DRDP Summary of Findings Sample

The Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) is a mandated assessment tool for early education and childcare throughout the State of California. This tool helps ensure that multiple aspects of child and family well-being remain central to the success of school programs and educators. It also helps ensure that the same level of focus is given to family child care homes.

There are four versions or “views” of the DRDP suitable for children in specific age ranges. Each DRDP view assesses two overlapping areas: child development and child learning. Progress in these areas is measured against age-appropriate expectations for:

• The effectiveness of learning skills
• Social and personal competence
• Competent physical and motor abilities
• Child health and safety
• The level of family support for development and learning
• The degree to which each family meets its child-related goals

Teachers create a separate profile for each child. In doing so, they generate a tremendous amount of information. That information is of critical importance. Without it, teachers cannot include the level of detail needed for an accurate assessment. The DRPD also plays a crucial role in effective planning for each child’s further development.

However, the sheer volume of DRDP data creates a dilemma. To avoid getting lost in the details, teachers must have an effective way of connecting that data to meaningful ways of fostering improvement. The California Department of Education has created Form EESD 3900, the Desired Results Developmental Profile Summary of Findings, for this specific purpose.

This summary links the most important findings in child development profiles to specific goals for future action. It also establishes a timeline for meeting those goals and schedules a follow-up assessment of the end result. A DRDP Summary of Findings sample will help clarify how these benefits are achieved.   

Data Needed for the Summary of Findings: DRDP Domains

The information used to generate the DRDP Summary of Findings comes from each child’s DRDP assessment results. The DRDP online breaks those results down into two main levels of organization: domains and measures. The Summary relies on information from both of these levels.

The DRDP contains eight separate domains. Each domain represents a key aspect of child development:

1) Approaches to Learning – Self Regulation (ATL-REG)

This domain evaluates two interconnected abilities. The first, known as approaches to learning, includes key skills such as:

• Initiative
• Persistence
• Engagement
• Curiosity

The second ability, self-regulation, includes each child’s capacity to:

• Control their behaviors and emotions
• Share interpersonal space with others
• Share materials in a cooperative manner

2) Social and Emotional Development (SED)

This domain evaluates a child’s ability to interact with other people. It covers the following five areas:

• How the self is identified relative to others
• The ability to understand the emotions and behaviors of others
• The method of relating to familiar adults
• Interactions and relationships with other children their age
• The social uses of play

3) Language and Literacy Development (LLD)

The LLD domain evaluates two things. First is a child’s ability to use their first or main language. This includes both speaking and understanding things said by others. The domain also measures each child’s ability to read and write.

4) English-Language Development (ELD)

The DRDP evaluates this domain in children who speak more than one language. It specifically addresses the ability to use English. The same topics covered in language and literacy development are covered here.

5) Cognition Including Math and Science (COG)

The main focus of this domain is the ability to observe, explore and investigate. In addition to other people, concepts and objects that fall within the scope of this ability include:

• Cause and effect
• Shapes
• Spatial relationships
• Numbers as a quantity
• Measurement
• Classification
• The capacity to form and pose questions

6) Physical Development–Health (PD-HLTH)

 This domain evaluates two things: the development of motor skills and the ability to create self-care, nutrition and safety routines. Areas covered include:

• Gross motor skills
• The gross and fine ability to manipulate objects
• Level of involvement in physical play
• Dressing, feeding and hygiene routines

7) Social Science (HSS)

This domain evaluates a number of different skills or abilities, including:

• Learning what is expected in different social situations
• Understanding how people relate to their environment
• Knowing how to participate together in a group setting
• Development of a sense of place and time
• Conflict resolution
• Behaving in a responsible manner

8) Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)

The VPA domain evaluates artistic expression and knowledge of artistic expression. Specific arts addressed in the assessment include:

• Dance
• Music
• Drama
• Visual arts

Data Needed for the Summary of Findings: DRDP Measures

Each DRDP domain comprises a group of evaluation yardsticks called measures. In turn, each measure is a developmental continuum. It assesses the current state of a child’s development for a specific aspect of a domain.

The DRDP assigns multiple measures to each of the eight domains. Each measure is identified by its own name and number. For example, the DRDP refers to the fifth measure of the Language and Literacy Development domain as LLD 5: Interest in Literacy.

