ITASCA, Ill., Oct. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Riverside Insights®, a leading developer of research-based assessments that provide insights to help elevate potential, announced today the official launch of the Battelle® Developmental Inventory, 3rd Edition™ (BDI-3™) to customers in the United States and internationally, including Canada and Mexico. The enhancements to the BDI-3 include expanded digital administration and reporting tools, as well as updated standardization and norms. This makes the BDI-3 the most comprehensive early childhood assessment on the market. With this release, Riverside is also the first assessment provider to introduce an affordable subscription model that enables continued enhancements of the testing experience – from administration to reporting.
Recommended in 44 states and listed as a preferred state assessment in 16, the BDI enables early childhood development centers, schools, school psychologists, speech pathologists and private clinicians to obtain early insight into a child’s developmental progress, evaluate readiness for school, and inform eligibility for special education resources. It has consistently been the industry standard for early identification, offering the most comprehensive and up-to-date norms. The BDI-3 measures mastery of developmental milestones and behaviors from birth to age 7 years, 11 months across the five critical domains – communication, social-emotional, adaptive, motor and cognitive – and 13 subdomains. The third edition has been expanded to include the Battelle Early Academic Survey (BEAS), which measures early foundational literacy and mathematics skills for children aged 3 years, 6 months to 7 years, 11 months.
The new BDI-3 has been completely redesigned with a modern, child-friendly look and feel to provide an engaging experience for young examinees and with a mobile data solution to save significant time for examiners. The new Riverside Score™ platform offers digital access to make administering and scoring assessments faster and easier. And, via the new subscription model, Riverside is freeing organizations from large, incremental expenditures, while making annual budgeting more predictable and enabling regular access to product enhancements.
The BDI-3 incorporates technology that helps examiners better reach underserved populations. The new BDI-3 Mobile Data Solution, available on iOS, Android and Windows, works online, as well as offline, enabling examiners to collect valid and reliable data even in rural or underserved areas that lack internet connectivity. This technology, available only with the BDI-3, is critical to helping children in these areas receive the proper diagnoses and interventions so they can grow and develop alongside their peers.
“With an unprecedented number of pre-orders, the BDI-3 has generated tremendous interest across existing and new customers because it will save examiners time and increase data accuracy,” said Anand Iyer, Senior Vice President, Products at Riverside Insights. “The new subscription model will also enable more early childhood development experts to access the solution and immediately use the specific assessments they need without a new large upfront cost. This is especially important during the current uncertain economic climate caused by COVID-19.”
“I’m thrilled at the launch of the BDI-3 by Riverside Insights,” said Jean Newborg, author of the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 3rd Edition. “Each subsequent edition of the BDI has maintained its state-of-the-art status and its widely recognized tradition of technical excellence and integrity. With the BDI-3 and the new Battelle Early Academic Survey, we have responded to the evolving needs of users and incorporated current child development research, enhancements in assessment and reporting technology, and advancements in meaningful accountability methods. I am honored to have contributed to the development of this milestone instrument, from its inception at Battelle, to this latest third edition.”
About the New BDI-3
The Battelle Developmental Inventory was created as a standards-based instrument that set the bar for comprehensively assessing early child development. It continues to meet federal reporting requirements across Part C, Part B/619, and Head Start Programs. It is also used to assist in the development of individualized family service plans (IFSPs) and individualized education programs (IEPs).
The latest edition of the BDI offers:
Time Savings and Greater Accuracy – A new digital version of the BDI-3, the BDI-3 Mobile Data Solution app, is available on multiple platforms, iOS, Android and Windows, making it easier to access for customers in a wide variety of occupational settings. The app saves examiner time, automates scoring for more accurate results, and aligns with Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) reporting for easy data transfers between systems. Scoring and reporting can now be done on paper, online, or using the mobile app. The new web-based Riverside Score platform features multiple modular report options to meet specific reporting requirements for different use cases. Online and mobile scoring include automatic raw score tallies, automatic calculations for basal and ceiling indicators, and more.
The Latest Standardization and Norms – This ensures users are baselining students off the most relevant comparable population and updated standards for accurate diagnoses. The BDI is also the most comprehensive solution, measuring across the critical domains of communication, social-emotional, adaptive, motor and cognitive, and it includes 13 subdomains for greater refinement. The BDI-3 also includes the all-new Battelle Early Academic Survey, with two domains specifically designed to measure foundational literacy and mathematics skills in children ages 3 years 6 months to 7 years 11 months.
Affordable Subscription Pricing – The new subscription model makes the BDI-3 more affordable. It replaces major, incremental costs with predictable annual budgeting, provides subscribers with annual product enhancements to improve the digital experience, and allows subscribers to access new assessments without additional costs.
To learn more about the BDI-3, visit www.bdi-3.com or read the blog post.
About Riverside Insights
Riverside Insights, one of the nation’s leading and most longstanding developers of research-based assessments, is led by a powerful mission: to provide insights that help elevate potential and enrich the lives of students, clinical patients, employees and organizations globally. For more information, visit www.riversideinsights.com.
Contact
Maria Bradley
Kickstart for Riverside Insights
415-509-0498
mbradley@kickstartconsulting.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2f062cb1-323d-4e05-9939-4b10b3bc787d