Early Screening Strategies

Formal standardized tests or screens that are used for children whose mother tongue is not English are often not very helpful for the following reasons

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children NAEYC) recommendations emphasize that early childhood programs are accountable for creating a welcoming environment. The environment should respect diversity, supports children’s ties to their families and community. It should also support both second language acquisition, children home language, as well as cultural identities. Linguistic and cultural diversity is an advantage, not a deficit, for young children. As stated in the DEC/NAEYC joint position statement, the inclusion contributes to how every child with or without disabilities is developing and learning to reach their full potential. However, this can benefit to young children and their family to experience

“Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development.

The amount of young children who are acquiring English as a second or even third language in the early care and education (ECE) setting as well as K-12 public classrooms have amplified across the United States in recent years (Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). These young children that are acquiring two or more languages concurrently, or learning a second language along with refining their native language are considered dual language learners (DLLs) (Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). The number of DLLs has multiplied tremendously and now accounts for 25% of all children living in the United States (p. 40). The Office of Head Start (2011) state that fifty-nine percent of the children enrolled in the Head Start Programs were from racial or ethnic minority families, 37% were Hispanic/Latino and more than 30% were dual language learners (as cited in Espinosa, 2015, p. 40). Unfortunately, starting from the preschool stage and throughout high school, the educational achievements of DLLs tend to

1.2 – Assess a child or young person’s development in following areas :- physical, communication, intellectual/ cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural and moral.

The purpose and definition of the Denver II Developmental Screening is defined as followed form the Denver II training manual: “The Principal value of the DENVER II is to provide an organized clinical impression of the child’s overall development and alert the user to potential developmental difficulties. The DENVER II should be used primarily to determine how a child compares to other children, it is not a recommended predictor of late development.” (Frankenburg et al.,1970, p. 2)

Ozonoff first states early detection assessments can lead to false positive and negative reports. In this particular discussion, false positives would occur when a child is officially diagnosed and discovers, later in the years, was incorrect. False negative assessments occur when the initial diagnosis would find nothing, yet there was indeed a developmental problem. In regard to ethical concerns, false positives and negatives can carry legal ramifications. There is no specific dilemma on a federal level but more within each state.

The NHS Breast Screening Programme gives free breast screening every three years for all women ranged to 50 and over. Because the test is a rolling one which invites women from doctors in turn, not every woman receives an invite as soon as she is 50. But she will get given her first invitation before her 53rd birthday. Once women reach the top age limit for routine invitations for breast screening, they are persuaded to make an appointment for the NHS.

The two articles acknowledge ECEs about the importance of that critical period for children to learn their first language. Also how their language skills relate to other skills that is needed for them later in life. Now knowing this information I can plan activities and understand how to help children with hearing loss later on when I’m in the work field. Sign language is also very important for children that are deaf. I would put posters that teach sign language in the class room for the children to see. As well as encourage them to communicate with others in any ways that they can. Therefore, these two articles show educators the information that is very useful, so they are relevant to

Even though there is a great deal of research on the long term benefits of early intervention, continued screening and research will allow to further prove research that has shown “stronger and more consistent evidence of the benefits of early identification and intervention (prior to 12 months) on the development of language and communication skills” (Calderon, 1998, p. 55). Moreover, children are found to have better language scores when they enter early intervention before twelve months. With this, the two studies further explain the importance of early intervention.

Should the language competence of children from low-SES backgrounds be considered deficient or different? Evaluate the evidence for and against each claim.

When children experience early speech difficulties they tend to be at risk later on. By being susceptible to language skills early on allows the child (ren) to be more proficiency and react in a way that contributes to them being able to express themselves in a way that causes them to use a variety of different phonemes and at the same time mix and maneuver other language and literacy skills. Numerous studies have found that there is a strong link between language problems, reading and overall academic achievement (Konza, 2006, Snow Burns and Griffin, 1998, Justice and Ezell, 2000).

In America, English exists as the standard language. For that reason, it is understood that children will learn this as their primary language. However, according to the “National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders” website, “about two to three children per 1,000 are born deaf or hard of hearing”(Quick Statistics [NIDCD Health Information]) . Moreover, an article by Karen Kalivoda points out that “depending on the age of onset and the severity of the hearing loss, an individual's spoken language development may be radically affected”. Babies learn to speak by parroting the sounds around them; however, a deaf child does not hear these noises and, therefore, the child does not “develop their language” skills

Although it could be true that language tests examine skills such as writing, speaking, listening, and reading, it is fair to debate that several tests assess contrastingly one skill more than the others. For example, the MELAB has a speaking section, but that section is an option for students, and often unrequired; thus, passing the MELAB test does not mean that one can use English properly since his or her speaking skill has not been tested. In this case, missing a speaking

Although it could be true that language tests examine skills such as writing, speaking, listening, and reading, it is also fair to debate that several tests assess contrastingly one skill more than the others. For example, the MELAB has a speaking section, but that section is an option for students, and often unrequired; thus, passing the MELAB test does not mean that one can use English properly since his or her speaking skill has not been tested. In this case, missing a speaking section