Pacific TA Meeting: Quality Practices in Early Intervention and Preschool Programs 1

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Know – Share what you know about authentic assessment. Want to Know – What would be helpful to learn about authentic assessment? What have you learned – What might you like to do/change regarding use of authentic assessment. Ogle, D.M K-W-L: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text. Reading Teacher 39:

Review 6 questions on authentic assessment o What? o Why? o Who? o When? o How? o Where? 4

Assessment of the young child’s skills in the real life contexts of family, culture and community rather than discrete isolated tasks irrelevant to daily life. “the science of the strange behavior of children, with strange adults, in strange settings for the briefest possible period of time.” Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 19 5

The more realistic or natural the task, – the more motivated the child – the more applicable it is to everyday events and situations Authentic tasks and circumstances reinforce – competency-based approach to the education of young children – assessment of all disciplines across complex skills and processes – generalization of learning across settings Authentic tasks require the assessor to make no inferences about a child's capabilities, because the behaviors sampled are directly observable. University of Illinois at Chicago 6

Conventional testing does have its place o “to distinguish typical from atypical performance” Everything that can be measured counts, but not everything that counts can be measured. (attributed to Albert Einstein, 1951) 7

Assessment clip Holly giving BDI – clip at 45 min 8

alone Traditional standardized evaluation alone: do not provide the information needed to develop functional IFSPs that can be implemented within the day to day routines of the family/school house/community/child care… do not determine what the child is able to do, likes to do, or needs to do in regards to the family’s/players’ priorities. do not provide a clear understanding of the child’s abilities across environments and care providers – this is accomplished through observation and information sharing (Bagnato, Neisworth, Munson, 1997) 9

Yields functional & contextually relevant information about the child’s strengths & needs More culturally sensitive & individually focused _____________________________________ Not domain based & discipline specific Not deficit driven Not threatening 10

Video clip – mother-child-teacher assessment 11

12 Not just… Know how to make eye contact, smile, and give a hug Know how to imitate a gesture when prompted by others Use finger in pointing motion Show a skill in a specific situation But does he/she… Initiate affection toward caregivers and respond to others’ affection Watch what a peer says or does and incorporate it into his/her own play Point to indicate needs or wants Use a skill in actions across settings and situations to accomplish something meaningful to the child

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Video clip of RBI bit or conversation with parents 15

Guides identification of FUNCTIONAL individualized goals  “unable to eat with a spoon” challenge  “can’t let others know what she wants” difficulty  “can’t ride in the car seat without crying” concern  rather than adaptive delay, communication deficit, emotional problem Yields a real picture of the child 16

Facilitates functional intervention o Joel and Lori example 17

Familiar and knowledgeable caregivers in the child’s life Providers Teachers Other sources less familiar can contribute some too 18

Over time “One-time observations even in the natural context, are insufficient and often misleading” (Bagnato, Neisworth, Pretti-Frontczak, 2010) 19

Knowing the purpose is important Observation is essential o Keep a focus on being objective vs. subjective Record keeping is key o Qualitative o Quantitative o Hearing from others who know the child is critical 20

Eligibility Program Planning Progress Review Help with COSF ratings 21

Observation notes should be: Factual:Describe only what actually happened Brief: Keep it short, but provide enough detail that you will be able to remember and understand what happened Relevant: Include key details such as direct quotes and information about the context CO Results Matters 22

Sally wouldn't give Marion the block, so Marion pushed Sally as hard as she could shouting, "You dummy!" Sally was very surprised. In the above written observation, the observer does not really know if Marion pushed Sally as hard as she could. Nor does the observer know if Sally was very surprised. A better way of recording this observation would be: Sally wouldn't give Marion the block, so Marion pushed Sally, shouting, "You dummy!" Sally's eyes got bigger and she gasped for breath. FL Children’s Medical Services online training 23

1.Alani played with the shape sorter by touching, mouthing, and looking at the shapes and putting them in the bucket without the shape piece attached and dumping them out. 2.Kiko ignored his mothers request to put his toys up. He does not think she means it and likely waits until she gets really upset to follow through. 3.Noelani turned the pages in the book several at a time. With each turn she stopped and looked at the page, named a picture and then proceeded to turn several pages again. She did this with three books stopping at 3-5 pages in each book. Adapted from CO Results Matters

CO Results Matters Observe/ Document ReflectAct A Process for Reflection and Action 25

