Individual Child Assessment Project

Introduction

The individual child assessment was undertaken on a five-year-old boy who speaks Spanish to evaluate the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive progress as well the child's ability to communicate with others. The evaluation was conducted through formal assessments and observations while undertaking interest inventory and assessment that took place through an instructional interaction with the child. The review aimed to identify any delays in language and track the child's progress to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the child in learning and speaking of the English language, and, therefore, assist the administrator in devising ways to support and mitigate the vulnerabilities of the child.

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Language Domain With a Formal Assessment Tool

The ability to cry or smile are the first indications that language is developing in the child. The environment plays an essential role in language acquisition as children learn the essential sounds and incorporate them into their vocabulary. The voice of the primary caregiver is one example of the sounds recognized by the child. By the end of six months, the child can comprehend the sounds in their primary language (Amaro et al., 2015). The rate at which child masters the language varies, but there is an expected progression rate.

Language development undergoes various stages. The phases progress with age starting from the period of six months. Some of the steps of language development are listening, the growth of vocabulary, sentence creation, verbal grammar, concepts, questions, and the implications of the milestones achieved (Lightfoot et al., 2013).

The formal assessment use for this particular domain involves an evaluation of how a message is passed from one individual to the other and the factors that affect the process of communication. The assessment was done in an attempt to assess how well the child could communicate, the languages proficient in, the speed to learn new languages, and some of the barriers evident when the child interacted with others. The assessment also aimed to determine the child's level of English learning since the toddler's native language is Spanish.

The company Pro-ED published the Assessment called the Test of Early Language Development-Third Edition (TELD-3) and the evaluation was written by the authors Wayne P. Hresko, D. Kim Reid, and Donald D. Hammill. The Assessment was generated with the intention to utilize it as a test for spoken language, expressive skills, and receptive skills within children of age bracket 2-0 and 7-11. This Formal Assessment contains Form A and Form B with five specified purposes as illustrated below:

1. Define the offspring who are having language delays and may require additional care.
2. Notice the assets and weaknesses in language growth, and if there are any changes in an individual's receptive and expressive language.
3. Remain a valuable instrument for educators to track a youngster's progress in language development.
4. To be used in combination with other assessments (Hresko, Reid, Hammill, 1997, p 7-9).

The assessment was not exempt from limitations. The test reliability posed some challenges throughout the evaluation, the tests did not analyze or notify the administrator the reason for a particular learner performance, and the tests did not concur with the instructional strategies applied on a daily basis. Based on (Hresko, Reid, Hammill, 1997, p 6) the TELD-3 assessment was standardized on two thousand two hundred and seventeen children in thirty-five states, and the sample characteristics were based on the 1997 U.S. population. Similarly, the assessment contained three kinds of normative scores for the subtests, which include composites, percentiles, and age equivalents.

The assessment on one of the target child, "Joel" was performed at the school. The target child is a Head Start student who speaks fluent Spanish and has insufficient English proficiency. He is four years old and attends Woodlawn Elementary School. The assessment was conducted in the classroom with the assistance of the Teacher during work time to minimize instances of the target to feel intimidated or frightened by my presence. We considered that the assessment of the Receptive and Expressive language indicated in the TELD-3 language subtests Forms A and B would take place outside the classroom for approximately 10 to 20 minutes.

Before conducting the tests on the target child, it was crucial to read the contents and instructions indicated in the book and take notes of the questions I would when performing the assessment. The formal name called in the book is "stimulus," which indicated the prior observation of the child to perform subtests A and B. I started with the appropriate page for age 4 indicated in the instructions booklet, which indicated the number of items the child can miss (3 items in a row) to end the test.

It was essential to have all the materials ready and prepared for this task. The spiral manual with colorful pictures was critical for this mission, as well as everything else in the white drawstring bag provided in the box. The drawstring bag, which was placed on the table where we assessed the child, contained five coins: one blue ball, two blue, yellow and orange, five green color blocks, a little infant's white shoe, a plastic spoon, one small toy car, and one little doll. During and after the assessment, pictures were taken as a reminder of the observations made and compared results accordingly. The teacher supported me through the process, and we managed to ask questions to the child and play with him to make the experience less stressful and more fun for the target child.

