B.I.A.P. – Belfield Infant Assessment Profile – Starter Kit (Teacher’s Handbook & Pack of 10 Pupil Profile Books)
The BIAP is a screening instrument designed to assist teachers in identifying the particular strengths and needs of children in the infants classes of primary schools in Ireland. It lays the foundation for a continuing process of structured observation, diagnostic remediation and recording of a child’s learning development as he/she progresses through primary school. It is also intended as a first stage in the continuing dialogue between teachers and parents on the education of the child. The BIAP is suitable for administration to pupils from ages 4 to 7 and norms are available at six-monthly intervals between the ages of 4 to 6 against which a pupil’s performance may be compared. Norms are also included for pupils within the age range 6 to 7 years to assist in the diagnosis of suspected learning difficulties for this cohort. However, the target group for whole class screening for which the BIAP is intended is the junior infant class or pupils within the approximate age range 4.00 to 6.00 years. Where necessary, selective assessment of groups or individuals outside this age range may be conducted. However their performance should always be evaluated with reference to the appropriate age norms and Diagnostic Profile Charts contained in the Pupil Profile Book.
The BIAP comes in two parts:
- Teacher Handbook & Resource Manual – detailing the development and validation of the BIAP and containing directions for its administration, recording and profiling and the remediation of the learning difficulties which it defines
- Pupil Profile Book X 10 copies – providing for the inclusion of background information and developmental details on each pupil and containing the BIAP Pupil Worksheets and Teacher Rating Schedules from which the Diagnostic Pupil Profiles, specific remedial programmes and reporting procedures are derived.
The BIAP should be administered to all junior infant pupils in the second half of their first year in primary school when the class teacher is familiar with their pupils and their circumstances and has had an opportunity, in consultation with parents, to complete the Biographical and Developmental sections of the Pupil Profile Book. The BIAP may also be administered to senior infant classes, or more selectively to older pupils, depending on the profile requirements of the school or the incidence of pupils with undiagnosed learning difficulties in more senior classes.
The BIPA may additionally be employed in assessing the longer term effectiveness of a particular form of remedial intervention with a child simply by re-administering the same BIAP screening procedures after remediation, this time interpreting the scores with reference to the more advanced age norms and profiles provided in the Pupil Profile Book.
The pupil’s chronological age at the time of testing must always be determined as the age, in years and completed months, which the child has reached on completing the first two sections of the BIAP (i.e. Perceptual Processes and Motor Development). The Pupil Profiles for each child must be based on this age as the validation study clearly indicated that pupils’ scores in these two developmental areas of the BIAP are the most susceptible to changes with age (McHugh, 1993).
Background to BIAP
The first formal stage in the development of appropriate screening procedures for use in Irish primary schools involved the distribution of a detailed questionnaire on screening to a sample of 60 randomly selected infant teachers in the greater Dublin area in 1992/93. These 60 teachers were required to ‘rank-order twenty seminal screening behaviours in each of five major developmental areas in terms of their significance as indicators of potential learning difficulties and their appropriateness for inclusion in an infant screening procedure”.
The key areas of infant development to be considered by teachers were determined following a review of the relevant research literature and an examination of existing screening instruments and procedures. The five major developmental areas ultimately selected were the following:
- Early Learning Styles
- Language and Communication
- Perceptual Processes
- Motor Development
- Social and Emotional Development
The behaviours which teachers ranked as being of greatest significance in the diagnosis and prediction of learning difficulties formed the basis from which the present BIAP screening instrument is derived.
The contents of the handbook are as follows:
Section 1: Early screening for learning difficulties
Section 2: Development of the B.I.A.P.
Section 3: Administration of the B.I.A.P.
Section 4: Direction for screening
Section 5: Completing the pupil and class profiles
Section 6: Remediating learning difficulties and devising an individualised education programme (I.E.P.)
Section 7: Experimental validation of the B.I.A.P.
Section 8: Resources for remedial intervention
This pupil profile booklet has four parts:
Part 1: Biographical details and developmental checklists
Part 2: Worksheets and teacher rating schedules
Part 3: Constructing the diagnostic pupil profile
Part 4: Devising an individualised education programme and reporting pupil progress. Find four words from the story
Age Range: 4- 6+
Published: 1994
Extent: Teacher’s Handbook (120 Pages) & 10 copies of Pupil Profile Booklet (70 pages)