The assessment of young children's development and learning has recently taken on new importance. Private and government organizations are developing programs to enhance the school readiness of all young children, especially children from economically disadvantaged homes and communities and children with special needs. Well-planned and effective assessment can inform teaching and program improvement, and contribute to better outcomes for children. This book affirms that assessments can make crucial contributions to the improvement of children's well-being, but only if they are well designed, implemented effectively, developed in the context of systematic planning, and are interpreted and used appropriately. Otherwise, assessment of children and programs can have negative consequences for both. The value of assessments therefore requires fundamental attention to their purpose and the design of the larger systems in which they are used. Early Childhood Assessment addresses these issues by identifying the important outcomes for children from birth to age 5 and the quality and purposes of different techniques and instruments for developmental assessments.

Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How

The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) can be conceptualized as a measure of intelligence, obtained nonverbally. The UNIT is designed to provide a unique measure of cognitive organization (i.e., symbolic and nonsymbolic content) and function (memory and reasoning); even so, it is first and foremost a strong measure of g,primarily because of the complex nature of its six subtests.

The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test

This guide provides a basic overview of 16 child nonverbal IQ measures and uses a set of specified criteria to evaluate them in terms of their psychometric properties. In doing so, the goal is neither to validate nor to criticize current uses of IQ but to (a) familiarize clinicians and investigators with the variety of nonverbal IQ measures currently available, (b) highlight some of the important distinctions among them, and (c) provide recommendations for the selection and interpretation of nonverbal IQ measures.

A Guide to Child Nonverbal IQ Measures

Gifted Identification Beyond the IQ Test: Rating Scales and Other Assessment Procedures

This study aimed to better understand predictors of evidence-based assessment practices for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nationwide, 402 school psychologists were surveyed for their knowledge of and training and experience with ASD on assessment practices, including reported areas of training needs. The majority of school psychologists reported that they did not engage in comprehensive assessment of ASD, which was defined as assessments that consider all areas of development in addition to the use of ASD-specific instruments. Results from logistic regression revealed that experience and training, working with young children with ASD, and geographic location predicted use of evidence-based assessment practices. Experience and training with ASD was the strongest predictor of evidence-based assessment. No differences in training needs were indicated by school psychologists whose practices were consistent with evidence-based assessment and those whose practices were not. Overall, the results identi...

National Study of School Psychologists' Use of Evidence-Based Assessment in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) is reviewed and critiqued. The UNIT is a completely nonverbal test that can be administered as an Abbreviated or Screening Battery, a Standard Battery for special education eligibility decisions, or as an Extended Battery for diagnostic purposes. Standardization was on a sample of 2,100 youths. Psychometric properties are adequate. Considerable data are presented in the manual that illustrates the appropriateness of this measure with an array of populations. The UNIT was developed to meet the needs of those who cannot be appropriately assessed using verbal methods. Clinical experience suggests that the authors realized their goal and that the UNIT is an instrument that should be used by practitioners and researchers. The main criticism of the UNIT is that it is less 'user-friendly' than optimal and it may, even for the experienced test administrator, require additional time to become proficient in its use. Interpretation procedures are similar to other cogn...

Christopher J. Fives

Papers

A Review of the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT): An Advance for Evaluating Youngsters with Diverse Needs.