Ⅰ.
I
NTRODUCTI
ON
Assessmentofchildren’sdevelopmentisnecessary when taking care ofand educating children.This assessmenthelpseducatorsunderstand the developmentofchildren and thereby build appropriate methods fortaking care ofand educating children.
Itisknown thatsince Alfred Binet(1857-1911)and Theodore Simon (1872-1961)introduced their theory on intelligence and measuring methodsofintelligence in the early twentieth century,there have been many othervaluable researcheson developmentalpsychology and methodsofchecking children’s development.
Atthe end ofthe 1930sand in the early 1940s,methodsfordevelopmentalassessmentofchildren received attention from many psychologistsworldwide.Some remarkable researchesduring thistime included those by Arnold Gesell(1925 and 1938),RachelStutsman (1931 and 1948),Charlotte Bühler(1935), EdgarDoll(1935),and Raymond Cattell(1940).
A
New
Appr
oach
f
or
Assessment
of
Chi
l
d
Devel
opment
i
n
Vi
et
nam
:
Devel
opi
ng
Tool
s
as
Devel
opment
al
Checkl
i
st
f
or
Chi
l
dr
en
Nguyen
Thi
Hoa
ng
Yen
ⅰ,
Tr
a
n
Thi
Mi
nh
Tha
nh
ⅱ,
Di
nh
Nguyen
Tr
a
ng
Thu
ⅱ,
Da
o
Thi
Bi
c
h
Thuy
ⅲ,
Ar
a
ki
Hoz
umi
ⅳ,
Ta
keuc
hi
Yos
hi
a
ki
ⅴ,
Tomi
i
Na
na
mi
ⅵ,
Ma
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s
umot
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Yu
ⅵAbstract:Thisarticle discussesresultsofresearch on developing toolsasdevelopmentalchecklistfor Vietnamese children.The research used adevelopmentalchecklistdeveloped by agroup ofresearchers atRitsumeikan University in Japan and the HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation in Vietnam to assess developmentof184 children aging from 1 to 7 yearsold in Hanoiand Ho ChiMinh City (Vietnam). Resultswere analyzed in both quantitative and qualitative aspectswhile datawere processed by the SPSS 21.0 software.Resultsrevealed thatthe “Acquired”rate ofallitemschecked among children wasmore than 50%,which proved the reliability and effectivenessofthe new developmentalchecklist.
Keywords : developmentalassessment,developmentalchecklist,young childhood,Vietnam
ⅰ Professor,NationalInstitute ofEducation Management
ⅱ Lecturer,Faculty ofSpecialEducation,HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation
ⅲ Director,CenterforTraining and DevelopmentofSpecialEducation,HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation ⅳ ProfessorEmeritus,Ritsumeikan University
ⅴ Professor,Faculty ofSocialSciences,Ritsumeikan University
Thereafter,many researcheson normaland abnormaldevelopmentwere conducted,and developmental assessmentmethodswere continuously developed.In addition,many theoriesin developmentalpsychology were introduced,ofwhich the SwisspsychologistJean Piaget(1896-1980),histheory wasparticularly influential.Though lesswell-known than othertheoriesdue to language obstacles,theorieson development psychology developed by Japanese psychologists,especially Tanaka Masato (1932-2005)contributed significantly to the developmentofeducationalpsychology and specialeducation in Japan in particularand the expansion ofmankind’sknowledge in general.The theory developed by TanakaMasato hasmany points thatare similarto those ofPiaget’sand also supplementsand completestheorieson human developmental stages.In histheory,TanakaMasato identified three principlesconcerning human developmentand developmental disabilities.1 This theory serves as a fundamental theoretic foundation for building developmentalchecklists.
In Vietnam,assessmenton developmentofchildren received attention in the early 1980s.Nowadays, Vietnam hasadjusted and studied severalsimple developmentalassessmentscalesand toolssuch as:the DenverDevelopmentalScreening test(DDST)conducted by HaViand partners(1990);the testfor measuring readinessforprimary schoolof6-year-old children by Nguyen ThiHong Nga(1997);lessonsfor assessmentofkindergarten children aging between 5 and 6 yearsold by The DepartmentofKindergarten Education (1997);the testforassessing developmentofchildren atthe end ofkindergarten age range (test TBT)by TaNgocThanh (2002);the standard developmentaltoolkitfor5-year-old children by Ministry of Education and Training (2009); and ASQ screening questionnaires by Department of Kindergarten education,Ministry ofEducation and Training (2011).
