Looking at the three assessment tools this week and reviewing what each program does is really interesting. They each cover about the same things, but are used for different purposes.

Dial:
Dial-4 is used by preschool and kindergarten teachers, specialists, childcare administrators, and other early intervention programs. With Dial, the power resides in the person that is conducting the screening. Also, it is the parents and the students. There are many factors with Dial because in the format that was suggested, there are many different people around the child. It really depends on how the child reacts, they may be more shy around new people or outgoing. The screening is also mostly up to the person who does the final outcome because of the percentages that are used, it is based on which percentile is used.

Dial is useful for screening children that may be at risk for developmental delay. They clearly stated that it is not a "readiness" test. It is just to see if the child is within the normal curve or at risk, it is to allow professionals to help parents with resources if needed. They suggested a setting where the children and screeners have one-on-one interaction. The layout allows children to focus on the activity. It also allows no interruptions and is fast because after they are done, they go to another station to do another activity. The best setting to use this screening is if teachers, parents, specialists, or administrators see a potential child at risk for developmental delay. If they notice that the child is having some trouble and is behind in development, this would help to figure out if the child is at risk or not.

I think that everyone benefits from this screening because it is for the betterment of the child. If teachers, parents, screeners, or anyone sees that a child is at risk, we would want to find resources to help the child catch up or have an early intervention to help the child. It benefits everyone, especially the child, because they would be helped in the best way possible.

I think that the draw back of using this screening is that it shows the national range, every child is different, but it scores the child and it is an exam. I do not think that it would be effective because each child's strength is different. Using this is like placing a child at a certain range where it is "normal" or "ok" to be at that range. Some children are a little behind but could eventually catch up.

I don't think that this screening would affect instruction in classroom because it would be a screening that is used outside of the classroom or at a different time. However, teachers would benefit by being able to use this to help promote activities to help the child practice skills that they are behind in.

Brigance:

From the video, and the format of the PDF, it looks like Brigance is used to see if the child is "ready" for school. The way that the screeners talk to the children and ask questions is similar to how programs screen children to see where they are developmentally and if they would fit into the program. I would think that teachers and program administrators use this to enroll children. The power resides in the child and how much they know.

Brigance is useful for preparing for school, seeing if children are ready for school, and where they stand in development. The setting would be best in a classroom or somewhere that the child is comfortable in. It is more one-on-one interaction because the screener asks questions.

Schools would benefit from this program the most because it shows where the child is developmentally, and how to prepare their programs on what they know about the child. This program seems like it would be used before school starts and when they are meeting the child for the first time. I think that the child does not benefit from this screening because it is about what the child knows "intellectually" but not about the whole child.

The drawback that I see from using this program is that the program does not think of the child as an individual. It seems like something that is used for the benefit for the classroom and the teacher. This screening would affect the classroom in positive ways, for the teacher, it would help them know where to begin and what they need to work on with the children. It gives the teachers an idea of where the children stand.

Battelle:

With Battle, the program believes that the power is within the teacher and the staff. They believe that it is not where you are from, what district; with teachers who are great, it wouldn't matter where the school was. This screening process is useful for schools and programs to recruit and find teachers and staff members that are eager to help children learn and grow. There are different settings for this screening because it depends on the location, because each city, school, and district is different from others, there are strengths and weaknesses in each different school, what the program wants is staff that is willing to excel in all areas and create a program that help children succeed.

The students and community benefit from this program because with the staff that is described in this screening process, it shows that the staff is amazing and is willing to adjust to the changing economy. This screening process seems like it would find teachers who are really passionate about teaching and want what is best for each student they encounter. I feel like the only drawback from this screener is that not all teachers fit into this category. Although we like to believe that all teachers are passionate about their work, some teachers are different and they show their strengths in many different ways. It seems like there would be only a certain way that is "great teaching" but there is never just one way to teach. This screener would affect the classroom in different ways, positive and negative, because it could either help children and the program, or make teachers feel like they are not good enough to be a teacher because they do not fit in the descriptions.