Page 66 - WV NE PRACT HANDBOOK - FINAL 9-1-22.pub

For the purposes of evaluation and assessment in WV Birth to Three, non-authentic
assessment instruments will only be used when the practitioner determines the tool is
necessary to gather specific information for eligibility determination or IFSP development
and program planning beyond the information available through authentic assessment
materials or methods.
Definitions:
Criterion-referenced assessment instruments: Used to determine if a child has achieved mastery
in a particular domain. The child's behavior is measured in relation to a specific behavior, rather than
to a normative group. The focus is on what the child knows or can do, not on how they compare to
others. The strength of these tools is they provide information about what children can do in a
number of developmental domains.
Curriculum-based assessment instruments: Used to provide a direct assessment of a child’s
skills upon entry into a curriculum and to guide development of individual goals, interventions, and
accommodations for continual monitoring of developmental progress. The strength of these tools is
they provide a method for monitoring a child’s progress within a developmentally sequenced
cu rriculum.
Developmental checklists, inventories and rating scales: Used by both professionals and
parents to record developmental skills, progress or to record other types of family information. Some
require only a present or absent type of response obtained by observation or parent report. These
tools may not provide qualitative information; for example, the checklist may record how many words
the child uses but does not document the contexts in which these words are used.
Norm-referenced assessment instruments: Used to compare the performance of an individual
child to that of the normative group. Group "norms" are developed by obtaining the performance of a
representative sample. This is called the standardization process. The standardization is critical to
the validity and reliability of a test. The normative sample should be comprised of a representative
cross-section of the population for whom the test is designed. Norm referenced instruments many
times do not allow for modifications based on the child’s disability and are weak in assisting in IFSP
development or program planning.
Screening tools: Used to make a judgment about a child’s developmental status in order to
determine if further assessment is necessary. The screening process helps an individual determine
whether development is progressing typically or if there is cause for concern. A screening tool is not
designed to provide detailed description of developmental functioning or to design intervention
strategies.

To review a complete listing of Assessment Tools approved by WV Birth to Three for screening or
evaluating infants and toddlers, please visit: WV BTT Assessment Tool List

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