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Measurement in early childhood is an increasingly large-scale endeavor addressing purposes of accountability, program improvement, child outcomes, and intervention decision making for individual children. The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) is a measure relevant to intervention decision making for infants and toddlers, including response to int...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... population of EHS programs (n = 27), staff members (n = 580), and enrolled chil- dren (n = 5,883) in two Midwestern states participated (see Table 1). Child participants consisted of children receiving Part C services (i.e., they had IFSPs; n = 471, 8% of the combined sample). ...
Context 2
... number of children in State 1 was 3,190 (ranging from 107 to 513 across programs); for State 2, 2,693 (ranging from 15 to 451 across programs). Table 1 shows the distribution of children by programs. The mean age of children at the first assessment was 18.4 months overall (SD = 9.3). ...
Context 3
... on the volume of data collected, all but Program 34 of the 27 EHS programs reached programwide ECI implementation and maintained ECI data collection during the 2002-2007 period. As seen in Table 1, the mean was 218 (SD = 130), ranging from only 15 (Program 34) to 513 (Program 11). As described below, data for Program 34 were removed from further analyses of the research questions. ...
Citations
... In comparisons between the Part C Program's cohorts within child trajectory differences, our predictors were coded as 0 = Pre-COVID-19, 1 = COVID-19 (RQ3b). At Level 1 (unconditional model), we included mean intercept, slope, and acceleration parameters as we reported in prior ECI publications (Greenwood et al., 2011a(Greenwood et al., , 2011b; At Level 2 (conditional model), we included predictors and covariates. In all models for RQ2 and RQ3, we also included gender (0 = female, 1 = male) and child's month of age as covariates. ...
Universal screening and progress monitoring are evidence-based practices in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) for infants/toddlers are measures that programs can use for universal screening, progress monitoring, intervention decision-making, and accountability. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, IGDIs were administered and scored exclusively in person by certified early educators. Because of COVID-19, EI/ECSE practitioners could no longer conduct in-person assessments. We report how two early intervention programs implemented IGDIs using remote protocols that included (a) preparation of parents for IGDI administration at home, (b) session observation by program staff using videoconferencing, and (c) remote coding of the child’s performance by program staff when interacting with a parent/caregiver play partner using the standard toy set. The remote protocols are described, and uptake by the programs is compared before and during the pandemic. Equivalence of children’s scores from in-person versus remote protocols is reported, as well as caregivers’ and program staff’s preferences. Implications for remote early childhood services are discussed.
... In regard to whether authors described "risk" for the children who spoke a language other than English at home, 18 (60%) studies included specifications of why participants were considered at-risk for academic difficulty (e.g., Bruder et al., 1991;Greenwood et al., 2011;Harris et al., 2016;McHatton & Correa, 2005 Authors of seven studies (23%) mentioned that participants were simply at-risk for being DLLs (e.g., Hanson et al., 2011;Johnson & Walker, 1991;Missall et al., 2006;Odom et al., 2019). Authors in the remaining five (17%) studies did not mention risk (e.g., Ciupe & Salisbury, 2020; Greenwood et al., 2010;Loomis & Mogro-Wilson, 2019). ...
Young children with and without disabilities who are bilingual or in the process of learning multiple languages have many strengths; however, educational policies and bias related to bilingualism for children from linguistically minoritized groups have typically included deficit-based views. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify how researchers describe these children and their caregivers. Thirty research studies were included in the review. Each study was published in Infants and Young Children, Journal of Early Intervention, or Topics in Early Childhood Special Education between 1988 and 2020. Studies were coded to determine participant characteristics and whether deficit- or strength-based descriptions of participants were used. Although researchers’ descriptions of participants’ linguistic backgrounds varied, most were English-centric, and deficit-based descriptions of bilingualism were more prevalent than strength-based descriptions. Preliminary recommendations are provided for describing children and families from linguistically minoritized communities and including strength-based language in research and practice.
... Ensuring the quality of both administration and scoring through a certification process is essential. In light of the evidence that many practitioners do not have documented certification for using the ECI, and therefore may or may not be qualified to use it correctly (Greenwood et al. 2011a), we provided structured training and follow up coaching to support them through the process with all the IGDIs. In the current project, we provided a variety of training opportunities for practitioners that align with the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN 2011) training recommendations. ...
... Inter-rater reliability checking was established to determine if practitioners would maintain the quality of scoring. Consistent with the findings from Greenwood et al. (2011a), we did not get as many reliability checks as we planned. The study design included provision for every fourth video or 25% reliability estimates, we received 17%. ...
