This course is offered as one of the strands in UTEEM Early Childhood teacher education program.  Teachers are prepared to work with children with diverse learning needs in a variety of inclusive community settings.  This strand is offered in conjunction with three other courses and linked to a full-time placement with diverse infants and toddlers and their families.  Students participating in this course are enrolled full-time in the UTEEM program or by permission of instructor.  For student enrolling at an advanced level, assignments and readings are adapted accordingly.

Course Description:

This course focuses on family centered practice in assessing infants and toddlers from diverse cultures and with diverse abilities.  Students in this class learn assessment practices that lead to plans for supporting infant development in ways that are individually and culturally relevant for families and caregivers and that are consistent with current recommended practices in the field of early care and education.  They will learn how to co-plan for assessments with families, to actively involve families in conducting assessments, and to share information in culturally, linguistically, and family-relevant ways.  The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) will be presented as providing the philosophical basis for structuring family-centered assessment and intervention and as a strategy required for work with infants and toddlers with disabilities under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Students will gain an understanding of appropriate strategies for conducting, reporting, and decision making related to specific functions of assessment.  They will learn about adapting assessment practices for culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse infants and toddlers and their families.  They will also learn about how to use the assessment process to build on family strengths and resources and to support parent-child relationships.  All students will be expected to use selected assessment strategies with young children and their families in their field placements and are expected to become competent in the use of authentic assessment strategies to plan with families and their children.

Objectives:

At the completion of this course, students will:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the various forms and functions of assessment used with infants and toddlers and their families.

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the role of the IFSP in collaborating with families to plan for early intervention with infants and
    toddlers.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of key guiding principles of family-centered assessment, including co-planning for assessment with
    families, taking into account family concerns, priorities, and resources, as well as developing assessment strategies that are
    culturally and linguistically  relevant.

4. Demonstrate knowledge of assessment techniques and approaches used by other professionals working with infants and
    toddlers and their families and their relevance for developing plans that support infant toddler development.

5. Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate and adapt the assessment process to ensure cultural relevance and to reduce
    language bias.

6. Demonstrate the ability to adapt assessment materials for disabilities.

7. Develop an IFSP that demonstrates the ability to build on family strengths and resources and that identify family relevant
    outcomes.

8. Use parent-child interaction and pre-linguistic narratives as a source for planning.

9. Develop a child portfolio that authentically represents the child’s capacities.

This course provides specific content and expertise in the areas of assessment for curriculum planning, adapting curriculum based on assessment findings, legal and policy issues related to

Resource Materials:

Required Text:

     Meisels, S. & Fenichel, E.  (1996).  New visions for developmental assessment of infants and children.  Washington D.C.: Zero to Three.
 
Recommended:

     Bergen, D.  (1994).  Assessment methods for infants and toddlers: transdisciplinary team approach.  New York:  Teachers College Press.

Additional Resources:

    Batshaw, M.L.  (2001).  When your child has a disability.  Baltimore, MD:  Paul Brookes.  (required text for development class)

    Trawick-Smith, J.  (1997).  Early childhood development:  A multicultural perspective.   Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice Hall.  (required text for development class)

    Lally et al.  (1995).  Caring for infants and toddlers in groups:  Developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood programs.  Washington, DC:  Zero to Three.  (required for curriculum class)

    Segal, M. & Adcock, D.  (1985).  Your child at play:  Birth to one year; one to two years; two to three years.  NY:  New Market.(required for curriculum)

    McCollum, J. et al.  (1999).  Project Triad.  Champaign, IL: University of Illinois.  (triad and dyad handouts)

This class will meet for six full days (9:00 – 4:00), every other week over the course of the semester.  This enables students to continuously link what they are doing in their field sites with what they will be learning in this class.  The class will have seminar format, requires active participation of all students, and will utilize guest lecturers from the community to support content from the readings.  A seventh half-day session during the final exam period will be used for student presentations and to link the assessment products with the products from the other course strands.  Keeping up with reading is essential for this class to be successful.  In addition, students will be completing assignments through interaction with a focus family and child in their internship placement, and will have additional opportunities for practice through participation in Project Family.