Measures are crucial because they indicate a child’s developmental level within a given area. The DRDP groups all developmental levels into four categories:

1. Responding
2. Exploring
3. Building
4. Integrating

Responding

Developmental levels in this category typically apply to children who only use nonverbal cues to communicate. Basic behaviors, cognitive skills and interactive abilities are present. The Responding category also contains two sub-levels: early responding and later responding. Each sub-level corresponds to a child’s stage of development within a given level.

Exploring

Levels in the Exploring category apply to children who act independently and show a sense of purpose. Use of verbal communication or an equivalent form of communication like sign language has begun. This category contains three developmental sub-levels: early, middle and later.

Building

The Building category marks a new awareness of the relationships between objects and people. Children also begin to understand how things work and their capacity for self-exploration. Language use increases, both for self-expression and social interaction. Like the exploring category, this category contains early, middle and later developmental sub-levels.

Integrating

Children in the Integrating category have developed effective ways to strategize, work in groups and problem-solve. This category only contains an early developmental sub-level.

The DRDP designates some measures as full-continuum. This means that they apply to every phase of a child’s life from infancy to kindergarten. Other measures only apply to the earlier phases of development, from infancy to the early stages of preschool. In addition, some measures only cover the period from the beginning of preschool up until kindergarten.

There is also a fourth, conditional category of DRDP measures. Conditional measures apply in some situations, but not in others. For example, children who only speak English do not have measures for the English-Language Development domain.

Terms Used to Describe DRDP Outcomes

Teachers use several different terms to describe the outcomes of each child’s DRDP assessment. The perspectives gained with the help of these terms allows teachers to focus on key information for the Summary of Findings.

Descriptors

Descriptors are the most elemental DRDP terms. Teachers use them to identify the behaviors they see in each child. In turn, these behaviors point to a specific developmental level for that child. For this reason, descriptors form the backbone for the assessment of each DRDP measure.

Examples

Teachers rely on examples to illustrate how or why a child’s behaviors fall within a developmental level. When doing so, they focus on mastery of a behavior, not just tentative or occasional use. Teachers have considerable leeway in choosing their examples. They don’t make selections from a pre-approved list. Instead, they use their training and experience to make observations in the moment.

Emerging

Teachers use this term to describe any child behavior when two conditions apply. First, a child must regularly demonstrate that behavior at a given developmental level. In addition, the child must show signs of moving toward the next developmental level for the behavior. Teachers often use emerging behaviors to illustrate children’s current state of development for their parents.

Unable to Rate

Teachers only use this term on a child’s DRDP assessment in limited circumstances. Specifically, a child must be absent for a substantial amount of time in the runup to the assessment. The extent of the absence makes it impossible to determine a child’s developmental level within any particular measure. Teachers do everything they can to gather the needed information in other ways and avoid using this term.

Special Considerations for Earlier- and Later-Development Measures

For the most part, earlier- and later-development DRDP measures follow the same basic structure as full-continuum measures. However, there are some key differences that affect the DRDP Summary of Findings.

Earlier-Development Measures

Earlier-development measures only apply to two groups of children: infants/toddlers and preschoolers. This fact has an impact on which types of developmental levels teachers can expect to see. As a rule, the highest level achieved in children at these ages is Building – Earlier.

Later-Development Measures

Later-development measures only apply to preschoolers and early kindergarteners. For this reason, they do not typically include developmental levels in the Responding category. In some cases, they also exclude levels designated as Exploring – Earlier.  

There is an additional assessment option for later-development measures: “not yet.” Teachers use this option to show that a child has not reached the earliest developmental level included in a measure. Only later-development measures in the English-Language Development domain do not include a “not yet” option.

Completing a DRDP Summary of Findings Form

The Summary of Findings takes all of the information from children’s DRDP assessments and compresses it into a concise, actionable form. The California Department of Education recommends that teachers and programs use the state’s official Summary of Findings, EESD 3900. However, this recommendation is not binding. As an alternative, teachers and programs can devise their own equivalent forms. No matter which method they adopt, the same core information must be included.

Teachers bear responsibility for filling out the DRDP Summary of Findings. The official form begins with a header section that includes all essential organizational information. Teachers enter:

• The legal name of the contractor
• The type of contract under which the program or family child care home operates
• The age group (infant/toddler, preschool or school-age)
• The name and title of the lead planner(s)
• The planning date
• The date(s) for follow-up assessment
• The core of the Summary of Findings is a table consisting of four rows and four columns.

