Early Intervention and the Assessment of Developmental Skills: Challenges and Directions

Abstract

With the advent of recent legislation (P.L. 99–457, amended by P.L. 101–476), practitioners must apply what is known regarding the amelioration of children's educational and psychological problems through early intervention. Early intervention holds considerable promise, but the benefits are far from guaranteed. There are many questions about the identification of children, their needs, and the qualities of appropriate services. Although the new legislation has provided a framework for the attainment of early intervention goals, practitioners must deal with fallible assessment techniques, difficult intervention decisions, and unknown outcomes for children. For many reasons, early intervention decisions are not well served by traditional developmental assessments. Following a critique of conceptual and technical problems for developmental assessment, we review promising approaches to educational planning for young children. The basics are founded on ecobehavioral analysis and principles of intervention design.