Course Requirements:

Students will be expected to:

1. Attend class sessions and actively participate in small and large group activities.
2. Complete all written assignments in a timely fashion.  It is expected that assignments be turned in on the due date unless prior
    arrangements have been made with the instructor. A pattern of late papers will affect grading.
3. Prepare for class by completing all assigned readings prior to class.
4. Maintain an ongoing reflective interactive dialogue journal.
5. Develop a collaborative relationship with one family at your site and determine their strengths, needs and resources that
    would be used in the development of an IFSP.
6. Through observation and interaction with one child on your site, develop an authentic portrayal of a child at your site and
    identify implications for planning.
 
Course Grading:

1. Participation and preparation for class                                           10%
      Includes:
a. attending all classes (on time) unless prior arrangements have been made with instructor
b. completing all assignments on-time unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor
c. participating in large group class discussions on a regular basis
d. participating in small group class discussions and activities
e. creating opportunities for the participation of your classmates and working collaboratively to support the contributions of
    each other
f.  maintaining reflective journals
2. Child observation connections (3/1; 3/22)     2@15pts each          30%
3. Family interview guide and IFSP                                                   25%
4. Child story                                                                                   35%

Assignment of Grades:

95 –100    A
89 –94      A-
83 –88      B+
78 – 82     B
70 – 77     C
Below 70   F

Topics and Reading Assignments:
 

Feb 1            Overview of Course
                     Role of Assessment in Infant/Toddler Settings;
                     Principles and definitions; observing a newborn.
 
Feb 15         Parent-child interaction, using dyadic observations to plan for triadic intervention; observing and making sense of
                    infants and toddlers as story tellers (the role of pre-linguistic narratives); the role of assessment in internship sites;
                    Meisels principles of assessment; the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale.

                    Read:  Meisels, chapters 1,2 & 7
                    Bring:  Examples of assessments used on site
                    Handout:  Project Triad, Dyadic handout
 
March 1      Neuromotor assessment; assessing for function; adapting assessment for children with neuromotor disabilities;
                    planning for use of technology to enhance interaction.

                    Read:  Meisels, 10, 11, 15, 16
                    Write: Observation Connection #1 – focus on interaction and narratives

                    Observe a child at your site from the perspective of dyadic interaction and narratives (story telling).  Video tape if
                    possible.  Write a brief paper which:
                    1) Describes what you saw using the frameworks discussed in class and your readings to date;
                    2) Interprets what you saw.  What sense do you make of this?  What are you wondering?  What patterns are
                        emerging?
                    3) Proposes ideas for implications for constructing a supportive teaching/learning environment for the child.
                        Attach the video.

March 22     Family-centered assessment; learning from families not about them; using assessment for family-relevant,
                     culturally responsive assessment.  The Family Stories Model.

                     Read:  Meisels, 3,4,5,6 & 18
                     Write:  Observaton Connection #2.

                     Continue your observation of a child at your site.  Prepare a paper which discusses the child in terms of motor
                     capacities and cognition.

                     Write a paper which follows the format of the first connection, addressing all three parts.  Be sure to site lectures,
                     handouts, and readings.  Be sure to consider any ideas you may have about adapting for function.

April 5         The interdisciplinary team.  Roles of team members.  The multicisciplinary evaluation in early intervention.
                    Developing an IFSP.

                     Read:  Meisels, 8,9,13,14
                     Write:  Preliminary notes for IFSP planning.  Write a paper which addresses the key elements of the IFSP,
                                  including family resources, hopes and dreams.  Identify what you have learned about family routines and
                                  family stories that might be relevant for IFSP planning.  Bring your paper to class, and we will use it to
                                  practice IFSP team meetings.  By this time you should have met with your focus family at least once.
                                  Your paper should demonstrate that you have used family-responsive ways to learn from the family, not
                                  about them.

May 3         The role of formal assessment in early intervention.  Assessment for diagnosis and eligibility.  Interpreting and using
                    formal assessment.  Using clinical assessments.

                    Read:  Meisels, 12 &17
                    Bring to class:  the book you have prepared about your child to share with the family (part I of your final
                    assignment).  Make a copy for yourself and one for me, because the original is to be shared with the family.

May 10       Final paper describing your child and what you have learned about the child.  This paper should provide a
                    description of the child, and interpretation of what you have seen, and a discussion of implications.  This is
                    the formal part of the informal  book you are preparing for the child’s parents.  The total assignment is worth 35
                    points.  In your final formal paper, please include feedback from the family about the “book”.  What was their
                    reaction?  Did they feel you captured the child?  What did you learn from presenting the book to them?