Itcan be seen thatthese above-mentioned assessmentscalescannotmeetcurrentrequirementsfor developmental assessment of children. First, these scales do not reveal typical abilities in each developmentalstage.Mostofthe above toolsare notable to assessand oversee children’sdevelopment through differentdevelopmentalstagesbecause they were developed separately and independently.Some toolshave been developed in orderto evaluate education objectives,and therefore contain complicated contentand variousindexes(asin the case ofthe standard developmentaltoolkitfor5-year-old children).In the otherhand,when using the ASQ screening questionnaires,resultsare notcompletely reliable because the assessmentismade only on the basisofinterviewswith parents.Itcan be seen thatsince the above toolsare notbased on typicalfeaturesofeach developmentalstage,they mainly show whetherornot children have acquired the requirementsoftheirageswhile failing to identify children’sdevelopmental stages.Therefore,those toolsdo nothelp testersto grasp problemsin children’sdevelopmentorto provide parentsand teacherswith appropriate advice.
The developmentalchecklistdeveloped through research collaboration between Ritsumeikan University (Japan)and the HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation (Vietnam)eliminated the above shortcomings.This assessment checklist has a firm foundation within developmental psychology. Based on typical developmentalability ofeach developmentalstage,the new checklistwasdeveloped to notonly assess children’sdevelopmentin acomprehensive and scientificway butalso asan advice toolforparentsand effective individualeducationalplanning.
Ⅱ.
RESEARCH
CONTENT
1.Research objectives
2.Subjects ofthe research
The research used adevelopmentalchecklistto assess184 children from 12 monthsto 83 monthsold, studying in normalkindergarten schoolsin Ho ChiMinh City and Hanoi(generallyreferred toassample groups).
3.Assessmenttool
The assessmenttoolwasthe developmentalchecklistdeveloped by ArakiHozumiand hispartnersin 2009 and modified forthe second time in 2012 underthe collaboration between Ritsumeikan University (Japan)and the HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation (Vietnam).
Thisnew developmentalchecklistisdifferentfrom previousdevelopmentalchecklistsbecause it concentrateson stagesin which children produce new developmentalabilities.The checklistisused notto
Table 1.Contentofchecklists
ToddlerEdition 0
1.Switch in locomotion and posture 2.Standing position A
3.Handkerchieftest(baby holdsbuilding blocksin both handswhile face iscovered by handkerchief) 4.Pinching smallobjects
B
5.Building blocksand container C
6.Imitate knocking ofbuilding blocks 7.Response to “give me” 8.Jointattention D ToddlerEdition 1 1.Walking 2.Switching direction ofposture A 3.Stacking building blocks B
4.Rotating circulardiscin fitting apertures 5.Scribbling circles 6.Distributing blocksin differentplates C
7.Wordswith meaning 8.Pointing in reverse D
ToddlerEdition 2
1.Climbing stairs 2.Jumping offfrom steps A
3.V sign B
4.Truck building 5.Tracing circle 6.Comprehension ofbig and smallsize C 7.Two phrases 8.Family name and firstname D ToddlerEdition 3 1.Hopping A
2.Alternating bimanualopen-and-close motion 3.Gate building B
4.Tracing square 5.Comparing heaviness C
6.Reciting fournumbers 7.Able to countup to 10 objectsduring one-on-one correspondence 8.Word comprehension I
D Child Edition 4 1.Skipping A None B
2.Reproducing/toppling stairsthrough building blocks 3.Drawing circlesin sequentialorder 4.Rightand leftside ofselfand other 5.Tracing diamond shape”
C
6.Addition problem oflessthan five 7.Conceptofaword 8.Word comprehension II D
identify which type and levelofdisabilitiesthatchildren have orto assessalleducationalobjectivesof children butto discoverdevelopmentabilitiesin children and recommend education orientationsthat supportchildren’sdevelopmentto the fullest.
Each checklistcoversfouraspects:Posture and Locomotion,Fine Motor,Cognitive development,and Language and Socialwith eightitemsin total.Each item assesseschildren in three levels:“Un-acquired,” “Emerging,”and “Acquired,”from which we can foresee the children’sdevelopmentalstage.At“ Un-acquired”level,there isno presence ofdevelopmentalabilitiesatthe assessmentperiod;at“Emerging” level,there are signsofpresence ofdevelopmentalabilitiesatthe assessmentperiod;and at“Acquired” level,new developmentalabilitieshave been formed atthe assessmentperiod.
