DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF YOUNG CHILDERN 4

Developmental assessment of Young children 4 (1+3)

Lesson 6:Trends and challenges in developmental assessment of young children

Current trends in infant and early childhood assessment

• Comparing the IQ test results with same age norms on the wide range of tasks included in developmental scales like Bayley scale of Infant Development (BSID).
• Recognition of predictive power of infant cognitive functioning assessment tools.
• Emphasis on measurement of information processing skills by using new approaches. This approach is based on the well established finding of infant’s preference for novelty which helps to study their ability to abstract and retain information.



Ex. Fagan test of infant intelligence. This test is designed to differentiate normal children from those with cognitive deficits, assesses selective visual attention to novelty in infants from 3-12 months old. Stimuli used are pictures of faces and the score is based on the amount of time devoted to novelty as opposed to familiar pictures.

• Increased recognition on comprehensive, accurate and valid assessment for effective intervention.
• Recognized the use of multiple methods and multiple sources of information for assessing different domains. It involves use of procedures and professionals from various disciplines.



Example : Infant Toddler Developmental Assessment (IDA) which is developed by specialists from multidisciplinary group. IDA is suitable for children from birth to 3 years who are at risk of developmental delays. The materials used in IDA facilitates gathering, recording, interpretation and synthesis of data from referral. Procedures used for data collection include parental involvement at each phase, health review, developmental assessment based on observation and interviews with parents and other care givers.

• Increased importance given to ecological perspective in assessment process which takes into account various aspects of child’s environment.
• Increased link between assessment and intervention.
• Recognized the production of perspective guidelines for teachers based on individual’s unique strengths and weaknesses for early intervention and education.
• Increased importance to family focused/family centered intervention by giving more recognition to family’s role in the development of children. Emphasis was given to Individualized Family service plan (IFSP) along with Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
• Recognized the need for collaboration between professionals and family members beginning with the initial assessment.
• Recognized that families have the right to determine nature of assessment their child receives.
• Changed the family role from passive observation of assessment to identification of areas of assessment and types of instruments utilized and this new trend enabled parents to take up leadership role in all aspects of intervention including assessment.