Laura Gill Screening Assignment For the following assignment I completed a screening assessment on a typically

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developing child in my preschool placement. I worked with *George, an outgoing and witty student. George loves any kind of sports, pretend play, and games. He also actively engages in reading, writing, and drawing when at school. He has formed many friends at school whom he thoroughly enjoys playing games with during recess. He asks several questions every day and always seems to have an answer for everything. He was born November 5, 2008. On September 18, 2013 I administered the screening tool used at my school, The Dial 4. This would make his testing age 4 years 10 months and 13 days. This specific screening tool requires that you do not round up so I left it as is. The overall results from the screening indicated what I had already thought about George. He did not show a potential delay in any of the performance areas. He is currently a typically developing child and marked as ok on the dial. He scored an overall 31 in motor skills which indicated ok, as a delay would be 0-17. He scored an overall 32 in concepts which indicated ok, as a delay would be 0-16. He also scored a 22 in language skills which indicated ok, as a delay would be 0-13. These results also revealed areas in which George demonstrated skills in. He scored just shy of the max in the motor and the concepts sections. From this screening I learned that Grant was eager to complete the tasks he felt most confident in such as throwing, skipping, and working with his fingers. He achieved almost perfect scores in most items in the motor development. The areas that were a few points off I noticed George having areas of minor weakness. Tasks such as writing and copying George appeared slightly disinterested and he did

not score as high, as a possible result. Looking at the behavioral observations during the motor area assessment, he scored far below the max indicating that his behavioral development was quite typical. Looking at the concepts area, it can be seen that George appeared interested and on point, as he scored well, indicating another strength. He was quick in much of the naming, scoring high in naming body parts, colors, shapes, and items. Although, it appeared that he may need a little work on counting and number relationships. He also scored quite typical when looking at the behavioral observation during the concepts area of the assessment. While his language score did not arise any concerns, it can be seen that it is not his greatest strength. He lost a few points in areas such as articulation and letter sounds. From this assessment though, I have learned that he is persistent and continually developing as he takes on new tasks without hesitation. After administering the screening instrument, The Dial 4 with George, I took note about a few strengths and limitations to it. In addition, I examined the screening process itself. I appreciated the detail of the dial and its multiple components. Just like there are multiple dimensions to a child, there should always be multiple parts to a screening. In addition, while it was in fact detailed, it was not too complicated. Having only a brief background in assessment, I was able read and interpret all results, as they were fairly straightforward. The results allowed me to observe his strengths as well as areas to work on, or if a child may need an IEP. I also valued the fact that The Dial included a behavioral section to each part to evaluate not just their answers to the different parts, but also how they acting while taking them. The directions were clear and straightforward as The Dial guides you through what to say. Although, that did serve as a limitation because you have to stick to the script, even though they may understand the question better if it was worded differently. In addition, The Dial is slightly longer than I would

prefer, because it is so through, so a limitation for the screening process became the childs attention span. I had to pull George during center time, to complete as much as I could with him before I released him to go back and play. He may have been rushing through the screening just to get it done so he could return. The Dial does not take into account what time of day the screening takes place and other outside factors, as they might affect the results. Overall though, I found the screening process and the instrument itself to be accurate and reliable. Looking at myself as an examiner, I discovered I too am an external factor that may alter the results of the screening. This may go without me even realizing it at the time. This being my first time as an official examiner and using a fairly new assessment tool, I feel I might not have been as confident. If I were to repeat this assignment and use the same tool, I believe I would be more comfortable and relaxed when working with George. I would probably not stumble over reading the script or have to pause as often. I do feel though that I remained objective and straightforward. I feel I did well presenting the assignment to his parents, as a professional. I felt comfortable asking them because I specifically chose a student whose parents were involved, but very open at the same time. I felt comfortable working with the speech therapist and the physical therapist to complete the language and motor sections of The Dial. I also felt supported as my coop was there to assist with any questions I had, as she uses this screening tool numerous times. On the other hand, I felt I may have rushed though without even realizing, as I wanted to get him back to center time. I think next time I may even find a different time of the day to complete the screening. I feel this assignment helped me learn and grow as an examiner and a teacher. Learning how to best meet your students needs through assessment is an important skill to practice as it will be very applicable in my own classroom someday. Learning to be flexible is key as well,

because you never know what type of instrument you may be working with. I found this assessment tool to accurate and rather simple in working with George. I have now learned from my first trial and will have an idea of how things will work for the next time.

*Pseudo names have been used to protect the confidentiality of the child