Publications Review Guidelines

Dear Visitors:
Federal funding for this website ended in 2003, therefore few materials have been added since that time. Fortunately, there is continued interest in culturally and appropriate materials, curriculum, and programs. Because of this, we have allowed this site to remain as an archive. Please feel free to use this site, but recognize that it is no longer current.

The following Review Guidelines are intended to help service providers and individuals involved in personnel preparation determine the congruence between the beliefs, values, and practices of the individuals in your community and current recommended practices in early childhood/special education. The Review Guidelines will first help you consider the overall effectiveness of presentation of a material. Next, questions follow which pertain specifically to the content area of Child Find.

It is important to realize that no material is likely to match the exact needs of individuals in your community. Therefore, in many instances, you may wish to make some simple adaptations to the materials before using them.

A separate set of Review Guidelines is available to help select materials that have been translated from one language to another. In addition, other suggestions for choosing materials are available on the CLAS Web site (http://clas.illinois.edu). It is our hope that you may use these Review Guidelines to engage in meaningful dialogue with families and colleagues in your community, as you decide which materials to use in your early childhood setting.

Effectiveness of Presentation

Please respond to all that apply.

Clarity

 

1. Is the purpose of the material clear?
2. Is the presentation of the information easy to follow?
3. If there are directions on how to use the material, are they clearly stated?
4. Does the material include an effective explanation of technical terms or jargon?
5. Does the language in the material acknowledge diversity (e.g., family structures, multi-generations, disabilities, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, etc.)?
6. Is the format (e.g., print, audio, video, etc.) appropriate for the intended users of this material?
7. Are contact agencies or persons for accessing additional information or support easily identifiable?

Comprehension Level

• Easy= mainly simple sentences with minimal or no technical jargon;
• Average = a mix of simple and complex sentences with some technical jargon (e.g., USA Today);
• Difficult = mainly complex sentences with a lot of technical jargon or discipline-specific terms (e.g., College-level text or New York Times).

1. For printed materials, the reading level of the material is:
        Easy | Average | Difficult | N/A
2. For video and audio materials, the comprehension level of the material is:
        Easy | Average | Difficult | N/A

Graphics, Illustrations and Photos

Do the graphics:

 

1. Represent a non-stereotypical view of cultural (e.g., contemporary dress) and linguistic groups?
2. Represent a wide variety of groups (e.g., disabilities, gender, race, generation)?
3. Enhance the materials (e.g., photo prints and designs are appropriate and of high quality)?

Information presented in the child find materials

To what extent …

1. Does the material present the appropriate age ranges for meeting developmental milestones?
2. Is appropriate information presented on developmental delays or warning signs for delays?
3. Is information presented on the family’s legal rights?
4. Is information about Child Find practices and policies provided in the material?
5. Does the material acknowledge that differences may exist when providing services to families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds (e.g., beliefs about disability, families’ decision to access services)?

Effectiveness of child find advertisements/ announcements in reaching intended audiences

To what extent …

 

1. Are the Child Find materials for promoting public awareness made available in a variety of formats (e.g., radio or TV advertisements, audio tapes, Internet, flyers, posters, brochures)?
2. Are the materials made available in a variety of languages
3. Can the Child Find promotional materials be made easily available in various locations frequented by the intended audience (e.g., clinics, public transportation, supermarkets, churches, schools)?
4. Are the contact persons and/or agencies easily identified?
5. Are alternative ways (e.g., TTY, toll-free phones, native-language speaker, case manager, Internet, etc.) to contact persons and/or agencies available?

Process of Conducting Child Find

To what extent …

 

1. Does the material encourage the recruitment of individuals from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds?
2. Are multiple disciplines involved in the process of Child Find screenings?
3. Is information gathered from families used as part of the Child Find screening?

Process for Monitoring and Referring Children Seen Through Child Find

To what extent …

1. Are there measures in place to obtain follow-up data for children who are potentially at risk for developmental delays but not yet eligible for special education services?
2. Are there measures in place to refer children for additional evaluation who are potentially eligible for services?

Reaching Under-Served/under-Represented/ "Hard-to-Reach" Populations.

Does the Child Find material effectively address the following:

1. Free Child Find services
2. Affordability of services to which the child might be referred following Child Find
3. Availability of bilingual personnel
4. Availability of transportation to the Child Find site
5. Availability of temporary child care for siblings of a child being screened or assessed
6. Availability of incentives for participating in Child Find (e.g., small gifts
7. Availability of community liaisons who may provide additional information and advocate for services
8. Availability of service coordinators who speak the families’ primary language
9. Availability of service coordinators from diverse cultural backgrounds
10. Accessibility of Child Find materials to individuals who work with "hard-to-reach" populations (e.g., pediatricians, NICU staff, community health clinicians, migrant Head Start teachers, day-care providers, religious leaders, etc.)
11. Requirement to evaluate all children with possible disabilities, including children attending private school
12. Availability of Child Find screenings in a variety of settings or locations (e.g., schools, health clinics, Head Start, community centers, day-cares)

The following two questions are intended to deepen the analysis of the ways materials address issues of diversity. In some cases, these issues may have been addressed in the preceding questions.

Does the material acknowledge and address complex and sometimes subtle aspects of diversity as they relate to child find, such as:

 

1. Power (refers to the division of members of society into levels with unequal access to resources, knowledge, and authority)
2. Racism (refers to systems advantage based on race)
3. Prejudice (refers to an adverse judgment or opinion based on preconceived beliefs and ideas about different groups)
4. Socio-Economic Class (refers to the division of society into levels with unequal wealth and prestige)

Are there any spoken or unspoken assumptions, values, or beliefs in this material that could conflict with the delivery of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (e.g., assuming all parents view themselves as advocates or equal partners)?

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College of Education
Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative
Contact CLAS

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