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Published on: June 20, 2020
Initial Evaluation Practices to Identify Young Children with Delays and Disabilities
Rachel Stein1, Elizabeth Steed1
1University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO USA.
Insights
Early intervention (EI) and preschool special education evaluations vary significantly in process and team composition. Findings highlight inconsistencies in eligibility determination for young children with developmental delays and disabilities.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Special Education
- Early Childhood Studies
Background:
- Early intervention (EI) and preschool special education are crucial for young children with developmental delays.
- Processes for evaluating eligibility for these services are not well understood.
- Multidisciplinary teams conduct initial evaluations for young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evaluation processes used by multidisciplinary teams for early intervention and preschool special education eligibility.
- To identify variations in team composition, tools, and eligibility determination methods.
- To compare evaluation practices for EI versus preschool special education.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative survey of 1445 multidisciplinary early childhood providers.
- Descriptive analysis of evaluation locations, tools, team membership, and eligibility approaches.
- Comparison of evaluation data for EI and preschool special education.
Main Results:
- Evaluation practices and team compositions varied widely among providers.
- Early childhood special educators and speech-language pathologists were most common team members; psychologists were less frequent.
- Percentage delay and standard deviation below the mean were common eligibility criteria, but approaches differed.
- Statistically significant differences emerged between EI and preschool special education evaluations.
Conclusions:
- Significant variability exists in the evaluation of young children for early intervention and special education services.
- Inconsistencies in evaluation practices may impact service access and delivery.
- Further research is needed to standardize and improve eligibility determination processes.
Abstract:
The value of early intervention is well demonstrated; however, less is known about the processes that initial evaluation teams use to evaluate and determine young children's eligibility for early intervention (EI) and preschool special education. The present study surveyed multidisciplinary early childhood providers (N = 1445) who conduct initial evaluations for young children. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive analyses to describe the location of initial evaluations, tools used, team membership, and approaches to eligibility determination for children with possible delays and disabilities. Evaluation practices varied greatly, but evaluation teams most often included early childhood special educators and speech and language pathologists, school psychologists or other specialists were less frequently involved. Eligibility approaches were also wide-ranging with percentage delay and standard deviation below the mean most often used; several challenges when determining eligibility were also described. Evaluations for EI and preschool special education were compared to look at variations. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing evaluations focused on eligibility for EI or preschool special education. Implications and future directions are explored.
Supplementary Information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40688-023-00467-3.
