Individual Assessment

A Program Plan for Young Children with Developmental Delays or Exceptionalities

Skill Areas

This assessment synthesizes other assessments used in early childhood programs. It details six skill areas of child development, organized in the following sections:

Language

Cognitive

Gross Motor

Fine Motor

Socio-Emotional

Self-Help

The language section contains items which require a receptive or expressive interaction with another person. The specific skill areas in the language section reflect the ITPA model, which lends itself to specific language intervention activities. Many items in the language category, particularly in the associative section, cannot in reality be separated from cognitive skills; the elicited language is contingent on information available from the cognitive domain.

Acquisition

The ages of skill acquisition reflect the belief that all children go through the same stages of development at about the same rate. Although most children will acquire a given skill at approximately the same chronological age and in about the same order, some children may progress more rapidly, others more slowly. Some may skip a step altogether without cause for concern. We include ages only as a guide for determining weaknesses and strengths and to provide a sequential framework for planning a developmental program.

Administration

We suggest observing and/or questioning the child rather than testing by standardized procedure. Usually an item describes a specific skill which can be observed in a group activity, free play, or on an individualized basis. Some items may require resourcefulness to elicit the desired information from the child without providing too many clues for the response.

A few items have asterisks indicating that the skill must be inferred from observable behavior. For example, on those items listed as “enjoys …,” we left to the observer’s judgment regarding what behavior (laughter, smiles, claps, etc.) indicates “enjoys.”

Charting

To establish a developmental skill level, begin administration at or below the child’s chronological age. Work backward until the child can successfully pass three consecutive skills. Assume the child can pass all items below that level. If the child succeeds at age level, work forward until the child misses three items.

In the column headed “Present,” mark the date tested next to the highest skill level attained. Choose as the child’s goal the next cluster of skills not present. Mark the date these skills are targeted as goals. As these skills are attained, mark the date in the “Acquired” column next to the skill named. Re-evaluate at three months intervals and record gains in skills not set as goals.

Additionally, you can use a chart similar to the one below to provide an overall picture of the child’s growth.

Use of the Assessment

This assessment was not designed to assign a child a "skill age" or rigid program of teaching every skill as listed. Rather it suggests an overall guide for sequencing the content of classroom activities based on a developmental model. It also suggests a range of skills an activity can include to meet the individual needs of all children. For example, a cooking project may include labeling food and utensils as well as classifying foods.

The assessment suggests the next cluster of skills to present to assure a challenging environment for the child who is progressing steadily.

It provides a progress report to let teachers know if a child is stuck at some level; it helps teachers know when to try a different approach, increase their efforts, or sit back and observe.

NB: This Assessment is appropriate for children with exceptionalities or developmental delays. At Circle Preschool we used it only for the children for whom we needed to do special planning. And, even then, we used only those sections which assess a particular child’s special needs. We recommend that teachers use these pages to help them set objectives right away and then periodically through the year.

SAMPLE PROFILE:  LANGUAGE  SKILL  AREA

A similar chart should be used for each skill area.