Call for Manuscripts: DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 7 - Assessment
The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC) will publish its seventh monograph in the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series in 2020. The topic of this monograph is assessment practices. Assessment is the process of gathering information to make decisions. Assessment is a critical component of services for young children who are at risk for developmental delays/disabilities and their families because it is essential for identifying children with developmental challenges and informing intervention. Eleven assessment practices are included in the DEC Recommended Practices to guide practitioners in implementing the variety of purposes of assessment needed in early intervention and early childhood special education. Additional information about the practices, including a glossary of terms and examples for each practice, can be found here.
For this monograph, we are interested in manuscripts that highlight innovative, evidence- based approaches to implementing the DEC Recommended Practices focused on assessment. Those implementing the practices can be early intervention/early childhood special education personnel, family members, or other personnel who engage in assessment for the purposes of screening, determining eligibility for services, individualized planning, monitoring child progress and measuring child outcomes.
We are especially interested in manuscripts that illustrate (1) the innovative use of the DEC assessment practices by early intervention/early childhood special education professionals, families and personnel from multiple disciplines; 2) the implementation of linguistically and culturally appropriate assessment; 3) the implementation of appropriate accommodations for physical, sensory or social-emotional areas of need; 4) the use of assessment in natural environments and during daily routines and activities; 5) the use of ongoing communication between early intervention/early childhood special education professionals, families and other members of the intervention team about the child’s current functioning and progress. We are also interested in manuscripts that describe challenges and solutions to assessment issues and those that will promote discourse around effective approaches to assessment in different contexts and for different purposes.
Manuscripts should be well-grounded in research and written for practitioners. Authors can use case examples or vignettes to illustrate how the assessment practices that are the focus of the manuscript are implemented in inclusive or natural environments. One or more assessment practices should be clearly targeted and woven into the manuscript.
To ensure representation of the full range of the DEC Recommended Practices on assessment and their application in multiple contexts, final selection of manuscripts will be determined, in part, by the practice(s) addressed in each manuscript.
The manuscript submission deadline is April 15th, 2019. Recommended manuscript length is 10-15 double-spaced pages, not including references. Manuscripts should be formatted using the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (http://www.apastyle.org/manual/). Manuscripts should be submitted here.
Prior to the manuscript submission, a statement of intent is encouraged. Please use this link to complete and submit a statement of intent by February 15th, 2019.
Please contact the co-editors Mary McLean (marymclean@coe.ufl.edu), Kathy Hebbeler (Kathleen.hebbeler@sri.com), Jane Squires (jsquires@upregon.edu) or Rashida Banerjee (Rashida.banerjee@unco.edu) for additional information about the contents of the monograph and the submission process. We look forward to receiving your submission!
For any other questions, contact DEC at dec@dec-sped.org.
