developing. As a general rule, teachers should avoid comparisons between children who are typically developing and children with a disability and should keep in mind that a disability in one area affects a child's abilities or developmental trajectories in other areas.

Gathering information about the child's use of functional skills is critical when assessing young children with multiple or severe disabilities (Browder, 2001). As previously mentioned, teachers should examine function rather than form. For example, an item that measures ability to get from Point A to Point B is a more appropriate assessment of a child's functioning than an item that focuses on specific locomotor skills, such as walking or running. Children may demonstrate the function of the skill by moving around in a wheelchair, crawling, or using a walker. Likewise, an open-ended item that measures a child's ability to communicate his or her wants and needs is more functional than focusing on specific verbal communication skills, such as speaking or pointing. Therefore, teachers should focus on developing comprehensive descriptions of a child's functioning on tasks or skills considered important to the child's present and future performance (Meisels & Atkins-Burnett, 2000).

When assessing children from diverse cultural backgrounds or children who are dual- or multilanguage learners, teachers should gather information about the child's culture and language patterns in the home (Espinosa, 2010; Sandall, Hemmeter, Smith, & McLean, 2005). It would be wise to collect information about the child's learning style and experience with materials, the family's preferences and child-rearing practices, as well as what behaviors and ways of approaching adults are culturally appropriate before conducting screening and assessment (California Department of Education, 2007). Furthermore, teachers should determine who in the child's family speaks or understands which languages and for what purposes (e.g., read the newspaper, watch TV, listen to the radio, talk to friends or socialize). Simply determining the language spoken in the home is not enough. Parent surveys or as recommended by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (Westby, Burda, & Mehta, 2003), ethnographic interviewing, can be used for gathering information regarding the language a child is exposed to, how and when they use various languages, and for gaining a better understanding of the family context and preferences.

Gathering information about the language patterns in the home can provide insight about the acculturation of the child and family. The term acculturation refers to the process in which members of one cultural group adopt the beliefs, behaviors, language, or cultural traits of another cultural group (Schumann, 1978). Understanding the level of acculturation is important, given that young children who are dual- or multilanguage learners are acquiring not just a new language, but a new culture as well. When children experience culture shock, their academic and social behaviors can appear to mirror those of a student with special needs (Grassi & Barker, 2010). Consider the preschool child who is not expected to feed himself at home. At preschool, food is placed in front of the child with the expectation that he will feed himself. The child might scream, cry, or simply "shut down" out of fear or frustration, not understanding the situation or not being able to perform the task. During the assessment process, teachers might interpret the child's behavior as a number of things that are untrue about the child's abilities (e.g., a fine motor delay, challenging behavior, sensory processing issue). Box 4.3 outlines further examples of behaviors exhibited by dual- or multilanguage learners experiencing culture shock. Behaviors exhibited by dual or multilanguage learners experiencing culture shock

• Constantly asking to go to the bathroom or the school nurse
• Crying or exhibiting signs of depression
• Throwing chairs or books across the room
• Being unable to stay focused on tasks
• Falling asleep during class
• Exhibiting outbursts of anger, violence, frustration, or sadness
• Getting into fights at recess
• Leaving the classroom or asking to go home
• Being out sick from school for many days

From Grassi, E., & Baker, H.B. [2010]. Culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional students: Strategies for teaching and assessment. Copyright © 2003 by SAGE Publications. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.

Finally, when assessing the language skills of children who are dual or multilanguage learners, it is critical to gather information about the child's language acquisition for each language the child speaks and avoid comparisons with children who are native English speakers (Goodz, 1994). Teachers should determine whether the child who is a dual- or multilanguage learner has an age-appropriate level of vocabulary and syntax in his or her native language in order to evaluate the child's English language acquisition. If there is no communication disorder in the child's native language, then the likelihood is that there is no communication disorder. If possible, another strategy is to compare children who are dual- or multilanguage learners with same-age peers who are also dual- or multilanguage learners. If the child is acquiring English at the same rate as other nonnative English speakers of the same age, then chances are there is no significant communication disorder. In other words, the likelihood of both children exhibiting a communication disorder at the same rate is small. That being said, when making comparisons between children, teachers should consider the length of time each child has been exposed to the new language because children spend a predictable amount of time in each stage of the language acquisition process (Haynes, 2006).

How to Assess

The remainder of the section provides recommendations for how transdisciplinary teams should approach the assessment process for children with diverse abilities (i.e., those who have multiple or...