Developing a General Outcome Measure of Growth in the Cognitive Abilities of Children 1 to 4 Years Old: The Early Problem-Solving Indicator.

Abstract. Proficiency in problem solving is an important outcome in early childhood necessary for cognitive and emotional development. The development of an individual growth and development indicator of problem solving for children 1 to 4 years of age is described. Based on the general outcome measurement approach (Deno, 1997), the measure is intended for use by early childhood educators and interventionists in the education and identification of children having difficulty acquiring problem-solving skills and for monitoring children's progress during the course of interventions and early childhood. Results from a sample of 30 children demonstrated the superiority of an indicator comprised of Functions + Solutions toy play behaviors from among indicators based on four potential key skills and two composites. The Functions + Solutions indicator was superior in sensitivity to growth over time, psychometric properties, and practicality for use by early interventionists. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. ********** Some of the most critical skills for school success are the ability to engage and persist in challenging tasks and to reason and solve problems (Zelazo, Carter, & Reznick, 1997). Attaining these cognitive abilities affects children's success throughout schooling and later life, in academics, creative arts, as well as interpersonal relationships (Gibbs & Teti, 1990). Children who can approach problems, attend to the critical aspects of the situation, try out potential solutions, and persist until the problem is solved are learning how to learn. Although these skills develop throughout childhood, they emerge in the earliest years of life. Being able to track whether or not individual children are making progress learning problem-solving skills is essential to knowing that they are on a developmental trajectory toward school readiness (Bauer, Schwade, Wewerka, & Delaney, 1999; Zelazo et al., 1997). Success at problem solving requires the integration of a number of fundamental cognitive skills: various components of attention (engagement, persistence, and resistance to distraction), various forms of memory, and the ability to use these skills to direct motor action (Colombo & Cheatham, in press). Reduced to its barest essentials, the problem-solving construct involves visual exploration, object manipulation, and memory (Bauer et al., 1999; Colombo, 2004; Ruff, Parrinello, & Weiss-berg, 1990). Key skills in young children that reflect these constructs include: (a) looking (visual exploration), (b) using an object in ways that produce effects that reflect the object's function (object manipulation), and (c) solving a problem through persistence and sustained attention (memory; Colombo, 2002; Hupp & Abbeduto, 1991; Jennings, Yarrow, & Martin, 1984; Willatts, 1999). Cognitive functioning measured at preschool and prior to kindergarten has been reported to predict elementary school success as well as high school completion (Brooks-Gunn, Guo, & Furstenberg, 1993; Stevenson & Newman, 1986). Considerable variation exists in children's problem-solving abilities. Although some of these differences may be related to personality or inherited characteristics, most children's skills in this area are changeable and grow as a result of early experience. For some young children, this area of development may be severely limited and heavily dependent on early identification of delay and the receipt of effective early intervention (Colombo, 2004; Lyon, 1996; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). The significance of cognitive abilities in general, and problem-solving skills in particular, also is underscored by their inclusion in many of the desired outcomes embraced by national organizations concerned with the early education and welfare of young children. For example, the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework identifies "approaches to learning" as a critical area for school readiness and lists problem solving as an important element within this domain (Head Start, 2004). …