Preschool Evaluations

We offer preschool evaluations using empirically proven tools and methods to evaluate the development and learning progress of children aged three to five years. A preschool assessment helps educators, parents, and other stakeholders understand a child’s growth in various domains, identify areas needing support, and tailor educational approaches to individual needs. Pre-k assessments can also show strengths to capitalize on so the child enjoys learning and finds pathways to reach her or his potential. Our pre-k testing services can complement the testing that the child’s public school system may offer, or it can be helpful if the child may not attend public school.

The following is an overview of key aspects related to preschool assessments. You are welcome to contact us or schedule a consultation to discuss your child’s needs and how a preschool assessment may benefit them. You are also encouraged to contact the public school system in your area to see what they can offer.

Reasons for Preschool Evaluations

There are three main reasons why a parent may want to pursue a preschool assessment:

Pre-K Testing for Readiness

Pre-K testing often involves various assessments to evaluate the readiness, development, and learning progress of children typically aged four to five years before they enter kindergarten. These assessments are designed to comprehensively understand each child’s abilities and developmental needs, ensuring they receive the appropriate support for their educational journey. The objectives are threefold:

1. Assess Readiness for Kindergarten: Determine if children have the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in kindergarten.
2. Guide Instruction and Curriculum: Inform teachers about each child’s strengths and areas needing support to help tailor instruction.
3. Set a Baseline: A preschool assessment before children enter kindergarten allows adults to monitor their development to ensure they meet developmental milestones.
4. Finding strengths and potential. Just as important as finding barriers and challenges is finding strengths and opportunities for the child to excel, generating interest in learning and higher self-esteem. Pre-k testing is designed to provide this information.

Preschool Evaluations for Early Interventions

Preschool evaluations are also used earlier than the year before kindergarten to assess whether the child would benefit from interventions to help them meet developmental milestones or progress as best they can toward these milestones. These assessments provide valuable insights into a child’s overall development. The objectives of preschool evaluations in this case are to:

1. Identify Developmental Delays or Special Needs: Early identification of potential delays or disabilities to provide timely intervention.
2. Identify Strengths and Interests: Knowing what the child enjoys and where they may have relatively stronger skills can help motivate them to learn and bolster their self-esteem.
3. Make Choices that Support Skills: Pre-K testing at an early age can help parents sort out preschool and extracurricular opportunities that may help improve skills and tap into strengths.
4. Choose the best fit among preschools: Parents may choose programs that approach teaching and learning differently. Pre-K assessments can sometimes help inform that choice.

Pre-k Assessments for Skill Building

Pre-K assessments are not merely used when a challenge or barrier is identified. Instead, we often provide pre-k assessments to help parents and teachers learn more about a child’s learning style, strengths, and potential. In these cases, the parent does not suspect a concern that needs to be addressed, and they fully expect their child to follow a conventional path. However, they just want to design a plan to tap into strengths and ensure that the child fully reaches his or her potential.

Types of Preschool Evaluations

There are several types of Preschool evaluations that we can provide:

1. Screening Assessments identify children who may need further evaluation or special services. These pre-k assessments are usually quick and cover basic developmental milestones. We often start a preschool assessment with a simple screening so we know whether it would be worthwhile for the child to have a more intensive evaluation or specific pre-k testing.
2. Formative Assessments are ongoing assessments that provide feedback during the learning process, helping teachers adjust their instruction. These preschool evaluations take longer but provide an important depth of information.
3. Summative Assessments evaluate what children have learned at the end of an instructional period. They are often called “achievement tests”.
4. Diagnostic Assessments usually involve formal psychological testing to understand specific learning needs or developmental delays.

Pre-K Testing Types and Methods

Pre-k testing is designed to assess a child in one or more domains based on concerns from parents, pediatricians, or preschool teachers.

Preschool Assessment Domains

1. Cognitive Development: Understanding concepts, problem-solving skills, early numeracy, and literacy.
2. Language and Communication: Vocabulary, sentence structure, listening comprehension, and expressive language.
3. Social-Emotional Development: Interpersonal skills, self-regulation, empathy, and emotional expression.
4. Physical Development: Gross and fine motor skills and coordination.
5. Approaches to Learning: Curiosity, persistence, attentiveness, and flexibility in learning situations.

