Aepsi Glossary
Written by Monica Belle
Updated at October 13th, 2023
This is a auto-generated Article of all your definitions within the glossary.
Glossary
This is a auto-generated Article of all your definitions within the glossary.
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Account Administrator
User role for professional responsible for managing the Enterprise or Enterprise Plus account.
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Active
Status for a child record in AEPSi. Active means the child record is accessible to Administrators and Providers and providers able to enter assessment data, edit child profile, create calendar entries and journal entries.
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Adaptive area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess eating, drinking, and other mealtime skills; toileting and bathing; dressing and undressing; and personal safety skills.
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Administrator
Most powerful user role for AEPSi. Administrators are responsible for managing the AEPSi account. Users who are Administrators can create, edit, and deactivate user records; create, archive, and delete child records; assign Providers to children and vice versa; and create reports.
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AEPS
Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS) is a criterion-referenced tool developed to be used by direct service personnel (e.g., classroom interventionists, home visitors) and specialists (e.g., communication specialists, occupational therapist, physical therapists, psychologists) to assess and evaluate the skills and abilities of infants and young children who are at risk and who have disabilities.
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AEPSi
AEPS interactive. The online management system for the AEPS tool; allows users to record, score, tack, and report on results of AEPS test.
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AEPS linked system
A systematic approach designed to connect assessment, goal/outcome development, teaching/intervention, and progress monitoring.
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Archived
Status for a child record that is no longer active. Providers do not have access to the child record to enter assessment data or edit child profile. Class and Program Reports can still be generated to a child who is archived.
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Area
A category of the AEPS-3 Test that encompasses a particular set of skills, behaviors, or information traditionally considered to be related developmental phenomena, sometimes called a domain. The AEPS-3 Test has eight developmental areas: Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Adaptive, Social-Communication, Social-Emotional, Cognitive, Literacy, and Math.
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Assessment
The process of establishing a baseline, or entry-level, measurement of the child’s skills and desired family outcomes. The goal of the assessment process is to produce information necessary for appropriate and relevant goal/outcome development.
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Assessment activities
Semi-structured activities that help teams efficiently use observation as the primary method of gathering information for completing the AEPS-3 Child Observation Data Form (CODF). The complete set of assessment activities allows teams to assess all items on the AEPS-3 Test and comprises two sets, one for home- and one for center-based programs.
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Caregiver
Adult who provides ongoing and comprehensive care for a young child. Caregivers may include parents, grandparents, siblings, other relatives, guardians, child care providers, or other similar adults.
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Child Data Access
A permission that determines if a user has access to child identifying information (child name, child DOB) or not.
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Child Licenses
The number of child records purchased for an AEPSi subscription.
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Child Observation Data Form (CODF)
An AEPS-3 uniform data collection form designed to help professional staff gather child assessment data in all eight AEPS-3 developmental areas through observation, direct testing, report, or some combination of these strategies. It is used to record both the child’s initial performance on the AEPS-3 Test and subsequent performances across test administrations (as with progress monitoring).
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Child Outcomes
As part of the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR), states are required to report on the percent of infants and toddlers with Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) or preschool-age children with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) who demonstrate improved: 1. Positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships); 2. Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early language/communication [and early literacy]); and 3. Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs. Child outcomes is SPP/APR Indicator 3 for Part C and Indicator 7 for Part B.
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Child Progress Record
An AEPS-3 form that provides a visual display of a child’s current skill mastery, intervention targets, and progress over time by AEPS-3 area, used to share information at ongoing meetings and conferences with families.
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Chronological age
The age of a child based on birth date.
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Cognitive area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess sensory exploration, imitation and memory, knowledge of concepts, reasoning and problem-solving skills, and discovery-based science.
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Concurrent Skills
Specific skills across developmental areas that can be jointly targeted and taught during play or a daily routine or other activity. For example, during meals and snack time, skills from AEPS-3 adaptive, social-communication, fine motor, and social-emotional areas can be addressed.
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COS
The Child Outcome Summary Form provides a system for an IEP team to summarize the child’s levels of functioning using information from a variety of sources.
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COS Ratings
A rating scale of 1-7 that determines child functioning.
