Metro United Way Introduces Tools for Educational Assessment

Education is key to improving our community, an essential building block that leads to a better life for all. On June 12th, Metro United Way introduced an exciting new tool: Ages and Stages Questionnaires are user-friendly school-readiness screening tools for parents of children ages birth through 5.

Ages and Stages Questionnaires

Every concerned parent wants to know whether or not his or her child is developing at a rate that will let them enter kindergarten prepared to learn. Metro United Way is offering a screening tool that will help parents and caregivers discover what facets of their child's development might benefit from additional attention.

The Ages and Stages Questionnaire gives parents the opportunity to check on their child's developmental growth between the ages of 4 months and 5 years. You can sign up to receive an Ages and Stages Questionnaire online, or call Metro United Way 2-1-1 to request the age-appropriate tool be sent to you, then complete the survey on your own.

This simple tool will help parents and caregivers discover how they can be even more effective in preparing their young children for school. If the screening tool suggests serious developmental lags then information on where a parent can turn for further assessment and assistance will be provided.

The Ages and Stages Questionnaire is part of an overall Help Me Grow system being studied by Metro United Way. Louisville was recently selected as one of only five sites across the nation to receive technical assistance from the Connecticut Children's Medical Center's Help Me Grow National Replication Team to review the system that has had great success in Connecticut. Their program concentrates on identifying children who have developmental delays and getting them early assistance. With funding from The Commonwealth Fund, Dr. Dworkin and his team will be working with a group of interested child development professionals to consider what is applicable to Greater Louisville.

Later, by aggregating Ages and Stages Questionnaire results, Metro United Way will be able to report on the state of readiness of our school children for the first time.