Background
Progress monitoring is a vital strategy for evaluating skill development of young children receiving disability related services. Few effective progress monitoring tools exist for infants and toddlers, and research is needed to examine feasibility as they become available.Objective
The current study examined the implementation of an assessment protocol for monitoring the developmental progress of children receiving Early Intervention (EI) services. Specifically, we examined the implementation of Infant/Toddler Individual Growth and Development Indicators (I/T IGDIs). Our questions were related to fidelity of implementation by examining learning and using I/T IGDIs in practice; and coaching support utilized by practitioners.Method
Fifty practitioners serving 92 participating families received training and coaching support to reliably administer and score up to 4 I/T IGDI assessments and use them in practice. Quantitative and qualitative implementation data revealed interesting results.ResultsPractitioners needed relatively few sessions in order to become certified to administer and score I/T IGDIs. On average, practitioners used 1–2 I/T IGDIs with each child and children received a range of assessment frequency with the communication indicator being the most frequently used and the social indicator least frequent. Both supports and challenges related to time, organizational supports and research/technology were identified.ConclusionsEI practitioners are skilled at learning new assessment strategies and implementing them into practice given adequate time, organizational support and coaching for implementation. Practitioners expressed concerns with I/T IGDI use given time limitations during their visits. In addition, the inclusion of research activities into the implementation process may produce unintended challenges.
... The ECI Greenwood et al., 2010;Walker et al., 2008) is a 6-min play-based observational measure of a child's communication during a standard play session with a familiar adult. Designed for use by early childhood practitioners for universal screening and progress monitoring, its monthly age-based benchmarks inform intervention decision making for individual children 6 to 42 months of age Greenwood, Buzhardt et al., 2011) and program-level improvement (Greenwood, Buzhardt, Walker, Howard, & Anderson, 2011). ...
... The ECI Greenwood et al., 2010;Walker et al., 2008) is a 6-min play-based observational measure of a child's communication during a standard play session with a familiar adult. Designed for use by early childhood practitioners for universal screening and progress monitoring, its monthly age-based benchmarks inform intervention decision making for individual children 6 to 42 months of age Greenwood, Buzhardt et al., 2011) and program-level improvement (Greenwood, Buzhardt, Walker, Howard, & Anderson, 2011). ...
Programs serving infants and toddlers are expected to use child data to inform decisions about intervention services; however, few tools exist to support these efforts. The Making Online Decisions (MOD) system is an adaptive intervention that guides early educators’ data-based intervention decision making for infants and toddlers at risk for language delay. Using a cluster randomized design to test the effect of the MOD, home visitors (HVs) were assigned to either use the MOD or not across 13 Early Head Start programs. Both groups used the Early Communication Indicator (ECI) for progress monitoring and a parent-mediated language promotion intervention. Children from both groups demonstrated significant growth in expressive communication. However, children whose HVs fully implemented the MOD grew significantly more than the group that did not use the MOD, even after statistically controlling for parent and HV variables. Implications for designing effective and usable systems to promote the use of data-based decision-making practices by infant–toddler service providers are discussed, as well as limitations of the current study.
... The basic raw data across all children were comprised of quarterly ECI assessments across the ages of 6–42 months in cases were programs continued providing services beyond 36 months. Because most children aged out of services at 36 months, we have used 36 as an intercept point in past research (Greenwood, Buzhardt, & et al., 2011;). Thus, complete quarterly data for any one child in a program consisted of 11 quarterly occasions (separated by 3 months starting at 6 months of age). ...
... Given our knowledge of the appropriate scaling of ECI metrics in EHS programs (Greenwood, Buzhardt, & et al., 2011), we have routinely screened for outliers for both statistical purposes, as well as an indicator of " reasonableness and accuracy " in using the ECI. Outliers greater than three standard deviations above the age mean were removed to prevent biasing of results because of extremes due to data entry errors or subpopulations (Greenwood, Buzhardt, & et al., 2011). ...
... Given our knowledge of the appropriate scaling of ECI metrics in EHS programs (Greenwood, Buzhardt, & et al., 2011), we have routinely screened for outliers for both statistical purposes, as well as an indicator of " reasonableness and accuracy " in using the ECI. Outliers greater than three standard deviations above the age mean were removed to prevent biasing of results because of extremes due to data entry errors or subpopulations (Greenwood, Buzhardt, & et al., 2011). Doing so ensures that analyses and findings reported herein are consistent with prior work and metrics in earlier reports. ...
The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) is a measure for universal screening, intervention decision-making, progress monitoring for infants and toddlers needing higher levels of support, and program accountability. In the context of the ECI's long-term wide-scale use for these purposes, we examined the invariance of ECI measurement in two samples of the same Early Head Start (EHS) population differing in the years data were collected. Invariance or equivalence across samples is an important step in measurement validation because making inferences assumes that the measurements are factorially invariant. A number of time-covarying factors (e.g., assessors, children, etc.) can be hypothesized as threats to measurement invariance. Results of latent growth curve analyses indicated similarity in the functional forms (velocity and shape) of the ECIs four key skill trajectories between groups of children and ECI vocalizations, single, and multiple words trajectories met strong factorial and structural invariance. Gestures met only weak factorial invariance. ECI total communications, a weighted composite of the four scales, also met both strong factorial and structural invariance. With one exception, results indicated that the ECI produced comparable growth estimates over different conditions of programs, assessors, and children over time, strengthening the construct validity of the ECI. Implications are discussed.