Observe/Document We document what we observe as objectively as possible: o We note the things that we actually see and hear, o We focus on facts, o We try to remain nonjudgmental, and o We avoid being subjective; we guard against allowing our personal views, values, feelings, or background to influence what we note. 26 CO Results Matters

Reflect What was my purpose for observing? What similarities or patterns do I notice? What do these observations seem to suggest? What else might be going on? What else do I want to observe or find out? How does this observation fit with other things that I know about the child from previous observations? How will I document my interpretations? 27 CO Results Matters

Act Once we reflect on our observations, we decide what actions to take. For instance, we might decide: o To do more observations, o To rate an item on an assessment system, or o Ways we want to individualize our teaching. 28 CO Results Matters

We observed: Jaclyn walk across the room while holding on to her mother’s finger. When her mother tried to release Jaclyn went to the floor and crawled. Jaclyn gets up and stands against the coffee table, couch, and high chair. She’s been doing this for 3 months. We reflected: Jaclyn appears stable enough to walk and just barely uses her mother’s finger to walk across the room. Jaclyn’s mother stated that she believes Jaclyn could walk if she’d just give up her finger. We acted: Will continue encouraging her to walk by having Jaclyn’s mother stand short distance from Jaclyn and encourage her to come,. Jaclyn’s mother thought that holding Jaclyn’s favorite toys may also entice her. Also agreed not to push her till she gets upset. 29 Adapted from CO Results Matters

I observed: Henry takes turns communicating with Teagan, using finger pointing and eye contact. He made sounds when pointing, but I couldn’t tell if these were words. I reflected: In what ways does Henry communicate differently with different people or during other activities? Have I observed Henry’s communication often enough in different settings to have a good understanding of his skills? I acted: I will make additional observations of Henry, at different times of the day, in different activities, and with adults as well as other children. 30 CO Results Matters

Authentic Assessment and Reflection 31

Video clips – make observation 0-3 and PS Take observation notes - objectively What was learned (remember it’s just one clip – this is an exercise) 32

Record review Developmental history Interviews Checklists/rating scales Anecdotal recordings Portfolios Technology 33

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More than asking questions, or going over questionnaires, and developmental profiles Listening to the family story and hearing about the child’s engagement, independence, and social relationships with various day-to-day routines and activities Asking parents to show or describe Observing how the parent engages the child Setting up play scenarios 35

Routines-Based Assessment Routines-Based Intervention Routines-Based Interviews The Routines-Based Interview™ 36

37 Identify Learning Opportunities Improve Functional Abilities Social Relations Engagement Independence Employ Strategies Enhance Learning Opportunities Routines/Activities going well Routines/Activities not going well Hindering Factors Helping Factors Employ Strategies Improve Routine Promote Social Relations Engagement Independence Pip Campbell

What are primary reasons for conducting the RBI? 1.Getting to Know the Family - Relationship Building 2.Assessing Functional Family & Child Strengths & Needs 3.Setting Priorities – Determining Child & Family IFSP Outcomes McWilliam 38

39 Communicates that intervention is a system of supports and services to assist families/caregivers in helping their children develop and learn. Helps identify more functional and specific outcomes that are important to the caregivers. Collects relevant information for planning strategies. Augments information needed for the COSF. Sets the foundation for family-centered intervention visits. McWilliam

1.For Perry to tell me what he wants to eat? 2.For Perry to tell me things like eyes, nose, colors, when we play. 3.To move to a better location. 4.To understand directions when he is told “no.” 5.To stay with adult when out and about – especially in parking lots. 6.To use utensils versus fingers. 7.To stay at the table and eat/finish a meal. 8.Play with toys not just dump them out of his toy box. 40

Clip of the RBI and COSF vid 41

By focusing on routines instead of developmental domains or disciplines the intervention plan is functional and not divided up by professionals. (FPG Project INTEGRATE) Content of intervention is based on the needs of the child and family, but feasibility of the intervention is related to the daily routines of the family. (Bernheimer) Learning opportunities facilitated within the context of family and community life have greater impact on a child’s progress than intervention sessions. (Jung, 2003; Dunst, 2004; Hanft, Rush & Shelden, 2004) 42

Only in the children’s natural everyday settings, activities, and routines 43

1.Where is AA being done – or is it being done? 2.What is being observed/gathered in assessment? What is and is not AA? 3.Who is doing assessment? Who is not that could be? 4.How can AA be done within your local process? Are changes needed – if so what? 44

Closing video clip 45