Utilizing parental observations and computer technology in developing a child‐screening instrument in Singapore

Abstract

It is widely known that parent–teacher partnerships are vital to children's progress in their development and learning in schools. These partnerships involve parent–teacher conferences, parents helping in the classroom, teachers making home visits and parent education seminars. However, partnerships rarely extend to having parents involved in the assessment process of their children in a significant way. In Singapore, opportunities for parents to be involved in the assessment process exist but only when invited by a professional, and this is only to a limited extent. Routinely, when professionals assess a child, parents are asked for their observations of their progress at home. However, such information gathered from parents is informal, unorganized and used on a supplementary basis. Hence, it was the purpose of this research project to develop a child‐screening instrument that utilized observations of Singaporean parents in an organized fashion by the help of computer technology. With this, it is hoped that the involvement in the assessment process will educate and empower parents to make decisions and play a more active role in the identification of their children's learning needs. This paper reports the use of parents' observations of their children across five developmental domains in the device of a computer‐based child‐screening questionnaire in Singapore. The Developmental Screening Questionnaire (DSQ) is developed as an initial screening tool to detect potentially at‐risk children within the age range of one to six years. This paper also describes the validity and utility of the instrument, making use of computer technology in the test administration process.