... Note: ECI = Early Communication Indicator. Reprinted with permission from Greenwood, Buzhardt, Walker, Howard, and Anderson (2011). interesting was the similarity and variation in the patterns of growth in total communication over time and in mean outcomes at 36 months of age in different EHS programs. ...
In the last two and half decades, much has been learned about conceptualizing and developing measures for use by practitioners designed to inform their intervention decision making, such as when a child would benefit from receiving additional instructional support (universal screening) and whether the child is responding positively to the intervention when delivered (progress monitoring). The authors describe these developments, related issues continuing to face the field, and what is needed in terms of measures, access, and usability in future practice, research, and development.
Purpose
This study aims to examine caregiver perceptions and use of the Early Communication Indicator–Autism (ECI-A), an adapted, naturalistic assessment to measure progress on communication skills, and explore differences across racial and ethnic groups to provide preliminary data about the cultural responsiveness of the newly adapted ECI-A.
Method
A total of 215 caregivers and their autistic child completed the ECI-A. The research team collected data on caregiver- and researcher-reported ease of use of the ECI-A and caregiver ECI-A fidelity. Descriptive statistics are reported across racial and ethnic groups, and group differences are examined between groups with sufficient sample size (Black and White caregivers, Latino and non-Latino caregivers).
Results
Overall, there was consistency in caregiver and researcher perceptions of ease of use and caregiver fidelity. The only statistically significant differences were for researcher-reported ease of use between Black and White caregivers and ECI-A fidelity for general procedures between Latino and non-Latino caregivers.
Conclusions
The results suggest that the ECI-A is acceptable and feasible for use by caregivers from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, the two statistically significant differences suggest the need for careful attention to researcher biases for researcher-completed measures and more in-depth evaluation of the cultural responsiveness of the general ECI-A procedures, such as the number of play partners involved. It will be critical to continue work that informs and advances the use of culturally responsive assessment practices with autistic children and their families in the future.
Supplemental Material
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.28216151
Verschillende facetten van (pre)linguïstische taalontwikkeling zijn bij mensen met downsyndroom (DS) vertraagd of minder ontwikkeld. Dit kan zorgen voor probleemgedrag en moeilijkheden in de communicatie. Passende ondersteunde communicatie is nodig, maar het is niet duidelijk hoe op een laagdrempelige manier een afgewogen keuze kan worden gemaakt. In de verstandelijk gehandicaptenzorg wordt daarom vaak gebruikgemaakt van trial-and-error. Dit literatuuronderzoek inventariseert en evalueert instrumenten voor het bepalen van het communicatieniveau van mensen met downsyndroom. Middels systematisch literatuuronderzoek is gezocht naar artikelen waarin relevante instrumenten worden genoemd. Deze instrumenten zijn beschreven en beoordeeld op basis van zes criteria die zijn opgesteld vanuit de literatuur over specifieke kenmerken bij downsyndroom. De instrumenten zijn beoordeeld op toepasbaarheid bij deze doelgroep. Van de 1480 gevonden artikelen zijn 35 artikelen geanalyseerd, waaruit 23 verschillende instrumenten zijn geïdentificeerd. Van de relevante artikelen zijn onder andere studie populatie, doel en gebruikte instrumenten beschreven. Daarnaast zijn per instrument gegevens verzameld over eigenschappen als doelgroep, materiaal, afnameduur, normering, betrouwbaarheid en validiteit. Na beoordeling van de 23 instrumenten op basis van de criteria bleek één instrument te voldoen aan alle zes criteria. Zes instrumenten voldeden aan vijf van de zes criteria. Er is geen instrument gevonden dat specifiek voor mensen met DS is ontwikkeld. De ComVoor lijkt het meest passende instrument. Voor de inzet bij mensen met DS worden aanpassingen aan het instrument wenselijk geacht.
Increasingly, measurement of child outcomes is becoming an international priority. However, the psychometric properties of standardized measures are rarely explored for populations beyond the country in which the measures were developed. The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) is a measure of infant-toddler expressive communication developed in the U.S. and designed for use by service providers to inform intervention decision making and outcome measurement. Because the ECI measures growth in prelinguistic and spoken language and can be administered in any language, it has implications for international applications. An intervention study with children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Australia that used the ECI provided the opportunity to explore growth in expressive communication for this population. Children in Australia evidenced significant growth on individual key skills and composite growth trajectories of the ECI. These trajectories conformed to a theoretical continuum of growth in expressive language, and trajectories were similar in onset timing, pattern of growth, and 36-month outcomes to children in the U.S. Implications for the ECI’s use for data-driven decision making by early childhood service providers internationally are discussed, as well as limitations and future research directions.