There are 5 toddlereditionscorresponding to 5 specificage groups: – ToddlerEdition 0.Checking ability of10-month-old children – ToddlerEdition 1.Checking ability of18-month-old children – ToddlerEdition 2.Checking ability of2-and 3-year-old children – ToddlerEdition 3.Checking ability of4-year-old children
– Child (Preschooler)Edition 4.Checking ability of5-and 6-year-old children In thisresearch,we analyzed only toddlereditions1,2,3,and 4.
Table 1 isthe contentofchecklistsfrom ToddlerEdition 0 to child (Preschooler)Edition 4 asabove. Criteriaforevaluating reliability and effectivenessofthe scale isthatthe “Acquired”rate foreach item foreach age group is50%.
4.Conducting the research
– Time ofimplementation:From Augustto September2013.
– Selecting research subjects:asthe research conditionsdid notallow studieson children ofbelow age 1,we selected children of12 to 83 monthsold studying in normalkindergarten schools.
– Making assessment:Testersused toddlereditionsto testdevelopmentalabilitiesofchildren within 40-60 minutes.Based on the children’sages,testersused toddlereditionsto check periodsbefore,during and afterchild’sdevelopmentalstages.
– Processing and analyzing data:Using SPSS 21.0 software.
5.Research Findings
5.1.Overview ofsample groups
The above figure showsthatsample groupsconsisted of29 children of1 yearold,34 children of2 yearsold,40 children of3 yearsold,33 children of4 yearsold,28 children of5 yearsold,and 20 children of6 yearsold.In termsofgender,sample groupsincluded 96 boys,accounting for52.2% oftotalnumberof children and 88 girls,accounting for47.8% oftotalchildren.Therefore,thispercentage isreasonable and similarto population structure ofVietnam.
In each age group,the percentage between boysand girlswasdifferent.In the age 1 group,the percentage ofboyswashigherthan girls(62% vs.38%);in the age 2 group,the percentage between boys and girlswas52.9% vs.47.1%.In the age 3 group,the percentage ofboyswassmallerthan thatofgirls(45% vs.55%).In the age 4 group,the numberofboysaccounted for48.5% while thatofgirlsmade up 51.5%.This percentage wasequalin the age 5 group.In the age 6 group,the percentage between boysand girlswas 60% and 40% respectively.
5.2.“Acquired” rate ofdevelopmentalchecklists
ToddlerEdition 1 – Checking abilities ofchildren of1 year6 months (from 11 months to 1 year6 months old)
ToddlerEdition 1 teststhe stage ofthe reversible “One dimensionaloperation”(ability to switch direction by understanding type ofaction “notA butB”).
ResultsofFigure 1 revealthatitem A.1 – Figure 1,the “Acquired”rate ismore than 50% while in all remaining items,the “Emerging”rate ismore than 50%.
Table 2.Correspondence ofgenderamong age groups
Total Girl Boy Age groups 29 (100%) 11 (38%) 18 (62%) 1-yearold (12〜 23 months) 34 (100%) 16 (47.1%) 18 (52.9%) 2-yearsold (24〜 35 months) 40 (100%) 22 (55%) 18 (45%) 3-yearsold (36〜 47 months) 33 (100%) 17 (51.5%) 16 (48.5%) 4-yearsold (48〜 59 months) 28 (100%) 14 (50%) 14 (50%) 5-yearsold (60〜 71 months) 20 (100%) 8 (40%) 12 (60%) 6-yearsold (72〜 83 months) 184 (100%) 88 (47.8%) 96 (52.2%) Total
The correspondence between the “Emerging”and “Acquired”rate isshown in Figure 2 below when analyzing item C4.
Figure 2 showsthatatthe age group of12-17 monthsold,the “Emerging”rate is66.67%,and the “Acquired”rate is33.33%.Atthe age group of18 monthsold and above,the “Acquired”rate ismore than 50%. The above analysisrevealsthatdevelopmentalability ofchildren isdirectly proportionalto their developmentage.
ToddlerEdition 2 – Checking abilities ofchildren of23 years old (From 1 year11 months to 2 years 6 months old).
ToddlerEdition 2 teststhe stage ofthe formative “Two dimensionaloperation”(ability to understand the early comparative concepts,forexample biggerand smaller.).
Figure 3 showsthatmostchildren oflessthan 1 year6 monthsold do notacquire developmental abilitiesin ToddlerEdition 2.(There isone child acquired item of“Two phrases,”the “Acquired”rate is 6.3%).The “Acquired”rate ofitemsofthe age group of18-23 monthsold islessthan 50% while the “Emerging”rate ismore than 50%.