Methods of Preschool Assessment

1. Observations: We often ask teachers and caregivers to watch and note children’s behaviors and interactions in natural settings. These observational assessments often involve having people fill out empirically based surveys and questionnaires, marking off skills or behaviors that a child demonstrates. These include the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ), which screens for developmental progress, and the Early Screening Inventory (ESI).
2. Portfolios: We like to collect samples of the child’s work over time, showing progress, areas of strength, and developmental stages.
3. Our observations: We use standardized instruments to note our observations of the child during preschool evaluations. This may include using the Brigance Early Childhood Screens, which assess physical, language, cognitive, and social-emotional development.
4. Standardized Tests: We give established structured tests with specific tasks that children complete to measure a variety of cognitive and social domains. These include the WPPSI, which assesses multiple cognitive domains, and the Preschool Early Literacy Indicators (PELI), which assesses early literacy skills.

Preschool Evaluations in Our Practice

We provide preschool evaluations that combine assessment tools and approaches to understand a child’s development comprehensively. We ensure assessments are appropriate for the child’s cultural and linguistic background and that any tests given use assessments suited to preschool children’s age and developmental stage. Throughout the process, we engage families in the preschool assessment process to gain insights and promote collaborative support.

Preschool Evaluations Sample Format

Our Pre-K assessments are designed to gauge a child’s development in several areas, including language, cognitive skills, social-emotional development, and motor skills. Here’s an example of what comprehensive Pre-K testing might look like:

Language and Communication Skills

1. Listening Comprehension: Measured by our observations and interactions, the WPPSI Test, and parent surveys such as Ages and Stages. Some of what we are looking for includes
– Follows simple instructions (e.g., “Put the block on the table”)
– Answers questions about a story read aloud

2. Verbal Expression: Measured by our observations and interactions, which we might organize through the Briagnce Test, the WPPSI Test, and parent surveys. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Uses complete sentences to express needs and thoughts
– Participates in conversations with peers and adults

3. Vocabulary: Measured by our observations and interactions, the WPPSI Test, and specialty tests. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Identifies and names common objects and pictures
– Understands and uses descriptive words (e.g., colors, shapes)

4. Literacy Skills: Measured by the PELI, Ages and Stages, and Brigance. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Print Awareness, such as recognizing their name in print
– Alphabet Knowledge, such as identifying and naming some letters of the alphabet and associating some letters with their sounds

Nonverbal Reasoning and General Cognitive Skills

1. Mathematical Concepts: Measured primarily through the WPPSI Test, some structured activities, and specialty tests. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Counting and recognizing and names numbers 1-10
– Understands basic concepts of more, less, and same

2. Problem-Solving: Measured primarily through the WPPSI and some structured play activities. Sometimes, we also use executive functioning measures as well. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Completes simple puzzles (e.g., 4-6 pieces)
– Sorts objects by color, size, or shape

3. Working Memory: Measured through the WPPSI, executive functioning questionnaires, and structured play activities. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Recalls and repeats simple sequences (e.g., clapping patterns)
– Able to remember the steps in a two- or three-step task

Social-Emotional Development

1. Self-Regulation: Measured through our observations and tools, such as the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children (BASC) or the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Some of what we are looking for includes:
– Waits for a turn during group activities
– Follows classroom rules and routines

2. Social Interaction: Measured through the Vineland, BASC, Ages and Stages, and specialty measures. What we are looking for includes:
– Shows social interest and plays cooperatively with peers
– Shares toys and materials with others

3. Emotional Awareness: Measured through the Vineland, BASC, and specialty tests.
– Identifies own emotions and those of others
– Expresses feelings using words rather than actions

Motor Skills

1. Gross Motor Skills: We do a brief screening but would refer a child to an occupational therapist if we felt this was a problem area.
2. Fine Motor Skills: Same

This sample is adapted based on specific focus areas and the developmental milestones expected for the age group. Our pre-k assessments provide a comprehensive picture of the child’s development. They can be used to determine whether a child has a simple learning disorder, such as when we are testing for dysgraphia or dyslexia.