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Criterion
The description of the expected and required response to AEPS-3 Test items for a child to receive a score of 2, indicating mastery.
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Criterion-referenced measure
A type of assessment measure that provides for each item an observable description of the expected behavior that can be objectively scored.
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Curriculum
The teaching/intervention content, procedures, and feedback that compose a particular educational approach and content.
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Curriculum-based assessment
An approach to assessment that specifically addresses skills and behaviors that compose its associated curricular content. These measures and their associated curriculum usually focus on functional skills that are important for children to learn.
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Curriculum routines and activities
Routines and activities planned and/or facilitated by teachers, interventionists, or caregivers in specific locations and with specific materials and equipment. The AEPS3 Curriculum’s routines are common sequences of behavior that occur every day in homes and early childhood centers. These six routines are usable across all skill levels, at home and in community settings: Arrival & Departure; Bath Time; Diapering, Toileting, & Handwashing; Dressing; Meals & Snacks; and Nap & Sleep. The AEPS-3 Curriculum’s activities occur in most early childhood programs and may happen in many but not all home settings, depending on the activities a family prefers. The 12 activities are Active & Outdoor Play, Art, Block Play, Circle Time, Dramatic Play, Field Trips, Math, Music & Movement, Science, Sensory, Technology, and Writing.
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Cutoff scores
Empirically based benchmarks that determine whether a child’s performance on the AEPS-3 Test is developmentally on target or below developmental expectations for the child’s chronological age. Cutoff scores for the AEPS-3 Test can be used as an alternative way to substantiate eligibility or corroborate findings from other sources.
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Developmental Status
A determination of how a child is functioning. Options are typically developing, at-risk, or developmental delay.
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Direct testing method
The process of administering specific test items, generally apart from routine or play activities, in which a child is given specific, direct instructions—for example, repeatedly showing the child a set of pictures and asking the child to name them.
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Eligibility Cutoffs
Empirically based benchmarks that determine whether a child’s performance on the AEPS Test is developmentally on target or below developmental expectations for the child’s chronological age. Cutoff scores for the AEPS Test can be used as an alternative way to substantiate eligibility or corroborate findings from other sources.
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Emerging performance
Performance that corresponds with a score of 1 on the AEPS-3 Test, meaning the child meets only part of the criterion—that is, the child produces a portion of the skill or performs the skill only under certain conditions (Incomplete/I), or needs some form of assistance (Assistance/A).
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Enterprise Account
An account were one or more AEPSi accounts are linked, allowing users to access and generate reports from data across those accounts.
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Family Assessment of Child Skills (FACS)
An AEPS-3 data collection form completed by a child’s parents or other caregiver familiar with the child’s skills to provide program staff with detailed information about the child’s developmental skills as assessed by a familiar adult. The FACS is composed of assessment items that parallel the developmental content of the AEPS-3 Test goals.
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Family Report
An AEPS-3 form completed by the child’s family to share important, useful information to help program staff understand the child and their family and to design goals and outcomes that address family concerns and priorities. Section 1 of the AEPS-3 Family Report invites the family to provide information about the child and family and how the program might meet the family’s needs. Section 2 gathers information from the family about the child’s participation at home and in the community, daily routines related to eating, sleeping, dressing and toileting, bathing, traveling, playing, and communicating, as well as making changes in routines or transitions.
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Finalized
When all six areas of the AEPS assessment have been completed and the provider marks the assessment as finalized.
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Fine Motor area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess arm and hand movements, such as reaching and grasping and manipulating objects, functional manipulation skills for object play and technology, and more advanced skills associated with writing.
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Foundation Steps
An AEPS-3 term that refers to incremental, basic skills that are less difficult than AEPS-3 goals and objectives. Foundation Steps represent easier, more finely grained skills or task analyses of those skills listed as goals and objectives on the AEPS-3 Test.
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Funding Source
The federal funding for the education of children with disabilities.
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Goal
Functional, important skills that young children need to successfully and independently negotiate their daily environments, relationships, routines, and activities.
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Goal/outcome development
The process of selecting or targeting the skills and behaviors that will guide teaching/intervention activities.
