Line Dybdal

Sound assessment tools are needed to evaluate effects of mathematics interventions that familiarize children with early mathematics concepts before they enter the formal school system. We developed a short version of an existing early mathematics tool based on analyses of data collected in a nationally representative Danish sample. Research findings: The Danish adaptation and development process of the Tools for Early Assessment in Math (TEAM) for children aged 3−6 years was carried out in four steps: (a) choosing and translating relevant items, (b) conducting a pilot study, (c) testing items in a representative sample of Danish children aged 3−6 years (n = 5,621), and (d) analyses based on Rasch models. The process resulted in a final 19-item version—the DK-TEAM (final)—that has no differential item functioning relative to age and gender and is sensitive to the full range of abilities. The great majority of the children viewed the test as enjoyable. Practice or Policy: The DK-TEAM (final) appears to be broadly applicable for young Danish children, though the modest reliability at 3 years (which may be remediable by adding easy items) should be kept in mind.

In both basic research and applied domains, the prevailing paradigm for assessing social development has shifted from deficit-oriented measures to strength-based assessments or a combination. However, it is not yet clear the extent to which strength-based assessment reflects one end of a single dimension of children’s socio-emotional skills, or a distinctly different dimension from a problem-focused examination. This validation study compares the Social Emotional Assessment Measure (SEAM) with two well-known psychopathological questionnaires (the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form; C-TRF and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ-T. We explore the relations between and the variation of the three questionnaires’ scores based on a low-risk sample of 2−5-year-old Danish children (n = 291). The SEAM Empathy Index is directly and positively related to the SDQ-T Prosocial subscale, while the SEAM Self-regulation & Cooperation Index is directly and negatively related to the SDQ-T Conduct problems subscale and the C-TRF Aggressive behaviour and Attention problems subscales. The variation in the SEAM indexes at the floor of the problem-based scales appears to reflect that strength-based assessments measure a distinct aspect of behaviour that is not identical to absence of problem-based behaviour. Thus, positive and negative aspects of socio-emotional skills are not entirely on the same dimension, and strength-based assessment improves the range of information. Abbreviations: Child Behavior Checklist: CBCL; Social Emotional Assessment Measure: SEAM; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: SDQ