Description: The Carolina Curriculum
for Infant and Toddlers with Special Needs (CCIT-SN) is designed
for use with infants from birth to 2 years developmental age
who have mild to severe special needs. The curriculum covers
6 developmental domains (cognition, communication, social/adaptation,
fine motor, and gross motor) that are divided into 26 teaching
areas (or sequences). CCITSN has an Assessment Log that enumerates
26 sequences and the specific skills under each sequence are
ordered sequentially in terms of the expected development
of children. The number of items a child is assessed on is
at the discretion of a professional or paraprofession-al,
who administers the CCITSN Assessment Log through an informal
observation of the parent-child interaction. This format is
preferred to a more clinical, structured approach to assessment.
Uses of Information: The CCITSN
Assessment Log is used to identify the curriculum entry point,
to inform the intervention plan, and to monitor progress in
accomplishing the skills covered by the curriculum.
Reliability: None described.
Validity: Content validity:
the selection of items for inclusion in the curriculum Assessment
Log was accomplished through a review of norm-referenced tests
of development. A multi-disciplinary panel of specialists
helped in the final selection process. The curriculum was
field tested in 22 intervention programs in North Carolina
and in 10 national sites, and the interventionists found it
to be useful both for assessing infants with disabilities
and for developing their intervention programs.
Method of Scoring: Behaviors
on the question items are scored as either typical of the
child (+), emergent (+-), or never observed (-). Once behaviors
have been scored, the Developmental Progress Charts are used
to chart assessment results and develop a profile of the child’s
skills. There is a blank box on the Developmental Progress
Chart to correspond to each item on the Assessment Log, which
is colored in completely when an item is passed. If the skill
is inconsistently performed or emerging, the space is partially
colored in.
Interpretability: Generally,
a child’s performance can be assessed based on his or
her performance of the three items after the first failure
and the three items before the first success in each sequence.
The Assessment Log then serves as a basis for intervention
using the Curriculum Sequences by selecting the first activity
the child failed or that was just emerging in each sequence.
Training Support: “Brookes
on Location” professional development seminar, Using
The Carolina Curriculum to Assess and Intervene with Young
Children with Special Needs, is available through the publisher.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for
Individuals with Disabilities: The CCITSN is designed
specifically to optimize the development of children with
mild to severe special needs. Interventions, and their associated
assessment, are tailored to the child’s impairment,
and the standard approach will be modified if a handicapping
condition makes it inappropriate. The curriculum has special
needs options and adaptations available for those with vision,
motor or hearing needs.
Report Preparation Support:
A profile of the child’s skills can be obtained by completing
the Developmental Progress Chart.
References:
Johnson-Martin, Nancy, Kenneth Jens, Susan Attermeier, and
Bonnie Hacker. 2001. The Carolina Curriculum for Infants and
Toddlers with Special Needs, Second Edition. Baltimore, MD:
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
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