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Gross Motor area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess the ability to control one’s body; establish and maintain stability in a variety of positions; coordinate movements like walking, running, and jumping; and engage in play with balls, playground equipment, and riding toys.
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Hub Account
An account for large districts and states that are able to create and manage individual programs.
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IEP
Individualized Education Program. A team-completed, federally required document for children who are eligible for special education that specifies services children are to receive.
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IFSP
Individualized Family Service Plan. A team-completed, federally required plan developed for families if a child is eligible for early intervention services.
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In Progress
Status of an assessment that has not been finalized.
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Interrater reliability (IRR)
The agreement among different people’s scoring of items for the same child on the same assessment tool at the same time. A high measure of interrater reliability indicates that test items are clearly written and interpreted in the same way by different observers.
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Lead Provider
A provider who has the additional permission of “lead provider” is able to assign Providers to the child’s team, remove Providers from the child’s team, add/edit caregiver information, as well as designate another lead provider for a child's team.
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Literacy area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess skills such as print concepts, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, recognizing own name and sight words, sounding out CVC words, vocabulary and story comprehension, and writing.
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Mastery performance
Performance that corresponds with a score of 2 on the AEPS-3 Test, meaning the child can complete the entire skill as specified in the item criterion, without assistance and consistently across settings, objects, people, and other conditions.
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Math area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess skills such as counting, quantitative relations, reading and writing numbers, and early addition and subtraction.
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Multi-tiered system of support (MTSS)
A conceptual, problem-solving framework that guides educators to provide developmental and behavioral supports matched with a wide variety of learning needs. The framework includes three tiers. Tier 1, Universal Strategies: All young children experience high-quality early childhood environments, materials, activities, routines, and interactions with adults and peers. Tier 2, Focused Strategies: Some students have more targeted outcomes and/or receive more focused teaching strategies to support learning that is progressing more slowly than expected. Tier 3, Specialized Strategies: Intensive, individualized teaching strategies for children who are not learning foundational skills and/or require teaching that addresses specific disabilities.
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Near Entry
An assessment that is designated when a child enters a program.
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Near Exit
An assessment that is designated when a child is about to exit a program.
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No performance
Nonperformance of skill that corresponds with a score of 0 on the AEPS-3 Test, meaning the child is not yet able to complete any part of the skill as specified in the item criterion or will not perform the skill.
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Norm-referenced assessment
Assessment that focuses on skills that help distinguish among different chronological age groups for comparative purposes. Results usually are not helpful in targeting or developing teaching/intervention content because items are selected to distinguish between children of different chronological ages rather than to address functional educational/developmental content.
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Objective
A component of an AEPS-3 goal that represents a simpler, more discrete associated skill that makes up the goal. In most cases, acquiring a goal’s associated objectives leads to acquiring the goal.
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Observation method
The process of gathering information while watching children interact with their environments. It is the preferred method for administering the AEPS-3 Test, as it allows the observer to view the quality of the child’s response, when and how frequently the child performs the response, and environmental factors that may influence the child’s performance.
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OSEP
Office of Special Education Programs, a federal program responsible for improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts.
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OSEP Entry
The fully completed assessment when a child enters his or her program.
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OSEP Exit
The assessment completed shortly before a child exits his or her program.
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Part B
Federal funding source for children 3-5 years of age.
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Part C
Federal funding source for children 0-3 years of age.
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Present Level of Functioning
Describes how a child is performing in terms of AEPS test.
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Program Administrator
User roles for professional who is responsible for managing the program.
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Program Entry Date
Date at which child enters program.
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Program Exit Date
Date at which child exits program.
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Progress monitoring
The process of comparing over time a child’s performance on selected goals or objectives or a family’s progress toward selected family outcomes.
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Provider
Users role for professionals who work directly with children, such as teachers and therapists. Users who are Providers have the ability to create and edit child records, enter assessment data, view reports on individual children, and create class reports.
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Ready-Set
An AEPS-3 assessment and progress monitoring tool that targets skills needed for school readiness and early school success. Ready-Set contains 40 developmentally advanced AEPS-3 goals across all eight areas of the AEPS-3 Test.
