“Watch Me!” Training Increases Knowledge and Impacts Attitudes Related to Developmental Monitoring and Referral Among Childcare Providers

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of "Watch Me!" developmental monitoring training on childcare providers' knowledge and attitudes related to monitoring developmental milestones and making recommended referrals when there is a concern about a child's development. MethodsA pretest-posttest design using web-based surveys was used to assess the impact of "Watch Me!" training on knowledge and attitudes related to conducting five key components of developmental monitoring (tracking development, recognizing delays, talking to parents about development, talking to parents about concerns, and making referrals). Variables included belief that developmental monitoring is important and is part of childcare provider role;

A Case for Early Language and Behavior Screening: Implications for Policy and Child Development

“…These programs offer a promising approach for screening children with potential delays in language or social-emotional development, but less than 5% of all eligible children under the age of 3 who are eligible for enrollment in Early Head Start access these programs, and only half of all children eligible for Head Start (ages 3–4) are enrolled (Barnett & Friedman-Krauss, 2016; National Women's Law Center, 2012; Schmit et al, 2013). This alarmingly low percentage suggests that a large portion of young children at-risk may not have their first encounter with a screening and evaluation process until they enter the school system at kindergarten, which is cause for concern (Chödrön et al, 2021a; Chödrön et al, 2021b).…”

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Correlations Between State-Level Monitoring and Screening Rates and Early Identified ASD/DD Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

“…Act Early. [LTSAE] network) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau have been actively pursuing understanding and streamlining early identification systems integration across diverse federal, state, and local partners (Abercrombie et al, 2021; Coffey et al, 2022; Chödrön et al, 2021). Although complex, this work has a focused sense of the partners engaged in early identification; there continues to be a great need for coordinated efforts to understand facilitators and barriers to early identification within and across systems.…”

Initial Evaluation Practices to Identify Young Children’s Social Emotional Difficulties

“…The need to train early childhood personnel to gather systemic information about a child’s development to make a referral for diagnostic evaluations and use of screening and other standardized instruments has been reiterated in other literature (e.g., Pizur-Barnekow et al, 2010). Emerging research shows that early childhood personnel benefit from training in developmental monitoring approaches (Chödrön et al, 2021); trainings specifically in monitoring social emotional development appear warranted.…”