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Recorded music plays here

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Hi, this is Larry Edelman with the Desired Results access Project and welcome to the first in our series of modules designed to help you learn how to use the DRDP access. If you'd like a short tutorial on how to operate this module, click on the "Controlling the Module" tab on the top right hand side of the screen for a quick review. When you're ready to move on, click on the play arrow below.

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Let's review what you'll learn in this module. First, you'll understand how the DRDP access is organized. Then you'll learn the three steps for completing it, and along the way there will be a few brief self-assessment exercises to help you remember some key points.

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This module is designed with the expectation that you'll be following along in the DRDP access Manual, either printed out or on your computer's monitor. So before you get started, if you don't have a copy of the Manual handy click the Resources tab on the top bar to download a copy, and keep it nearby. You can also download the manual and many other useful materials on our web site.

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Let's begin by reviewing how the DRDP access is organized. And by the way, the term "DRDP access" can be a mouthful, so at times I may simply refer to it as the "access." First, a bit of background. The acronym "DRDP" refers to Desired Results Developmental Profile. The DRDP family of instruments is used to document the progress made by children who receive services funded by the California Department of Education. All of the DRDP instruments are based on observations of children's skills within their typical routines and activities. CDE's Child Development Division uses three versions of the DRDP (2010), one for infants and toddlers, another for preschool, and a third for school-age children. The Special Education Division uses the DRDP access for preschoolers who have Individualized Education Programs.

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The access is designed to include all preschool–age children who have IEPs. It was developed by combining earlier versions of the infant/toddler and preschool DRDP instruments and so it covers a birth-to-five range of development. The access is also designed to be used with a set of adaptations to ensure that it measures children's abilities rather than disabilities.

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I mentioned that a set of adaptations ensures that the DRDP access measures children's abilities rather than disabilities. The set of seven adaptations listed here are described in detail in another of our online modules.

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Open up the access and take a look at the table of contents. The first six pages include instructions for how to use the instrument. After these pages, there is a copy of the Information Page and the Rating Record, which we'll review later. You'll see that the rest of the Manual contains the 48 Measures. Look closely at the table of contents to see how the Measures are presented. As you see, the left hand column lists the four Desired Results. Each of the Desired Results includes one or more Indicators. And each of the Indicators includes a subset of the 48 Measures.

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In the table of contents the four Desired Results and the ten Indicators are spread across two pages, so here they are on one page so you can see this organization at one glance.

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Now let's take a detailed look at the Measures. Here's what you do: open your Manual to Measure 18 and then click on the tab titled "The Measures" on the top right of the screen. On the screen that appears take a few minutes to click on each element of the Measure to learn about it as you follow along in your Manual. And remember: this tab appears on every screen of the module, so you can refer back to it whenever you like.

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How to Use this Tutorial

Click on each of the markers for descriptions of how information is organized on each of the Measures. As an example, we'll look at Measure 18.

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Desired Result

The DRDP access is based on four Desired Results for children, each defining a single overall outcome. Measure 18 is within "Children are personally and socially competent."

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Indicator

The Indicator is the developmental construct that is being measured. The Indicator for Measure 18 is "Children show growing abilities in communication and language."

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Measure

Each Measure covers one aspect or area of development. Measure 18 is "Expresses Self through Language."

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Definition

The Definition gives us more information about the area of development described in the Measure. Measure 18's Definition is "Child uses language to communicate with increasingly complex words and sentences."

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Level

When we rate the Measures, what we are doing is assessing the child's highest Level of mastery. Each Level has a Descriptor, some Examples, and a corresponding number – be sure to read about them here. And remember that the numbers have no special significance – they are provided only to make data entry easier.

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Not Yet

Not Yet appears on `only seven of the DRDP access Measures, where you'll find it below the Descriptors.

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Emerging

Be sure to read the notes on this page about using Emerging. Documenting emerging behaviors can be useful when talking with parents about their child's progress.

