Detailed Information about the Assessment Database

By Heather A. Holmes-Lonergan, Ph.D., Jessica Thomas, M.Ed., Deborah J. Leong, Ph.D., and Elena Bodrova, Ph.D.

The Assessment Database has been developed to assist policy makers, early childhood education professionals, and program administrators in learning more about assessments used with pre-K children. The database does not critique assessment instruments as to their relative desirability. Instead, it serves as a reference resource both for information about the assessments and for identifying the kinds of information that can be gathered when they are applied. Standardized tests as well as other assessment methods are included. Inclusion in the database is not meant to be an endorsement or recommendation, nor is it an indicator of the assessment's quality.

In general, the assessments vary widely in both their nature and scope. Some include measures of nearly all of the areas of development one might be interested in –
cognitive, language and motor skills, self-help skills and social-emotional and behavioral development. Other instruments are much more narrow in focus. For example, some only assess perceptual or behavioral development. Some tests measure IQ, but the majority do not. Many of the instruments indicate whether or not the publisher reports information on reliability and validity. Finally, a few assessments measure the quality of the early childhood education environment and do not directly assess children's development. These characteristics and others may be queried using the interface below.

Sources for the database were publishers' websites, information sent to NIEER from the publishers, as well as other databases on assessment including ERIC, BUROS and the Educational Testing Service. Information was also gathered from the June 17-18, 2002 meeting "Early Learning, Development, and School Readiness: Conceptual Frameworks, Constructs, and Measures." This meeting was held to inform a set of research and programmatic initiatives funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education. Participants included experts from all areas of early education, research, and policy.

Please note: The information in this database is accurate based on available information as of December 2004. The database will be updated as new information is obtained.

Publishers: To report an assessment update or addition, please contact us at assessment@nieer.org.

Interpretation of Data

These data are presented for informational purposes only. Inclusion in the database is not meant to be an endorsement or recommendation, nor is it an indicator of assessment quality.

For more detailed assessment information, consult the assessment manuals and contact the publishers directly.

The following data values are used to represent the corresponding information:

• "Y" indicates that the assessment meets the criteria in the column heading.
• "N" indicates that the assessment does not meet the criteria in the column heading. When it was clear that an assessment did not cover certain topics even though it was not specifically stated, judgments were made to change values from "Unknown" to "N".
• "Unknown" indicates that there was insufficient information available to determine if the criteria was met

Additional information may be included near the top of each assessment profile. This information may further describe how to interpret the data. For instance, many characteristics do not apply to environmental assessments. Many of their fields marked "N" and "Unknown" may be more accurately described as "Not Applicable".

Using the Database

To access the Assessment Database, either basic queries or custom queries may be used. Basic queries provide quick access to assessments which fulfill frequently requested needs. Custom queries provide either highly relevant results or a broad set of results that meet specific criteria.

When the desired criteria are selected, a list of relevant assessments will be shown. The assessment list for custom queries shows data for relevant characteristics to help preview and compare the assessments. From the list, any assessment can be clicked to view its full profile. The full profile shows which characteristics the assessment has and does not have.