Pre-K Assessments Example

Context: Sarah is 4 years old and enrolled in a preschool program. Her teacher and parents have noticed challenges with her language skills and peer interactions. An assessment is planned to better understand her developmental progress and provide support. This is a fictitious example of the type of comprehensive pre-k assessments we provide.

Step 1: Initial Screening

Tool Used: Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)

• Purpose: To screen for potential developmental delays and determine the pre-k testing battery.
• Process: Sarah’s parents completed the ASQ, providing insights about her communication, fine motor, gross motor, problem-solving, and personal-social skills.
• Results: Indicated below-average scores in communication and personal-social domains.

Step 2: Preschool Assessment

1. Language Development Assessment
   Tool Used: Preschool Language Scale (PLS-5)
   • Focus: Evaluate Sarah’s expressive and receptive language skills.
   • Process: Sarah was asked to identify objects, follow simple instructions, and name items.
   • Results:
     • Receptive Language: Difficulty understanding multi-step directions.
     • Expressive Language: Limited vocabulary for her age, with occasional incorrect sentence structures.
2. Social-Emotional Assessment
   Tool Used: Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA)
   • Focus: Identifies strengths and areas of concern in social-emotional development.
   • Process: Sarah’s teacher completed the DECA based on observations of her behavior in the classroom.
   • Results:
     • Strengths: Demonstrates empathy by comforting peers when they are upset.
     • Concerns: She struggles to engage in cooperative play and isolates herself during group activities.
3. Cognitive and Academic Readiness Assessment
   Tool Used: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)
   • Focus: Assesses pre-literacy skills such as letter recognition and phonemic awareness.
   • Process: We had Sarah participate in activities to identify letters, sounds, and simple rhyming patterns.
   • Results: Sarah recognizes some letters but struggles with phonemic awareness (e.g., identifying the beginning sounds of words).
4. Behavioral Observation
   Tool Used: Structured classroom observation using the Work Sampling System.
   • Focus: We observe Sarah’s behavior and skills during play, circle time, and free-choice activities.
   • Process: Our observation covered two days.
   • Results:
     • Strengths: Follows basic routines like washing hands and cleaning up.
     • Concerns: Tends to avoid tasks involving fine motor skills (e.g., cutting or writing) and seems frustrated during structured activities.

Step 3: Pre-K Testing Results and Recommendations

• Findings Summary:
  Sarah demonstrates developmental delays in communication and social skills, with emerging difficulties in fine motor coordination. Her cognitive and emotional strengths suggest she can progress with targeted interventions.
• Recommendations:
  1. Speech and Language Therapy: Weekly sessions to improve vocabulary and sentence structure.
  2. Social Skills Support: Small-group activities to encourage cooperative play and peer interaction.
  3. Pre-Literacy Activities: Incorporate phonemic awareness games into daily routines.
  4. Classroom Modifications: To build confidence, provide fine motor activities like playdough and simple tracing exercises.
  5. Follow-Up: Re-assess in six months to monitor progress and adjust strategies as needed.

Outcome (After Six Months)

With the recommended interventions, Sarah showed notable improvements in expressive language and was more engaged in group activities. Teachers reported her excitement in participating during storytime and peer play, indicating positive growth.

Our Work

Preschool assessments are essential for tracking and testing developmental progress, identifying needs, and informing instruction. Using a combination of methods and tools, we give educators and parents ways to support each child’s learning and development effectively. Our psychological report focuses on potential and possibilities while discussing possible barriers and challenges and how they can be lowered.

We welcome your questions about pre-k assessments and would be happy to schedule a free consultation so we can learn what you are looking for and advise you as to whether a preschool assessment would be worthwhile. Given that most preschool evaluations need to be conducted in person, we only perform these at our hubs, not virtually. We may be able to refer you to a provider in your area.

Dr. Alan Jacobson, Psy.D., MBA Founder

Dr. Jacobson is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been practicing for over 20 years. He provides psychological and neuropsychological testing for adolescents and adults.

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