User Spotlight
Meet Padma Rajan
Vice President of Programs, Research and Evaluation
Early Learning Coalition of Duval, Jacksonville, FL
How long have you used the ASQ tools?
We have used ASQ-3 (and previous editions) for 10 years. We have used ASQ:SE-2 (and previous editions) for 3 years.
How does your organization implement screening?
It is a statutory mandate in the state of Florida that all children who receive subsidized child care be screened within the first 45 days of enrollment and every year during their birthday month. The Early Learning Coalition of Duval works with child care providers to screen approximately 9,000 to 10,000 children birth to 5 each year. Children whose scores are close to the cut-off or below the cut-off with ASQ-3 are provided activities; some of the children get another assessment and we also refer them to the local Early Steps and Child Find.
What is your favorite part about ASQ?
It is knowing that this basic screen, which has been tested for reliability and validity, can help parents, pediatricians, and caregivers to know if the children in their care are progressing along key developmental milestones, and catch any delays early.
Do you use the ASQ-3 Learning Activities?
Yes, we find the Learning Activities to be extremely helpful because they are clearly delineated by the domains (Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Problem Solving, and Personal-Social). We buy the ASQ-3 Learning Activities for our child care providers, and we also give them out to the providers any time we visit to do any follow-up developmental screening on the children.
Do you have any tips for other ASQ users?
Developmental screening through ASQ Online is simple, easy, and extremely useful. All of our preschools and child care providers in Duval County, FL have transitioned to this online system seamlessly. The implementation has been extremely successful, and the process is incredibly efficient.
If your program is just starting out, engagement and education about screenings for the families and providers would be the first step. To engage parents, we send activities to the parents and explain to them about the importance of the screenings. We also explain that it is better to intervene when children are younger than after they get to elementary school.
After that, I believe the best way to roll screenings out program-wide is to use Family Access. It is user-friendly, simple, and efficient. And, activities are immediately available when the screening is completed online.
See how the Early Learning Coalition of Duval set up their ASQ Family Access:
The Early Learning Coalition of Duval directs parents to their homepage to complete an ASQ screening. The homepage has a colorful icon for “Know if my child is on track.” On the next page, a friendly pop-up message invites the reader to complete an online screening. See their website in action in the video below.
