Validity and Reliability of a Curriculum-Based Assessment Approach to Determine Eligibility for Part C Services

Abstract

Traditional standardized, norm-referenced assessments are used most often to determine children's eligibility for specialized services. These traditional tests have at least two drawbacks: (a) test items and activities often do not reflect children's functional repertoires; and (b) outcomes are difficult to link directly to goal development, intervention, and evaluation.A promising alternative is the use of an assessment approach that reflects children's functional repertoires in familiar environments (i.e., authentic), and directly connects outcomes to programmatic efforts (i.e., linked). This study investigated the validity and reliability of an authentic and linked alternative assessment. Sixty-eight toddlers, with and without disabilities,

Using Assessment to Improve the Effectiveness of Early Childhood Education

“…Historically, the most common approach to assessment in ECE/ECSE has been through the use of norm-referenced standardized performance tests and teacher-ratings (Bagnato, 2005;Macy et al, 2005). Rooted in the psychometric tradition, standardized tests attempt to measure child differences (often deficiencies) on tasks that are thought to represent an important theoretical construct.…”

“…Within the field of ECSE in particular, there is consensus that identifying young children with special educational needs is a critical endeavor, so that those children can receive services that may tremendously impact their development and abilities throughout the school years and later in life (Greenwood, Luze, Cline, Kuntz, & Leitschuh, 2002;Luze et al, 2001;Macy et al, 2005;PL 108-446, 2004). Considering the millions of children in our society who are at-risk due to poverty or disability, it is clear that assessment will continue to be used to identify young children who might benefit from participation in an ECE/ECSE program.…”

“…Another role of assessment within ECE/ECSE is to accurately identify children who are at-risk and in need of specialized intervention and educational services (Bagnato, 2005;Kagan, 2003;Macy, Bricker, & Squires, 2005). Within the field of ECSE in particular, there is consensus that identifying young children with special educational needs is a critical endeavor, so that those children can receive services that may tremendously impact their development and abilities throughout the school years and later in life (Greenwood, Luze, Cline, Kuntz, & Leitschuh, 2002;Luze et al, 2001;Macy et al, 2005;PL 108-446, 2004).…”

Validité de contenu du nouveau domaine de la littératie de l’AEPS®/EIS

“…L'évaluation authentique est réalisée dans le milieu de vie de l'enfant par l'observation de ses comportements de la vie quotidienne et elle favorise l'implication des parents ou des personnes significatives (Bagnato et al, 2010;Gao, 2008 (Bricker, 2002) est divisé en quatre volumes et l'EIS en trois volumes (Bricker, 2006 Depuis les années 1980, plusieurs recherches décrivent les qualités psychométriques de l'AEPS (Slentz, 2008). La fidélité interjuge est d'adéquate à bonne, les corrélations variant de 0,60 à 0,97 (Bailey et Bricker, 1986;Bricker, Bailey et Slentz, 1990;Hsia, 1993;Macy, Bricker et Squires, 2005;Noh, 2005). Pour la fidélité test-retest, le coefficient de corrélation pour l'ensemble du test est 0,96 .…”

“…La cohérence interne est bonne Noh, 2005). Le degré d'accord interjuge est d'appréciable à excellent (Macy et al, 2005;Noh, 2005). Le test de l'AEPS est sensible aux différences de performance entre les enfants de trois ans et les enfants de cinq ans ainsi qu'entre les enfants dont le développement est typique et les enfants dont le développement est atypique (Hsia, 1993;Noh, 2005 (Slentz, 2008).…”