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Unable to Rate

Unable to Rate should rarely be used. If you're unable to rate a Measure because you don't have enough information, arrange to make additional observations or have conversations with family members or other caregivers.

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You've just reviewed how the DRDP access is organized. This brief self-assessment will help you remember some of the key points...just click the "Next" button to get started.

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Now that we've reviewed the organization of the access, let's focus on how to complete it. This involves three steps. The first step is to gather the documentation that will inform your ratings. The second step is to rate the Measures. The third step is to finalize the assessment. On the next slide we'll begin reviewing the first step, collecting documentation.

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Two primary sources of information are used to support your decisions in rating the Measures. Let's first focus on naturalistic observation.

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Observations can't do us much good unless we can remember them. Fortunately, there are several ways to capture them. For instance, we can write a brief note, collect a sample of children's work, take a picture, or video record our observations.  However we choose to record them, our observations should have the features described on the next slide.

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To inform our ratings on the access, we should observe children in five ways. You need to click on and review all five tabs before moving on.

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Let's talk a little more about keeping our observation notes descriptive. In order to keep our ratings of the access objective, we should describe what we actually see and hear rather than what we infer or guess about what we observe. The exercise on the next slide will help illustrate the difference between description and interpretation.

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These three statements were made in reference to the photo on this page. Two of the statements are descriptive and one is more interpretive. Click on the statement that you feel is interpretive, rather than descriptive.

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You chose the top statement as the interpretive one. We don't agree…we consider this to be a pretty descriptive statement. We think that the interpretive statement is the one in the middle: we don't know that she is mad, we are only inferring or guessing that she is. She might be deep in thought or play-acting that she is angry.

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You chose the middle statement as the interpretive one. We agree. We don't know that she is mad, we are only inferring or guessing that she is. She might be deep in thought or play-acting that she is angry. The top and bottom statements are pretty descriptive.

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You chose the bottom statement as the interpretive one. We don't agree…we consider this to be a pretty descriptive statement. We think that the interpretive statement is the one in the middle: we don't know that she is mad, we are only inferring or guessing that she is. She might be deep in thought or play-acting that she is angry.

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The take home message is to record your observations descriptively. Later, once you review your descriptive observations you might identify some questions about what you saw or heard that you'd like to confirm.

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Before we move on to the next source of documentation, take a moment to read through these do's and don'ts to keep in mind when observing children. You can download a copy of all the do's and don'ts reviewed in this module in the Resources tab at the top of the screen.

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In addition to making your own observations, it is important to seek input from other people who know the child well. Their observations and perspectives help us develop a more accurate picture of the child so we can more confidently rate the Measures.

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Take a moment to read through these do's and don'ts when having conversations. And remember: you can download a copy of all the do's and don'ts reviewed in this module in the Resources tab at the top of the screen.

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You've just completed the section of the module about collecting documentation. This next brief self-assessment will help you remember some of the key points...click the "Next" button to get started.

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Now that we've reviewed the kinds of documentation that you should collect to inform your ratings, let's focus on Step 2. Rating the Measures involves two processes: determining the highest level of mastery, and then indicating if the child is emerging to the next level.

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In order to determine the highest level of mastery, it's important to keep in mind three criteria. The letters C, D, and E might help you remember them. You can consider behaviors mastered if, one, the child demonstrates them consistently over time, two, the child demonstrates them in different settings, and three, they are demonstrated easily and confidently.

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Keeping the three criteria for mastery in mind, determining the child's highest level of mastery on a Measure should be a straightforward process. As you'll recall, the Descriptors describe the behaviors that would be observed if the child were at that level of mastery. The Examples provides a few illustrations of each Descriptor. As you review the Descriptors and the Examples, you carefully consider your documentation. As you reflect on your own observations and the notes from your conversations with others, you choose the Descriptor that best depicts the child's highest level of mastery.

