Early intervention during the birth to five-year age range is crucial, as this is when the brain develops most. Consistently assessing and evaluating children's growth and development ensures they receive appropriate support at the right time. By using early childhood assessment tools, educators can identify potential challenges, track developmental progress, and tailor their instructional practices to meet each child's unique needs.
At Kaplan, we stay committed to equipping educators with the best evaluation tools and professional development resources to support children of all ages. But with so many options available, how do you know which assessment is best for you?
In this article, we break down four of our most trusted assessment and evaluation tools, including who they benefit most and what aspects of child development they evaluate, so you can confidently choose the option that best meets your needs.
Every child develops at their own pace, and assessments help educators, families, and other professionals understand their progress. High-quality assessments support learning and growth during the early years by providing insights into each child's cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development. With this information, educators can adapt their teaching strategies, ensuring every child receives the support they need to thrive. For families, assessments provide reassurance and guidance, giving them the confidence to advocate immediately if they need to seek support for their child.
Kaplan offers various early childhood assessments designed to give educators, administrators, and families the information they need to make the best decisions for young children. Keep reading to explore these options and how they can benefit your early childhood program.
The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment is a nationally standardized behavior rating scale that evaluates within-child protective factors related to resilience. This assessment provides reliable and valid data regarding children's social and emotional development and capacity for resilience. With the information collected, educators and families can create strategies for home and school that offer positive behavior support and social-emotional learning for all children.
Best for: The DECA-Infants/Toddlers assessment is best for children ages four weeks to 36 months. The DECA-Preschool, 2nd Edition, is best for children ages three to five years.
Who can use it: Teachers, parents, caregivers, and anyone who plays a significant role in a child's growth and development can use this assessment tool.
Inclusions of this tool: When you purchase a DECA-Infant/Toddler or DECA-Preschool, 2nd Edition assessment kit, you will receive a User's Guide and Technical Manual, which outlines directions to help you complete the assessment and interpret your findings. You will also receive assessment record forms and resource books to help you support the social and emotional health of the children in your care.
Additional DECA resources: Kaplan also offers a web-based application, the e-DECA, where users can enter their Devereux Early Childhood Assessment data online. The e-DECA completes all assessment scoring, generates reports, suggests research-based strategies for school and home settings, and stores your data in a secure database.
The Learning Accomplishment Profile™ assessment tool provides a systemic method for observing the progress from various stages of child development. This tool evaluates gross motor, fine motor, pre-writing, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development. With the collected data, educators and families can implement developmentally appropriate activities in the home and school setting that support the growth and education of all children.
Best for: The Early Learning Accomplishment Profile (E-LAP™) assessment is best for children in the birth to 36-month age range. The Learning Accomplishment Profile – Diagnostic (LAP™-D) assessment is best for children aged 30- to 72-months. The new LAP™-Birth to Kindergarten (LAP™-B-K) combines the previous assessment tools into one so that you can evaluate children in the birth to 72-month age range.
Who can use it: Teachers, parents, special educators, clinicians, caregivers, and anyone who plays a significant role in a child's growth and development can use this assessment tool.
Inclusions of this tool: When you purchase any of the LAP™ assessment kits from Kaplan, you will receive an Examiner's Manual to help you appropriately score and interpret data during an assessment. You will also receive scoring booklets, scoring profiles, activity cards, and other resources to aid your evaluation.
Additional LAP™ resources: For users of the LAP™-BK, Kaplan offers a subscription to the Online LAP™ platform. This platform helps educators and clinicians observe and track the ongoing skill development of children ages birth to 72 months. This subscription makes it easy to update and store skill progression in real-time using your phone, tablet, or computer.
The Ages & Stages Questionnaires® is a parent-completed monitoring system that can pinpoint developmental delays in infants and young children. The age-appropriate questionnaires effectively screen five key developmental areas: communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and social-emotional. With this data, parents and caregivers can schedule further assessments to determine if their child is eligible for early intervention or special education.
Best for: The Ages & Stages Questionnaires® are best used with children during their first five years of life.
Who can use it: This assessment tool is best completed by parents or adults who care for young children.
Inclusions of this tool: When you purchase any of the ASQ® assessment kits, you will receive a User's Guide and Quick Start Guide that will help you administer the evaluation and interpret your findings. The kit also includes scoring sheets, which arrive inside a box with dividers and a carrying handle. This assessment kit is available in English and Spanish.
Additional ASQ® resources: The ASQ® Component Kit provides users with all the items they need to evaluate and screen children with this assessment tool. The ASQ® Learning Activities offers nearly 400 engaging activity resources and is an excellent tool for parents and caregivers of children who need support in one or more developmental areas, such as communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and social-emotional. This resource is a natural follow-up for children who score in the ASQ® monitoring zone.
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®) is an observation tool that focuses on the effectiveness of classroom interactions among educators and children. This tool evaluates three domains of effective teacher-child interactions: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Assessing and improving these interactions promotes children's cognitive, social, and emotional development.
Best for: Kaplan offers three CLASS® assessment products to evaluate children from birth to 18 months, 15 to 36 months, and three to five years.
Who can use it: This assessment tool is best completed by a school administrator, program director, or any individual who can objectively observe a teacher in the classroom.
Inclusions of this tool: The CLASS® assessment kit for each age group comes with a Scoring Manual to help you observe and document teacher-child interactions in the classroom. You can purchase a Dimensions Guide separately to better understand the assessment findings and gain strategies to help improve teacher-child interactions.
Additional CLASS® resources: CLASS® Instructional Support Kits provide educators with materials and lesson guides to encourage young children's development of math, literacy, social, and emotional skills.
Determining the best assessment/screening tool for your classroom depends on several factors, such as the ages of the children you want to assess, your developmental concerns, and who you think will be the best person to obtain valuable assessment data for each child. Use this chart to help you compare the four different assessment tools Kaplan offers:
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|
DECA |
LAP™ |
ASQ® |
CLASS® |
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For infants ages birth to 18 months |
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
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For toddlers ages 15 to 36 months |
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
For ages 3-5 years |
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
Teacher use |
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
|
Parent use |
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
Administrators use |
|
✅
|
|
✅
|
|
Evaluates cognitive development |
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
Evaluates motor development |
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
Evaluates social-emotional development |
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
Evaluates teacher-child relationships |
|
|
|
✅ |
|
Includes support tools |
✅
|
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
Online monitoring and tracking available |
✅
|
✅
|
|
|
Early childhood assessment and evaluation tools are a crucial way to understand the unique developmental journeys of young children and provide them with the best possible learning experiences. High-quality, research-backed tools like DECA, LAP™, ASQ®, and CLASS® empower educators to evaluate child development, identify support areas, and enhance classroom and home interactions.
Whether you want to assess social-emotional growth, developmental milestones, or classroom quality, our carefully curated selection of assessment products can help you make informed decisions. Explore Kaplan's early childhood assessment tools by browsing our website. If you have questions or need support from an expert on our team, please contact a local Kaplan Sales Representative. They will gladly help you select the appropriate tools and resources for your classroom.