The Utility of a Curriculum-Based Assessment Instrument in the Development of Individualized Education Plans for Infants and Young Children

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Evaluation and Programming System: Assessment Level I (EPS-I) in developing individual educational goals. The EPS-I is a curiculum-based assessment instrument intended for use with infants and young children functioning developmentally from 1 month to 3 years who are handicapped or at-risk. Long-range goals and short-term objectives developed from the EPS-I were compared with those developed from other assessment tools. A total of 850 goals and objectives written by 48 interventionists were rated and compared on qualities of educational relevance: functionality, generality, ease of integration within an instructional context, measurability, and relationship between long-range goal and short-term objective. In addition, the effects of formal training and no training on interventionists' use of the EPS-I were compared.