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Occasionally, mastery might not seem perfectly clear. For example, you might observe a child's skills to be across two or more levels, or a child might demonstrate inconsistent behavior during an observation period. In these kinds of situations, choose the level that the child demonstrates most typically and solidly.

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Marking mastery on the Rating Record is a matter of simply writing a number in a box. As you'll recall, each Level has a corresponding number, and you simply record this number. These numbers have no significance to the rating – they are provided only to make it easier for you to record the ratings. In this example, the highest level of mastery on Measure 18 was for Level 5, so the assessor simply recorded a 5 in the appropriate box of the Rating Record.

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Most of the Measures of the access describe children's development beginning at birth or in early infancy. However, the seven Measures listed on this screen begin at preschool age, and, like this example of Measure 15, they provide the rating option of "Not Yet" to indicate that the child has not yet mastered the behaviors described for the first Level. These seven Measures have a fewer number of Levels than those Measures that have a birth to kindergarten range. If you determine that the child has not yet mastered the first Level that is described, enter "0" on the Rating Record.

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Once you indicate the highest level of mastery, you then indicate if the child is emerging to the next level. Emerging indicates that a child is at a certain level of mastery and is also demonstrating behaviors described for the next level, although not yet easily or consistently across settings. Keep in mind that Emerging is an optional rating: if you feel the child is Emerging, you check the box in the column labeled EM. If you feel the child is not Emerging you simply leave this column blank. Here are some other points to keep in mind: you must record the level of mastery before indicating that the child is Emerging, and a child cannot be considered to be Emerging if the child is rated as Not Yet, Unable to Rate, or is at the highest level of mastery for that Measure. Lastly, indicating that the child is Emerging to the next level does not affect your rating of Mastery.

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Once you determine if the child is Emerging to the next level, recording it is easy. Using the example of Measure 18, the assessor determined that the child was emerging to the next level, so after she marked the rating of 5, she simply recorded an X in the Emerging column.

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Unable to Rate should rarely be used. The access is meant to be completed over time, so not having enough time is not a valid reason to indicate Unable to Rate. If you're unable to rate a Measure because you don't have enough information, you should make additional observations or have additional conversations with others. In the extremely rare instance when you must use Unable to Rate, check the box in the column labeled UR and, in the column to the right, circle either absence or other as the reason why.

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Occasionally you may find that you can't confidently rate a Measure based on the documentation that you currently have. If this happens you might find this process useful. First, based on what you currently know, narrow down the range of levels as best you can. Then identify the kinds of activities and settings in which you or others might observe the child demonstrating those kinds of skills. Conversations with others may be helpful, but everyone's time is precious so before you have them, do some planning by formulating some starter questions to ask. Arrange to make your observations and/or schedule some times to talk with others until you have the documentation that you need to rate the Measure with confidence.

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The Planning for Additional Evidence worksheet is a valuable organizational tool. As you complete the access, you can use this worksheet to note which Measures you are able to rate with the information on hand and which ones will need some additional observations or conversations. You can find the worksheet at draccess.org.

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Take a moment to review these do's and don'ts when rating the Measures. They are also in the do's and don'ts document that you can download from the Resources tab at the top of the screen.

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You've just learned how to rate the Measures. Take this last self-assessment to help you remember some of the key points that were covered...just click the "Next" button to get started.

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Once you rate the Measures, finalizing the assessment is a snap: you double-check to make sure that the information on both the Rating Record and the Information Page is complete and accurate and you submit them on time. Remember: you must complete and submit a Rating Record and Information Page for each child that you assess.

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Before we end, I want to remind you that there is a wealth of resources on our web site that will help you use the DRDP access...please visit and look around.

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Thanks for completing the module and be sure to complete the others in the series. The next module that you should complete is "Practice Rating the DRDP access," which is a brief, fun exercise that gives you an opportunity to actually rate a Measure. And, please, before you sign off, we'd appreciate it if you would click the button to complete a brief evaluation of the module. At the end of the survey, your browser will return to the home page so you can access our other modules.