What Is the Difference between Screening and Assessment?
Response:
There are simple yet significant
differences between screening and assessment. Screening quickly captures a
glimpse of a child’s health and developmental status via the use of standardized
screening instruments. Assessment is a continual process that occurs throughout
a child’s enrollment in EHS that tracks the child’s developmental progress.
Screening consists of a brief process using standardized health screening and
developmental screening instruments. Screening is used to make judgement(s)
about children in order to determine if a referral for further evaluation is
necessary. In Head Start, screening provides information on a child’s physical
and behavioral health and development.
Screening does
not lead to a conclusion about whether a child has a developmental or health
condition; however, the results of the assessment or evaluation done after the
referral may lead to a diagnosis. The screening process begins during the
enrollment period when the program builds partnerships with families and
initiates Head Start services. It is the first opportunity to work together with
the parents to learn more about the child and support the parent-child
relationship.
Ongoing
assessment continues throughout the child’s enrollment and tracks how the child
progresses over time. Ongoing assessment is a process that identifies the
child’s unique strengths and needs. It is used to determine what skills and
information the child has and in what situations the child uses them. The
assessment process also considers the next level of skills and information that
the child should be acquiring. The assessment process utilizes multiple sources
of information on all aspects of each child’s development and behavior,
including input from families, teachers, and other relevant staff who are
familiar with the child’s behavior. Ongoing assessment helps support staff in
communicating and working with parents and families, planning and tailoring
learning experiences (or individualizing the curriculum), and identifying other
relevant services.
Considerations:
-
How is the program’s process of
screening and referral based on sound child development and early childhood
educational practice?
-
How is the program’s process of ongoing assessment based
on sound child development and early childhood educational
practice?
-
How does the program respond to a child who, at the time
of enrollment, has already been screened and referred or diagnosed with a
disability or developmental concern?
-
How are screening and ongoing assessment procedures
sensitive to a child’s cultural background?
Performance
Standards, Title 45, Code of Federal Regulations:
-
1304.3(a)(1)(i) & (ii) & 1303.3 (a)(1) Assessment
means the ongoing procedures used by appropriate qualified personnel
throughout the period of a child’s eligibility to identify: (i) The child’s
unique strengths and needs and the services appropriate to meet those needs:
and (ii) The resources, priorities, and concerns of the family and the
supports and services necessary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the
developmental needs of their child.
-
1304.20(a)(1)(iii) & (iv) Grantee and delegate
agencies must obtain or arrange further diagnostic testing, examination, and
treatment by an appropriate licensed or certified professional for each child
with an observable, known or suspected health or developmental problem; and
(iv) develop and implement a follow-up plan for any conditions identified in
CFR 1304.20 (a)(1)(ii) & (iii) so that any needed treatment has
begun.
-
1304.20(b)(1) In collaboration with each child’s parent,
and within 45 calendar days of the child’s entry into the program, grantee and
delegate agencies must perform or obtain linguistically and age appropriate
screening procedures to identify concerns regarding a child’s developmental,
sensory (visual and auditory), behavioral, motor, language, social, cognitive,
perceptual, and emotional skills.
-
1304.20(b)(3) Grantee and delegate agencies must utilize
multiple sources of information of all aspects of each child’s development and
behavior, including input from family members, teachers, and other relevant
staff who are familiar with the child’s behavior.
-
1304.20(d) Grantees and delegate agencies must implement
ongoing procedures by which Early Head Start and Head Start staff can identify
any new or recurring medical, dental, or developmental concerns so that they
may quickly make appropriate referrals. These procedures must include:
periodic observations and recording, as appropriate, of individual children’s
developmental progress, changes in physical appearance and emotional and
behavioral patterns. In addition, these procedures must include observations
from parents and staff.
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1304.20(f)(1) Grantee and delegate agencies must use the
information from the screening for developmental, sensory, and behavioral
concerns, the ongoing observations, medical and dental evaluations and
treatments, and insights from the child’s parents to help staff and parents
determine how the program can best respond to each child’s individual
characteristics, strengths, and needs.
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1304.20(f)(2)(i) To support individualization for children
with disabilities in their programs, grantee and delegate agencies must assure
that services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families
support the attainment of the expected outcomes contained in the
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for children identified under the
infants and toddlers with disabilities program (Part C) of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as implemented by their State or
Tribal government.
-
1304.20(f)(2)(ii) Enrolled families with infants and
toddlers suspected of having a disability are promptly referred to the local
early intervention agency designated by the State Part C plan to coordinate
any needed evaluations, determine eligibility for Part C services, and
coordinate the development of an IFSP for children determined to be eligible
under the guidelines of that State’s program. Grantee and delegate agencies
must support parent participation in the evaluation and IFSP development
process for infants and toddlers enrolled in their program.
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1304.21(a)(1)(i) Child development and education approach
for all children…must be developmentally and linguistically appropriate,
recognizing that children have individual rates of development as well as
individual interests, temperaments, languages, cultural backgrounds, and
learning styles.
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1304.21 (a)(2)(ii) Parents must be provided opportunities
to increase their child observation skills and to share assessments with staff
that will help plan the learning experiences.
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1304.24(a)(1)(i) Grantee and delegate agency must work
collaboratively with parents by soliciting parental information, observations,
and concerns about their child’s mental health.
-
1304.3(a)(17) Referral means directing an EHS or Head
Start child or family member(s) to an appropriate source or resource for help,
treatment or information.
Resources:
(February/March 2001)
Linking Assessment and Intervention. Bulletin of
ZERO TO THREE, Vol. 21, No. 4.
Screening and
Assessment in Head Start. Head Start Bulletin, December 2000.
Meisels, S.
& Fenichel, E. Editors. (1996) New Visions for the Developmental
Assessment of Infants and Young Children. ZERO TO
THREE: Washington, DC.
(2001)
Developmental Surveillance and Screening of Infants and Young
Children
. American
Academy of Pediatrics, Vol. 108, No. 1, pp 192-196. Accessible via www.aap.org/policy/re0062.htmlThe Tip Sheet is not a regulatory
document. Its intent is to provide a basis for dialogue, clarification, and
problem solving among the Head Start Bureau, Regional Offices, T & TA
consultants, and grantees.
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