Assessment should be designed for administration by infant

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• Key Considerations in the Development of Ohios
• Infant Toddler Guidelines

Presenter Peter L. Mangione, WestEd
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School ReadinessBirth To 3

• School Readiness, to be a useful
  construct,has to recognize social competence and
  emotional well-being as critical to school
  success.

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Social Emotional CompetenceFrom FAN The
Child Mental Health Foundations Agencies Network

• Confidence
• Friendliness
• Good peer relationships
• Tackles persists at challenging tasks
• Has good language development
• Effectively communicates frustrations, anger
  joy
• Listens to instructions is attentive

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• Emotional competence establishes the
  foundation for success in all other developmental
  domains.

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The Power of Early Interaction

• I am listened to or not.
• What I choose to do is valued or it isnt.
• How I express my emotions is accepted or it
  isnt.
• I am allowed to explore or I am not.
• Mostly my needs are met or they are not.

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Emotions Drive Learning

• Emotional motive drives skill development.
• It is the pleasure and delight that babies get
  from interaction with people that drive them to
  relate to people more frequently and more
  skillfully.

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Being Held In Anothers Mind

• Attachment to a significant other.
• Feeling of loss when other is gone.
• Reminded of others thoughts about you when not
  present.
• Incorporation of ongoing emotional connection
  with those thinking about you.

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National Context

• Early Learning Guidelines have already been
  developed by several states and are under
  development in many more
• Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and
  Toddlers are sometimes aligned with Guidelines
  for Preschoolers, which in turn are aligned with
  K-2 Content Standards and Performance Standards
• Early Learning Guidelines in some states are
  being used as the basis for defining a Curriculum
  Framework and Assessment Strategies

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Terminology

• The terms Early Learning Guidelines and
  Learning Standards are most commonly used
• Early Learning Guidelines or Standards are
  distinct from Program Guidelines or Program
  Standards

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Process in Ohio

• Start with the development of Infant Toddler
  Guidelines
• Infant Toddler Guidelines are to become the
  focal point of professional development and
  public awareness

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To Be Developmentally In Tune with Infants
Toddlers, Guidelines Should

• Reflect what we know from theory and research
  (evidence-based)
• Emphasize social-emotional development, in
  particular the development of relationships and
  self regulation
• Reflect an image of the child as an active,
  motivated learner at every stage and age of
  development

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To Be Developmentally In Tune with Infants
Toddlers, Guidelines Should (continued)

• Define the child as competent for her or his
  stage and age
• Emphasize a positive outlook on early development
  and learning
• Take into account the influence of both
  individual differences and cultural diversity on
  development and learning

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To Be Developmentally In Tune with Infants
Toddlers, Guidelines Should(continued)

• Show that infants and toddlers progress through a
  sequence of qualitatively distinct levels or
  stages development
• Take into account the interplay of nature and
  nurture as contributing to the childs
  developmental progress
• Reflect the integrated nature of early
  development and learning
• Present teaching as facilitating early
  development and learning

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Ohios Guiding PrinciplesEach Guideline Must

• Be evidence-based
• Take into account differences in temperament,
  development and culture
• Be sensitive to both cultural and linguistic
  differences
• Be inclusive of children with special needs
• Link to best practices that support childrens
  optimal development
• Be useful to parents, providers and policy makers
• Be possible to assess or measure throughout the
  birth to three period

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Assessing the Developmental Progress of Infants
Toddlers

• A general orientation to facilitating development
  and learning across key domains at each stage and
  age
• Avoidance of narrowly defined items or measures

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Assessing the Developmental Progress of Infants
Toddlers

• Importance of assessing each childs
  developmental progress across domains
• Assessment should focus on progress variables
• Each progress variable should be defined as a
  sequence of qualitatively distinct levels

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Assessing the Developmental Progress of Infants
Toddlers

• Assessment should focus on the level of
  development at which the child performs rather
  than behavior the child has not yet or only
  partially mastered (Positive Orientation)
• Assessment should be inclusive of infants and
  toddlers with disabilities or other special needs
  (principles of universal design and provisions
  for accommodating all children)
• Assessment should be designed for administration
  by infant care teachers

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Assessing the Developmental Progress of Infants
Toddlers

• Focus on everyday interactions and routines
• Based on the observation and documentation of
  each child across time, i.e., a broad sampling of
  behavior
• Situations should not have to be set up to
  observe and document behavior that is assessed
  (observational assessment rather than direct
  assessment)
• Documentation process does not interfere with the
  ongoing interactions and routines in the care and
  education setting

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Assessing the Developmental Progress of Infants
Toddlers

• Reporting Methods
• Help infant care teachers and parents gain
  insights into the childs development and
  learning
• Give ideas on how to continue to facilitate the
  childs development and learning
• Allow infant care teachers and parents to compare
  the childs progress at different points in time

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Early Learning Guidelines, Assessment,
Curriculum Planning

• Assessment links directly to developmentally in
  tune early learning guidelines that in turn link
  to developmentally in tune recommendations for
  curriculum planning.

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Conclusions

• The birth to 3 period is unique
• The K-12 scheme maps to the infant/toddler age
  period in a general sense
• At the infant/toddler age, the content of
  development and learning evolves from the
  interplay of nature and nurture
• At the K-12 level, content generally refers to
  skills and knowledge that are the focus of
  instruction

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Conclusions

• Early Learning Guidelines should
• Support good quality education and care
• Help infant care teachers and parents deepen
  their understanding of early development and
  learning
• Help infant care teachers and parents improve
  their capacity to provide responsive nurturance
  and foster early learning
• Be studied to document how they are used in
  practice and the extent to which infant care
  teachers and families learn from them

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Conclusions

• Early Learning Guidelines alone will not lead to
  good quality infant/toddler care
• Many factors contribute to the quality of
  caresmall group size, relationships, education
  and professional development of infant/care
  teachers, the environment, just to name of few.
• Program Guidelines comprehensively address
  factors that contribute to the quality of
  infant/toddler care and education

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Conclusions

• Infant care teachers need to learn
• How to use early learning guidelines
  appropriately,
• How to assess childrens progress appropriately,
  and
• How to use assessment information for planning
  and meeting the needs of each child in a group

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Conclusions

• Appropriate training for infant care teachers is
  essential in efforts to create developmentally in
  tune early learning guidelines. With training,
  teachers can learn to provide the kind of care
  that infants and toddlers need to thrive.

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Key Features of Ohios Development of Early
Learning Guidelines

• Included multiple perspectives (multi-disciplinary
  )
• Writing teams for each domain with shared vision
  role of leadership team
• Effort to communicate the perspective of infants
  and toddlers throughout the guidelines
• Clear purpose Public awareness, educational and
  professional development focus
• Plan to create complementary resources (training
  and education)