Ashley Drungil and Sarah Wade

CBA Critique

The Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children (AEPS)

is a curriculum-based assessment and intervention tool used for children ages birth to six years

old. Two levels are used to assess chronological or developmental age. Level one is birth to three

years old and level two is three to six years old (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017b).

The AEPS Identifies children that are at risk for delays and can assess the progress of children

with a diagnosed disability. The AEPS is used to evaluate a child's current skill level, monitor the

progress of the child, identify a need, and determine eligibility. AEPS assess six domains; fine

motor, gross motor, cognitive, adaptive, social-communication, and social. AEPS is administered

by professionals, but the family is a primary source of information. Results of the AEPS can be

used in accordance with the development of individual family service plans (IFSP) and

individual educational plans (IEP) (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017b).
The AEPS is a four-step process; assessment, goal development, intervention, and

evaluation. Assessment is the observation and assessing the child's skill and abilities with their

family in their natural environment and routines. The second step is goal development. This step

uses the information collected during the assessment to set goals to help the child gain new

skills. The third step is intervention, this step is to help individualize the strategies with an

activity-based intervention. The fourth and final step is evaluation. This step is used to

periodically re-administer the test to monitor progress (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc.,

2017b).

Element: Rating: Reasoning:

Alignments with Satisfactory
federal/state/ag (2)
ency standards
and/or outcomes
Aligns with Division for Early Childhood (DEC)
Recommended Practices, The Recommended Practice
Assessment of the National Association for the Educat
of Young Children (NAEYC), and the National Associatio
of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of
Education (NAECS/SDE). Aligns with Ohios Early Learn
Standards.
(Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017b).
However, information on the alignment process/produ
was only found for state early learning standards. Whe
we looked at the DEC Recommended Practices for
Assessment ourselves, we were able to relate each
recommended practice to at least one element of the
AEPS (Division for Early Childhood, 2014).

Collaboration Excellent (3) Administered by a professional, however, the family is

primary source of information and viewed as part of th
team. The AEPS encourages a transdisciplinary approa
to completion of the assessment and report because o
the many different areas that the assessment covers.

Comprehensive Excellent (3) The AEPS covers the major developmental areas of fin
coverage motor, gross motor, social-communication, social,
cognitive, and adaptive.
The content areas of early math and reading are
combined with the Early Concepts strand, for examp
within the cognitive area of the assessment in the birt
three years in the Child Observation Data Recording F

Equitable design Excellent (3) The assessment can be used with children who are
typically developing, those who are at-risk, and those
developmental delays (Grisham-Brown & Pretti-
Frontczak, 2011, p. 154). Children can use alternate fo
of behavior to show mastery of the functional skill bei
assessed, although adaptations are allowed.
Family Excellent (3) The AEPS is jargon-free with procedures and practices
Involvement that respect cultural values. The AEPS includes a Fami
Report that family members are able to fill out in orde
contribute to the completion of the assessment. The
Family Report is a specific support used to improve
communication and partnerships with families and he
inform interventions. The AEPS website states that W
AEPS, families are welcomed and valued team membe
 (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017b).

Multi-factors Excellent (3) The AEPS report forms include four different columns f
dates, meaning that the information is to be collected
across time points. Data are collected using authenti
assessment methods (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Inc., 2017b). In other words, assessments are complet
in familiar settings (in the home or classroom) with
familiar people. Information can also be collected thro
multiple methods such as observations and parent
reports.

Professional Excellent (3) The AEPS publishers website includes a list of

development customizable seminar topics that are available for
organizations to pick from. This also includes specific
information about the seminars that are available suc
prices.
(Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017a).
A FAQ tab is also included on the AEPS website for
additional support.
Reliability Excellent (3) AEPS Test scores that show change over time provide
accurate measure of actual changes in a childs
performance, making AEPS a very reliable tool (Paul H
Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017b). The AEPS was als
designed to ensure that multiple assessors agree on t
scoring and interpretations of assessment items. A
complete list of studies on the reliability, validity, and
sensitivity of the AEPS is provided on the AEPS websit
a reference.

Sensitivity Excellent (3) This comprehensive assessment contains multiple item

or strands, within each area. The strands then include
goals and objectives to guide instruction that are scor
using a key that ranges from two (highest level of
functioning) to zero (lowest functional level) with an
intermediate one in between. This quantitative metho
measure how consistently the child meets the criterio
combined with qualitative methods such as a notes ke
describe how the information was attained or if assista
 was provided, for example. There is also a section at t
end of each developmental area for the examiner to
provide any other additional notes as they see fit.

Technology Excellent (3) The AEPS has a secure web-based interactive compan
called the AEPSi, which after assessment data is collec
the AEPSi scores, tracks, aggregates, archives, and
reports childrens progress over time. AEPSi helps you
easily generate OSEP reports, eligibility determination
reports, a child journal, IFSP/IEP targets, assessment
activities, and more (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., I
2017b). The AEPS website also contains the static
technology-based support of FAQs.

Usefulness for Satisfactory The AEPS criteria offer a guideline to the administrato
intervention (2) AEPS items target functional skills with each strand
including goals underneath it, with objectives to reach
goal included as well. These can be used to guide
intervention strategies and progress monitor in the ch
natural environment. Results of the AEPS can also be
formed into functional and measurable IFSP/IEP goals.
However, the AEPS can be difficult to use for intervent
strategies for infants due to the lower quantity of item
addressing the abilities of infants.
Validity Excellent (3) Child scores on the AEPS are similar to child scores on
other assessment instruments. For example, if a child
were to score low on the AEPS, they would also score
on another commonly used assessment measuring sim
areas (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc., 2017b). Th
AEPS has been validated as an alternative to norm-
referenced, standardized tests to determine eligibility
well.
A complete list of studies on the reliability, validity, an
sensitivity of the AEPS is provided on the AEPS websit
a reference. Different studies on these topics related t
the AEPS have been ongoing since 1984.

(Chart adapted from Grisham-Brown & Pretti-Frontczak, 2011)

 In conclusion, the overall advantages of the AEPS is that it promotes family involvement

and gives the family and the administrator a more detailed view of the child's strengths and

needs. The AEPS test scores show a change over time, so it is able to accurately measure

children's progress with a diagnosed disability as well as identify children at risk for a delay. The

overall disadvantages of the AEPS is the length of the Curriculum-Based Assessment and that the

paperwork can be overwhelming to parents. Due to the detailed set of questions the assessment

can also be very time consuming for children and their families (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.,

Inc., 2017b). However, due to the reliability of scoring and the usefulness of intervention

strategies, we would recommend this tool based on the critique and report that we provided.

References
Division for Early Childhood. (2014). DEC recommended practices in early intervention/early

childhood special education 2014. Retrieved from

http://www.decsped.org/recommendedpractices
Grisham-Brown, J. L., & Pretti-Frontczak, K. (2011). Assessing young children in inclusive

settings: The blended practices approach. Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes Publishing

Company.
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. (2017a). AEPS: A linked system of assessment, evaluation,

and intervention. Retrieved from

http://www.brookespublishing.com/training/seminars/aeps-seminar/
Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. (2017b). AEPS: Assessment, evaluation, and programming

system for infants and children. Retrieved from http://aepsinteractive.com/overview/