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Ready-Set Assessment Activities
Semi-structured activities that help teams efficiently use observation as the primary method of gathering information for completing Ready-Set. The complete set of assessment activities allows teams to assess all 40 items on Ready-Set.
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Ready-Set Family Assessment of Child Skills (Ready-Set FACS)
A data collection form completed by a caregiver who is familiar with the child’s skills to provide detailed information to program staff about the child’s developmental skills as assessed by a familiar adult. The AEPS-3 Ready-Set FACS is composed of assessment items that parallel the developmental content of the AEPS-3 Test goals on the Ready-Set.
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Reviewer
The Reviewer role is designed for users such as program directors and school superintendents who need to review aggregate reports on children’s progress; users who are Reviewers have the ability to generate reports but do not edit child records.
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Score of 0
Numerical score for an assessment. If an item is scored 0, that means the child does not meet criterion.
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Score of 1
Numerical score for an assessment. If an item is scored 1, that means the child inconsistently meets criterion.
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Score of 2
Numerical score for an assessment. If an item is scored 2, that means the child consistently meets criterion.
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Scoring Note C
Conduct. A scoring note on the AEPS-3 CODF used to indicate that the child’s conduct hinders or creates a barrier to the demonstration of the skill being described in the item criterion.
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Scoring Note M
Modification. A scoring note on the AEPS-3 CODF used to indicate that the item has been modified so the child can demonstrate the intent of the item in a way that differs from the stated criterion in order to accommodate a child’s disability or culture. Examples include a child with a hearing impairment who uses sign language instead of a vocal response to label objects, a child with a motor impairment who uses a wheelchair instead of legs to transverse space, or a child who uses chapati instead of a spoon to scoop food. When a scoring note of M is used, it means that a child will always need that change in order to functionally demonstrate the skill.
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Scoring Note Q
Quality of performance. A scoring note on the AEPS-3 CODF used to indicate that the child meets all (score of 2) or part (score of 1) of the criterion for the item, but the quality of the performance indicates a concern with the way in which the child is demonstrating the skill. For example, the child can self-feed but has excessive spilling and takes excessive time to complete a meal.
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Scoring Note R
Report. A scoring note on the AEPS-3 CODF used to indicate that information from a source other than the test administrators’ own observations have been used to assign a score (2, 1, or 0) to an item.
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Social-Communication area
A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess early communication interactions and understanding, verbal (or alternative mode) expression, and social usage of communication skills. Social-Emotional area: A developmental area of the AEPS-3 Test that includes goals and objectives that assess a range of emotional and social responses, including interactions with adults and peers, expression and regulation of emotional behavior, group participation, and meeting social expectations.
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Social-Communication Observation Form (SCOF)
An AEPS-3 data collection form used during child observation as a supplement to more accurately score the Social-Communication area of the AEPS-3 Test.
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Social-Communication Summary Form (SCSF)
An AEPS-3 data form used to identify a child’s communicative behavior through direct observation or by collecting language samples over several days and under different conditions in order to accurately score the Social-Communication area of the AEPS-3 Test.
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Strand
Skills and behaviors in an AEPS-3 developmental area that are related. For example, Strand B, Communicative Understanding, in the AEPS-3 Social-Communication area, contains a range of items that address skills from joint attention and pointing to understanding own name and common object labels, following directions, and responding to questions.
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Structured observation
The process of observing a child while they are engaged in designated activities designed to elicit a set of skills in one or more developmental areas.
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Targeted goals/outcomes
Developmental skills that have been designated or selected for teaching/intervention and are noted on the IFSP or IEP.
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Typically developing
Describes children who have no history or current evidence of a developmental delay or disability—that is, they are able to perform all or most age-expected behaviors.
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Universal goals/outcomes
Developmental or academic skills that are appropriate to target for all young children. For example, learning to interact with peers and counting are universal goals.
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Universal strategies
Generally accepted teaching/intervention strategies that reflect best parenting and teaching practices for all children, with attention to individual differences.
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Unstructured observation
The process of observing a child in a familiar setting (such as at home or in a child care center) as the child negotiates daily routines and engages in play without formal intervention or arrangement of the environment.
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Weeks Premature
Number of weeks a baby is born prematurely.