Client Background
Zach, an almost three-year-old boy, has issues with self-regulation and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that may have ensued from neglect. His mother had given him to a foster mother to enable seamless school time and work. The boy cannot maintain consistent behavior when playing with other children, as sometimes he overreacts negatively or is significantly happy, which raises early childhood health issues. Since he is attending school, there is a need to intervene in the problem to facilitate his mental development. Zach needs support from a Supported Child Development Consultant (SCDC) in his pre-school program.
New Factors to Affect the Assessment Plan
Like many other children, Zach has various developmental issues that are important to consider regarding his pre-school and educational perspectives. Therefore, noting new factors in his childhood and developmental content is essential. The factors that will affect the assessment practice are physical, behavior-developmental, and home factors, which are key to determining the type of support Zach needs (Kimbell & Huzinec, 2019).
Firstly, the physical aspect includes age level and developmental cohorts, which influence how Zach should be handled. In this case, he is transitioning to a three-year-old child, whereby the support selection should be based on a specific age bracket, not a general childhood measure. Secondly, behavioral-developmental aspects, in this case, include Zach’s recent disruptive behavior. He is happy at times, but then he loses emotional stability and fails to engage with other children.
Thirdly, the home factor refers to his mother and current father, Carlos, with whom he must adapt and blend into a new form of parenthood, as they must unite and cherish each other (Kimbell & Huzinec, 2019). For instance, home-based factors are of concern if the mother is willing, but the father does not support the assessment, and vice versa. Therefore, the plan should take into account all the above aspects to assist Zach successfully.
Factors for Pre-School Selection
For children like Zach, various factors in the pre-school program are essential to enabling their early childhood development. First, it is necessary to consider a supportive learning environment, which means the program should allow Zach to develop his identity and acknowledge that he has social-emotional and physical development issues (Wu & Gweon, 2021). That is key since it will enable his learning to be specific or grouped in the right cluster in school.
Secondly, it is critical to consider the learning experiences required for Zach in the pre-school program. For instance, the child may need a Montessori Philosophy classroom type, which means students and learners are self-guided, making Zach learn independently and develop independence in solving classwork problems (Wu & Gweon, 2021). Additionally, the learning experience should be based on the need to play games that enhance learning by breaking the monotony of the class (Wu & Gweon, 2021). The last factor is Zach’s behavioral learning need, whereby he should be introduced to a program that triggers him to respond to educational stimuli without struggle. For instance, positive reinforcement, extinction, and systematic desensitization are essential measures for addressing ADHD learners.
The family will be assisted in choosing a pre-school program using various strategies. First, they must write down the child’s pre-school education priorities. For example, the list may include Zach’s unique learning needs, the location of the learning center for proximity when he is at school, and payment plans due to financial constraints.
The second strategy is to review the program’s efficacy in assisting ADHD or children with low self-regulation, like Zach (Wu & Gweon, 2021). In this case, Amber, the boy’s mother, should review the holistic outcome of the program in terms of intervening with Zach’s developmental issues while he was at school. The effectiveness should be measured by how cognitive aspects will be fostered through the program’s early childhood education policy.
Norm-Referenced Assessment Tool and Rationale
Zach needs a norm-referenced assessment tool that fits his age, behavior, and administration criteria. This report suggests the Devereaux Early Childhood Assessment, Clinical Form (DECA-C) (Sikorska et al., 2021). The tool contains strength-based resilience scales important to children like Zach, who have significant behavioral and developmental concerns (Sikorska et al., 2021). Parents and teachers complete it by filling in the items checked for the child, as it provides scores in percentiles from critical observation areas.
The tool is appropriate for Zach since it assesses protective and behavioral factors. For instance, monitoring Zach’s self-regulation in school and attachment with fellow learners, teachers, and his parents is possible. Additionally, the tool can effectively assess his aggression, attention, and emotional control issues, which he has shown lately (Sikorska et al., 2021). Through the tool, it will be easy to record Zach’s areas that require intervention on time. The results are beneficial to Zach, his parents, and the teaching staff, as they facilitate improved cognitive abilities in the boy, ensure the parents achieve better developmental outcomes, and enable teachers to promote other educational values.
Criterion-Referenced Assessment Tool and Rationale
The AIM Criterion-Referenced Screener is the required tool for pre-school learners like Zach. The tool allows learners to respond to images displayed on a screen, and teachers record responses by clicking the button (Diaz-Bilello, 2022). The scale provides an instant report at the end of each session and enables developmental assessment for young schoolers such as Zach. It is parent and teacher-centric in monitoring Zach’s strengths and areas that he needs to grow in response to his social-developmental perspective (Diaz-Bilello, 2022).
Zach’s emotions can be assessed depending on his ability to respond to the displayed images by showing his reaction after the score or when he identifies a given object. The tool helps Zach manage his emotions while allowing him to understand that he can be right or wrong and that there is no condemnation from teachers or other learners. Thus, the AIM Criterion-Referenced Screener can help him manage his aggression, joy, or frustration, thereby enhancing his growth.
Current Role and Additional Early Childhood Intervention
The role played in Zach’s development at school is to assess his progress and arrange for any necessary interventions. In this case, the fundamental duty is to coordinate pro-child early development services to promote Zach’s capacity as a child in school and at home. For instance, part of the duty involves completing the assessment tools and determining strategies to address areas that require improvement (Sheppard & Moran, 2021). That may involve coordinating therapies and offering clinical counseling to Zach’s teachers and parents, enabling the young boy to experience positive changes.
Another early childhood interventionist can oversee Zach’s intervention program to ensure his needs are met, motivate him to learn, engage with other learners, and make his parents feel comfortable. The interventionist can use the Conners Early Childhood (Conners EC) tool to monitor developmental milestones from an existing intervention (Sheppard & Moran, 2021). The tool will help the expert to weigh Zach’s overall improvement in behavior. Conners EC facilitates the rating of the first interventionist, which provides Amber and Zach’s teachers with a progressive environment for their learning and development.
References
Diaz-Bilello, E. (2022). Criterion-referenced assessments. Criterion-Referenced Assessments, 3(6), 43–55. Web.
Kimbell, A.-M., & Huzinec, C. (2019). Factors that influence assessment. Pearson assessments. Web.
Sheppard, M. E., & Moran, K. K. (2021). The role of early care providers in early intervention and early childhood special education systems. Early Childhood Education Journal, 50(6), 891–901. Web.
Sikorska, I., Adamczyk‐Banach, M., & Polak, M. (2021). Early screening for protective and risk factors—Polish adaptation of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment. Psychology in the Schools, 58(7), 1345–1360. Web.
Wu, Y., & Gweon, H. (2021). Preschool‐aged children jointly consider others’ emotional expressions and prior knowledge to decide when to explore. Child Development, 92(3), 862–870. Web.