Only about 1% of the children receiving special education services are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). This group of children is highly heterogeneous with respect to a range of factors such as age of onset, degree of hearing loss, language and communication choices and access, and educational settings. Capturing the complex background of a DHH…

When children are aged around 2 years, many of the early foundations of mathematical skills are developing. Understanding this is important to shed light on theories of mathematical development. Nevertheless, little research has investigated 2-year-olds' early mathematical abilities, with most research focussing on either infants (aged 0-1 years)…

Automated methods for processing of daylong audio recordings are efficient and may be an effective way of assessing developmental stage for typically developing children; however, their utility for children with developmental disabilities may be limited by constraints of algorithms and the scope of variables produced. Here, we present a novel…

In this article, we adopt culturally relevant perspectives on developmental science that acknowledge and value the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of young children and their families to identify opportunities to advance the measurement of early childhood development. We focus on direct child assessments that can drive more equitable…

Quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) is important for young children's holistic healthy development. As ECCE scales, contextually relevant and feasible measurement is needed to inform policy and programs on strengths and areas for improvement. However, few measures have been designed for use across diverse contexts. Drawing on…

The United Kingdom government has announced a review of the curriculum and assessment system. The goal is to deliver a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative, and which develops children's knowledge and skills. In doing so, the government has promised to consult widely to ensure that it is drawing on relevant expertise.…

A growing understanding of the importance of children's earliest years has led to an increasing desire to measure early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. There are now nearly 150 tools for measuring ECD outcomes internationally, which can make it challenging to choose an appropriate measurement tool for a given measurement effort. This…

Over the past 20+ years, researchers have worked toward identifying early behavioral predictors of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developing observation-based screeners to supplement existing parent-report methods. This study is a follow-up, 3 to 8 years later, with parents/caregivers of 57 children previously enrolled in a U.S.…

Child observation is a critical component of quality pedagogy in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The ORICL (Observe, Reflect, Improve Children's Learning) tool was co-designed by ECEC researchers, policymakers, leaders, and practitioners to support this work. Educators rate the experiences of individual children, and responses of…

Autistic individuals often exhibit motor atypicalities, which may relate to difficulties in social communication. This study utilized a smart tablet activity to computationally characterize motor control by testing adherence to the two-thirds power law (2/3 PL), which captures a systematic covariation between velocity and curvature in motor…

Early childhood is a critical period characterized by rapid development of motor and language skills. Reliably assessing motor and language development in early childhood is difficult, and there is a lack of agreement on measurement tool use. This scoping review aims to identify measurement tools used to examine motor and language skills in…

A growing literature supports the feasibility and validity of telehealth-based assessments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Better understanding families' experiences is crucial for sustained use beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. This study qualitatively examines caregiver experiences with the Telehealth Evaluation of Development for Infants (TEDI)…

Background: 'Speech sound disorder' is an umbrella term that encompasses dysarthria, articulation disorders, childhood apraxia of speech and phonological disorders. However, differential diagnosis between these disorders is a persistent challenge in speech pathology, as many diagnostic procedures use symptom clusters instead of identifying an…

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) aims to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". In relation to Early Childhood Education (ECE), SDG Target 4.2 aims to "ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary…

This article examines the local evaluation and assessment practices of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT). We employ the concept of translation to discuss how evaluation and assessment practices unfold in networks and how actors come together in negotiations and contestations that seek to orient…