In the age group of24-29 monthsold,itemsincluding Climbingstairs,Jumpingofffrom steps,V sign, Truckbuilding,Tracingcircle,the “Acquired”rate islessthan 50%;itemschecking Language and Social such asComprehension ofbigand small,Twophrases,Familynameand firstname,the “Acquired”rate is more than 50%,ofwhich the item Twophraseshasafairly high “Acquired”rate (86.7%).
The “Acquired”rate ofchildren ofover30 monthsold forallitemsismore than 50%.Among which,the “Acquired”rate is89.5% forthe item Climbingstairs,84.2% forthe item Jump offfrom steps,68.4% forthe item
V sign,89.5% forthe item Truckbuilding,52.6% forthe item Tracingcircle,89.5% forthe item Comprehension ofbigand small,94.7% forthe item Twophrases,and 73.7% forthe item Familynameand firstname. Correspondence between “Emerging”and “Acquired”rate ofitem C6 isshown in Figure 4 below: Figure 4 showsthatchildren oflessthan 1 year6 monthsold do notacquire itemsofToddlerEdition 2.In the age group of18-23 monthsold,6.67% ofthe totalnumberofchildren acquire “Emerging”and none ofthem reach “Acquired”level.In the age group of24-29 monthsold,68.4% ofchildren acquire “Emerging” and 47.4% reach “Acquired”level.
Mostchildren in the age group ofover30 monthsold acquire allitemsofToddlerEdition 2.Ofwhich, in the age group of30-35 monthsold and 36-41 monthsold the “Acquired”rate isover80%,in the age group of42-47 monthsold the “Acquired”rate isover90% and in the age group of48-53 monthsold and upwardsthe “Acquired”rate is100%.
The above analysisrevealsthatthe developmentalability ofchildren isdirectly proportionalto their developmentage.
Figure 4.“Acquired” rate and “Emerging” rate ofToddlerEdition 2:item C6 Figure 3.Passage rate ofToddlerEdition 2 (only acquired)
ToddlerEdition 3 – Checking abilities ofchildren of4 years old (From 3 years 5 months to 4 years old).
ToddlerEdition 3 teststhe stage ofthe reversible “Two dimensionaloperation”(ability to be aware in form of“while doing this,doing that”).
Figure 5 showsthatmostchildren oflessthan 3 yearsold do notacquire developmentalability in ToddlerEdition 3.The “Acquired”rate ofitemsofthe age group of42-47 monthsold lessthan 40%,without A4:Hopping,while the “Emerging”rate ismore than 60%.
Figure 6 showsthe corresponding rate between “Emerging”and “Acquired”rate ofitem D8.
Figure 6 showsthatthe “Acquired”ratesofthe age group oflessthan 48 monthsold (12-47 months
Figure 5.Passage rate ofToddlerEdition 3 (only acquired)
old)are lessthan 50%.In the age group of48-53 monthsold,the “Acquired”rate is63.1%.In the age groupsof42-47 monthsold,48-53 monthsold,54-59 monthsold,60-65 monthsold,66-71 monthsold,and 72-77 monthsold,the “Emerging”rate is64%,84.2%,88.2%,94.1%,100%,and 100% respectively while the “Acquired”rate is40%,63.1%,82.3%,94.1%,84.6%,and 100% respectively.
Child (Preschooler)Edition 4 – Checking abilities ofchildren of56 years old (from 4 years 11 months to 6 years old).
In thisChild (Preschooler)Edition 4,we testwhetherornotawarenessofthe formative “Three dimensionaloperation”basing on the formation ofdefinitionssuch as“big-medium-small”hasbeen formed in children.
Research findingsofChild (Preschooler)Edition 4 are shown in Figure 7 below.
Resultsofstatisticsrevealthatin the age group oflessthan 5 yearsold,the “Acquired”rate ofallitems islessthan 50%.
In the age group of60-66 monthsold,itemshaving “Acquired”rate ofmore than 50% include:C2: 66.7%,C.3:73.3%),D6:73.3%,D7:93.3%),D8:60%).Itemshaving “Acquired”rate oflessthan 50% include: A1:33.3%,C4:40%,C5:33.3%).
In the age group of5.5-6 yearsold (66-71 monthsold),“Acquired”rate ofallitemsismore than 50% include:A1.53.8%;C2:76.9%;C3:84.6%;C4:61.5%;C5:76.9%;D6:92.3%;D7:61.5%;D8:53.8%.
We also analyzed the correspondence between the “Emerging”rate and “Acquired”rate ofitem C2 through Figure 8.
