A Practical Guide to Infant and Preschool Assessment in Special Education - Hardcover

Bondurant-Utz, Judith A.; Luciano, Lenore B.

9780205152056: A Practical Guide to Infant and Preschool Assessment in Special Education

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0205152058 ISBN 13: 9780205152056

Publisher: Allyn & Bacon, 1994

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A Practical Guide to Infant and Preschool Assessment in Special Education

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Back Cover:

This easy-to-read book is a succinct, practical work designed for current and future early childhood special educators. Its four-part coverage provides an overview of the assessment process; basic considerations for assessment; the stages of the assessment process; and assessment within domains. Unlike introductory books that typically deal with a specific level such as preschool, this book takes a more comprehensive approach by including assessment information on children from birth to five years of age. Family Involvement; Cultural and Linguistic Diversity; The Team Process; The Assessment Experience; Qualitative Observations of Behavior; Assessing Young Children with Severe Disabilities; Child Find, Screening, and Identification; Norm-Based Assessment; Curriculum-Based Assessment for Instructional Planning; Ecological Assessment; Behavioral Assessment; Program Evaluation; Assessment within Domains; Communication Assessment; Assessing Social and Emotional Development; Sensory Motor; Assessment of Adaptive Behavior. For current and future early childhood special educators.

This book is intended for early intervention/ early childhood special educators, evaluators, related service staff, supervisors, and professionals involved in preparing personnel who work with young children with disabilities. In this text, early intervention is defined as occurring from birth to 3 years and early childhood special education as 3 to 5 years. At times, the entire age span is referred to as young children with special needs.

Practical Guide to Assessing Infants and Preschoolers with Special Needs is designed to be an introductory text which provides the basic guidelines for early childhood assessment. The material is developed to provide a functional overview of the variety of assessment instruments available, important points to consider for choosing assessment instruments, and a compilation of resources, examples, and practical suggestions for individuals, families, and training personnel. In preparing this second edition, the author has attempted to update the information in the original edition, incorporate current practices in the field that are preferred in the identification and assessment of young children with special needs, and provide more depth of content than in the original publication.

The current practices outlined in Part I and emphasized throughout the text include the integration of a family-centered philosophy, collaborative decision making among the professionals and parents, and an understanding that any assessment must be made realizing that many of the children and families with whom we work are culturally and linguistically diverse. Therefore, the first section includes chapters on family involvement, cultural diversity, and the team process.

The development of this book was stimulated by the recognition that assessing young children is a process that requires different skills and knowledge than those used for assessing school-aged children. Part II provides some basic considerations when assessing young children and making qualitative observations. Chapter 7 takes a practical approach and discusses assessment of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with sensory or physical disabilities, behavioral disabilities, autism, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS or cancer.

Part III discusses the stages in the assessment from the very beginning to the end of the process. Emphasis is placed on the understanding that assessment is a process of information gathering about a child's typical behaviors; therefore, assessment must occur in a child's typical environment. Assessment of children in their typical environment will result in a decision about further evaluation, eligibility, and programming planning, which will more accurately reflect the child's behavior. The chapters have been updated with the most current assessment instruments and approaches. The chapter on behavioral assessment provides depth of content and includes a section on functional behavioral assessment as required by the reauthorization of the IDEA in 1997.

Part IV presents assessment within specific areas that are key domains in the assessment process. The domains presented are cognition, communication, social-emotional, sensorimotor, and adaptive. Chapter 15 on communication assessment is written by two speech/language pathologists, and Chapter 17 on sensorimotor development is written by an occupational therapist. These viewpoints provide a more comprehensive understanding of the domains and further emphasize the need for a collaborative approach to assessment of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs. The final chapter provides an assessment of adaptive skills.

This book is intended only as a beginning. Each child is different and programs have different philosophies; therefore, each professional must choose what is appropriate for each individual child. Competence in the evaluation process comes with experience and supervised practice. This book is intended to be a good beginning in this difficult task but is not meant as a substitute for comprehensive personnel preparation. This preparation must include quality field-based experiences with children and families in a collaborative setting.

For those readers who have experience with very young children with disabilities and their families, it is hoped that this will be a useful resource book. For those who are new to the field of early intervention and early childhood special education, we hope that Practical Guide to Assessing Infants and Preschoolers with Special Needs will be an excellent beginning point.

Acknowledgments

Special recognition and thanks go to the chapter authors who contributed their expertise and time to this book. I am grateful for their hard work. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the reviewers of the manuscript: Brent A. Askvig, Minot State University; Peggy A. Gallagher, Georgia State University; Melanie B. Jephson, Stephen F Austin State University; and Pam Robinson, Oklahoma Baptist University.

Special thanks to Ms. Elizabeth Largeman-Kalnitz for her assistance in obtaining all of the copyright permissions for this book. I couldn't have done it without her.

The skilled, committed, patient personnel at Merrill/Prentice Hall deserve my special thanks also. I would especially like to recognize Ann Davis, executive editor, who provided continuous support, encouragement, and guidance throughout the process; and to Sheryl Langner, production editor. Also, I would like to recognize Emily Autumn at Clarinda Publication Services for her patience and expertise in the publication process.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to my husband, Russ, who constantly supported and encouraged me in this long and time-consuming endeavor. Without his kindness, patience, and understanding, I would not have completed this book.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.