Each column represents one of the following sections of the summary: 

• Key Findings From the Developmental Profile
• Action Steps
• Expected Completion Date and Persons Responsible
• Follow-Up

The cell immediately below each section header contains a prompt on how to fill that section out. Teachers fill out the two remaining cells in each column according to the prompt’s instructions. If teachers need more room than these two cells provide, they can use additional copies of the form.  

Key Findings From the Developmental Profile

Teachers use the Key Findings section to summarize the most important results from the DRDP. These findings are gathered over a 60-day assessment period. Key Findings summaries do not focus on individual children. Instead, they focus on outcomes for an entire class or family child care home.

Before completing this section, teachers do three things. First, they summarize each child’s DRDP results as reported in the 60-day assessment. Next, they review these summaries. In the third step, teachers look for patterns or trends that apply to the class or care home as a whole. This information is recorded at the DRDP domain level using information from the DRDP measures.

A teacher may use a variety of strategies to record key domain-level findings. One possible method, employed in the following DRDP Summary of Findings sample, is to identify a trend or pattern in terms of a percentage.

• Develop meaningful, attainable goals
• Create specific strategies for reaching these goals
• Areas of focus for teachers’ action strategies may include:
• The learning environment and the materials used in that environment
• The types of learning opportunities provided to their class or family care home
• The ways in which families take part in the child development process

Some strategies are created by changing or modifying actions in these areas. A teacher may also develop an entirely new way of improving child outcomes. Example actions are included in the DRDP Summary of Findings sample above. The California Department of Education offers resources that help guide development of effective action steps.

Expected Completion Date and Persons Responsible

This section identifies a specific date for improving the outcome for a given domain. It also identifies specific personnel responsible for ensuring that timely progress is made toward the expected date of completion. Some action steps are ongoing, and do not have a set completion date.

Follow-Up

The first three sections of the Summary of Findings are filled out together following an assessment. However, teachers only fill out the follow-up section at a later, appropriate date.

Teachers use this section to do three things. First, they review all aspects of the actions steps, including the targeted completion dates and the actions of the responsible personnel. They also use the section to record any adjustments made to the steps and/or the completion dates.

In addition, teachers use this section to report the results of later DRDP assessments. After the first 60-day period, these assessments are completed every six months. The new assessment summaries provide a snapshot of longer-term progress within the chosen domain.

The DRDP Summary of Findings is Essential

Without the Summary of Findings, it would be much harder to convert DRDP results into effective action. The Summary allows teachers to provide concise breakdowns of the most important aspects of the DRDP assessments. It also provides the space needed to make plans, follow through on those plans and review results over time. With all of these benefits in its favor, it’s no wonder that the State of California requires teachers to fill out the Summary or an equivalent form.

Using Software to Reduce Teacher Workload

To carry out DRDP assessments and complete a DRDP Summary of Findings, teachers must complete an ongoing series of tasks, including:

• Documenting daily observations for each child
• Periodically reviewing and categorizing those observations at both the domain and measure level
• Organizing all gathered data in ways that facilitate completion of the assessment and the Summary of Findings

The level of detail and attention required to succeed can sometimes seem overwhelming. That’s especially true if you rely on non-digital methods to record and organize your work. Fortunately, effective digital solutions are within reach.

Need effective tracking and organizing software to meet your DRDP-related responsibilities? A premier source for customized solutions comes from the education software experts at Learning Genie. The company’s Educator App gives you all the tools you need to minimize your workload and maximize your results. Teachers and administrators alike can take advantage of:

• More than 100 preset options for assessment frameworks
• A customization option that lets you build your own framework
• Easy note-taking and documentation
• Convenient filtering of the level of provided detail
• Interactive management of daily reports
• An online portal for larger-scale oversight and review
• DRDP checklists

The help you receive can cut your overall DRDP-related workload by as much as 80%. It also allows you to reduce your costs and save your budget. The Educator App is used in programs and school districts throughout California.

Learning Genie also provides extensive support resources for both teachers and administrators. These resources help you do such things as:

• Start using the Educator app
• Show others how to use the app
• Keep your data fully protected at all times

What’s more, you can start using Learning Genie today for free! You can also schedule a detailed, 40-minute software demonstration.