Figure 8 showsthatthe “Emerging”and “Acquired”rate increase according to age.In the age group of lessthan 5 yearsold (lessthan 60 monthsold)these two ratesare lessthan 50%,butfrom 5 yearsold upwards,these two ratesare more than 50%.
5.3.Discussion
Conformity:When applied to Vietnamese children,developmentalchecklistsare completely suitable with psychologicaldevelopmentprocessofchildren.Implementation ofdevelopmentalchecklistsdid not face any issuesofculturalconflicts.
Reliability:Resultsofthe checklistrevealspecificdevelopmentalproblemsthatchildren have.Children who received the rating of“Un-acquired”from the developmentalchecklistoftheirage when being tested in depth by otherscalesalso obtained the same results,which provesthe reliability ofthe developmental checklists.
Utility:Assessmentfindingsproduced by checklistsserve asreliable foundation forprovision ofadvice and recommendationsforchildren,theirparents,and teachers.
Popularity:Developmentalchecklistsare user-friendly,especially forteachersand parentsin regions having culturalsimilarity.
Ⅲ.
CONCLUSI
ON
Research findingsshow thatdevelopmentalchecklistshave been designed scientifically based on TanakaMasato’stheory2on developmentalpsychology.Developmentalchecklistsproduce reliable findings and provide ascientificbasisforexplaining developmentalproblemsofchildren.Resultsofdevelopmental checklistsare reliable and have high validity.Especially,they can be used in regionshaving cultural similarity,atlow costs.
Research findingswillcreate abasisforconducting othercomparative researchesin thisfield among countrieswithin and outside ofthe region.Thisisevidence showing thatcollaboration between scientists and expertsofcountrieswithin the region willbring aboutachievementsthatcan be applied notonly in the region butin an internationalscope aswell.
This research was conducted within the frame ofthe topic “Researches on developmentalassessment program forVietnamese children” (NAFOSTED-code V12.99.2011.08
Notes
1 Tanaka’sthree principlesforhuman’sdevelopmentand developmentaldisabilities:allpeople whetherhaving disabilitiesornotexperience the same developmentalprocess;allpeople have to cope with difficultiesduring theirdevelopmentalprocess;there isno limitto the developmentofhuman beingsand personalvaluesof human individualsshould be respected.
2 TanakaMasato (1932-2005).Theoryofhierarchiesand stageson thereversibleoperationsin human development. REFERENCES
1. Tran ThiNgocTram (2004).Monitoring,assessingcomprehensivechild development:developmentalaspectsneed monitoring,assessing,and monitoringsystem.Reportatthe Workshop on monitoring assessmentofchild development,Hanoi.
2. Nguyen ThiHoang Yen and Tran ThiMinh Thanh (2007).Severaltoolsfordiagnosis,assessment,and application in specialeducation forchildren with mentalretardation.Psychology’sMagazine,pp.53-63.
3. Tran ThiMinh Thanh (2011).Research on screeningchildren with developmentalproblemsin Vietnam.Reportat the1stScienceWorkshop forYoungLecturersofUniversitiesofEducation in thecountry.
4. ArakiHozumi(2000).A littleknown theoryofdevelopmentalpsychologyin Japan:Thetheoryofhierarchesand stageon reversibleoperation in human development.Ritsumeikan StudiesofEducationalScience,No.4,pp. 61-70.
5. ArakiHozumiand partners(2012).Manualand workbookforusingDevelopmentalChecklist.Centre forTraining and DevelopmentofCenterforTraining and DevelopmentofSpecialEducation,HanoiNationalUniversity of Education.
6. Dao ThiBich Thuy and Ho ThiNet(2013).Applyingdevelopmentalcheckingchecklistin earlyintervention for children with autism.Education’sMagazine,pp.22-24.
7. HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation,the CenterforTraining and DevelopmentofSpecialEducation.
Materialsfortheworkshop on buildingtheVietnamesechild developmentchecklist(2008-2013).The Projecton supporting program for educating Vietnamese children with disabilities under collaboration between Ritsumeikan University and the HanoiNationalUniversity ofEducation.
本研究は，子どもの「発達チェックリスト」（ベトナム版）の開発と研究結果について報告するものである。 この発達チェックリストは，日本の立命館大学とベトナムのハノイ師範大学の共同研究グループによって推 進されてきた。本研究ではハノイ市とホーチミン市に居住する 〜 歳までの 名の子どもを対象に実施さ れた。その結果は，量的かつ質的に分析された。データ分析には SPSS21.0が使用された。結果の分析から， 新しい発達チェックリストの信頼性および有効性があることがしめされた。 キーワード：発達評価，発達チェックリスト，幼児期，ベトナム
