Early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) practitioners participating in the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process must understand age-expected development, the ages at which children typically acquire different skills. This resource provides answers to commonly asked questions about age anchoring as it applies to the COS…

This user-friendly book presents research-based best practices for serving families of children with special needs from birth to age 6. Expert contributors demonstrate how early intervention and early childhood special education can effectively address a wide range of family concerns, which in turn optimizes children's development and learning.…

This guide has helped put executive skills on the map for school-based clinicians and educators. The book explains how these critical cognitive processes develop and why they play such a key role in children's behavior and school performance. Provided are step-by-step guidelines and many practical tools to promote executive skill development by…

The Work Sampling System is a performance assessment that provides an alternative to group-administered, norm-referenced achievement tests for preschool through fifth grade. This volume presents a compilation of the Work Sampling System Developmental Guidelines for preschool through third grade. The guidelines are grouped into these categories:…

This manual describes the results of a 3-year research project at George Washington University (District of Columbia) called the Assessment as Intervention Project, which explored approaches to parent-sensitive developmental follow-up for prematurely born infants who received neonatal intensive care and their families (N=25). After an…

Many early childhood educators are beginning to experiment with and use portfolio assessment. Teachers are also observing young children at play and documenting their play activities for assessment purposes. Close observation of sociodramatic play gives teachers accurate perspectives on young children across the developmental domains of…

Intended for use with the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, this integrated ongoing student assessment toolkit is designed for preschool teachers to help them focus on all aspects of a child's development, thereby giving them a way to ensure that all children in their classes are making progress. The assessment kit uses a strength-based…

Partnerships between teachers and parents provide benefits for children's education. Suggested methods by which teachers can establish communications with parents include telephone conferences, printed communications, encouragement of parental visits, developmental checklists sent home, parent-teacher conferences, home visits, and workshops for…

This technical assistance paper presents information designed to assist school personnel in assessing the strengths and needs of children and planning developmentally appropriate curriculum strategies. The first topic addressed is assessment strategies, which include developmental screening, diagnostic instruments, teacher observation, parent…

This handbook describes ways that families, schools, and child-care centers can work together to achieve Vermont's state goals for early childhood education. The following topics are presented: (1) the goals and principles guiding Vermont's early education program; (2) the role of kindergarten in a child's educational career; (3) the need to shift…

Intended for use with the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, this integrated ongoing student assessment toolkit, in Spanish, is designed for preschool teachers to help them focus on all aspects of a child's development, thereby giving them a way to ensure that all children in their classes are making progress. The assessment kit uses a…

Incorporating elements of humanist, Piagetian, psychodynamic, and behaviorist perspectives of child development, this guide for preschool teachers explores several topics related to curriculum planning for 4-year-old children. Chapter 1 points out the significance of the curriculum study, defines terms, and identifies assumptions and limitations…

In contrast to standardized tests, which do not accurately reflect the achievement of young students, portfolio assessment is a valuable tool for documenting a student's development. Portfolio assessment can be conducted formally or informally through observation or by interview. Documentation of observations can take the form of checklists,…

Reflecting some of the most up-to-date thinking about enriching the experience of those who plan for and are involved in the care of children, this brochure lists critical skills of those individuals in the child care profession, and may be used as a reminder and as a self-evaluation tool. The skills highlighted are: enhancing child development;…

This manual, which was developed to assist persons using the Helpful Entry Level Skills Checklist, includes typical developmental levels or ages for each skill addressed on the check list for children ages 3 through 6. The guidelines are designed to be used to target appropriate skills for intervention. Skills included in the check list include:…