Once the assessment was complete, the next aim was to obtain the child's results based on his exact age. The manuscript provided a detailed description of how to find the precise age, the date of birth, and the date of the test. Calculations were made, and the next step was to determine the raw data for the proper score, which was based on the affirmative questions that "Joel" answered during the assessment. Since the procedures were a little complex, I decided to start in the Expressive Language and then go to the Receptive Language. After all the examinations were performed and observed, I began with Form A for the Receptive Language with indicates. Form A recorded a score of 16, which adopted the raw score into a proportion based on the chronological age of the target child. The range indicated that 4-11 bracket with a result of 16 is converted to a quotient of 75. These results were moved to the second stage of the scoring which included the rating and percentage between the varieties of 70 and 80, which produced a low score within a rate of 3.92 (Hresko, Reid, Hammill, 1997, p 61).

Moving on to Subtest Form B, this time was the Expressive Language results, which indicated number 3 in the scoring row with an equivalent close to 50, which indicated a very poor percentage with a distribution in the 2.34 score. Comparing the two results between Form A and Form B, the ratings for both subtests were low; nonetheless, subtest Form B obtained a lower result. This indicated that the target student "Joel" receptive result was a number 4, and his expressive score stated number 2 in the subtest.

The findings indicated that the child's expressive questions were not clear enough; hence, confirmed the low proficient and limited English. The child is exposed to only Spanish at home, and this result was not a surprise based on the teacher's feedback. While the receptive language proved that even with the low score, the child is making progress, I assumed the results were better due to the use of pictures. The booklet contained big, pleasant, and colorful images of different objects. With this information, we can predict the child is a visual learner, which is very common among English language learners.

The experience using the TELD-3 assessment was unsettled, based on the information collected; the impression of this test is that it was not appropriate for "Joel." The previous experiences working with the child in the classroom indicated that the target child could communicate with entire phrases even if those phrases were in Spanish. For this case, the results could indicate that the subtests were challenging for the child or that he was nervous and disoriented due to the complex instructions. I noticed that during the procedure, the child wanted to join the other children and he was exasperated to finish. The absence of answers obtained in some of the questions provided a low score for the child. Many times, I felt to repeat the question for "Joel" to provide the right answer, but I knew this was not the appropriate technique to achieve actual outcomes.

Moreover, I found the process complicated maybe because it was the first time I conducted an assessment. Due to time constraint, some of the questions were rushed and were attempted without detailed information. The lack of enough time could be the cause for the absence of correct answers from the child. In addition to this testimony, I think the strength of the assessment was the use of the booklet with the wonderful illustrations. As mentioned before, the appealing pictures of animals and objects engaged the child in the conversation. Although, the figures could have been more culturally responsive; nevertheless, the test was fast to regulate, and the kit included obtained exciting objects for the child to engage. The results could have been better if the Spanish version was offered at the Kellar Library; unfortunately, GMU does not carry the variant at any of their libraries. It was available for purchase through the TELD website.

However, my experience is that this assessment is perhaps not appropriate for students with limited English proficiency. In fact, I discovered that there is a Spanish version of the TELD-3 in the market, although it is not located in the Keller Institute. I think the Spanish version could have perhaps provided more information about the expressive and receptive language of my target child.

Based on the results recorded and the comparisons made, the child showed a lot of progress in the language and engaged in a conversation using English. However, he had some difficulty with some words, which he would occasionally substitute with Spanish words. His progress was therefore promising. As my target child, "Joel" will progress to the next school year (kindergarten) and develop more relaxed with the classroom settings. The developmental goals will provide the opportunity to express his oral language in a more confident way and build more knowledge that can be used in an educational program setting and at home.

Physical Domain With a Checklist Tool

Physical development focuses on the child's ability to use the body parts for various activities. As the child develops, physical development will entail the use of the entire body to carry out activities. The unique characteristics seen at this stage are the ability to grasp objects presented to it. Additionally, the ability to hold something is observed during the first few months. After one year, the child should be able to walk or crawl and have some physical skills such as jumping and climbing up a staircase. In the video, the child is well developed with functioning hands, and it can hold up its neck (Lightfoot, Cole & Cole, 2013).

The purpose of the physical assessment was administered to define the physical capabilities of the child and to determine whether he is skillful of undertaking activities assigned to him as well as decide whether he possesses any aptitudes. This was resolved by engaging with the child during leisure time. The tool I used for this domain was a checklist, which is an instrument with specific criteria that allowed me...