Update on the EMI for Infants and Toddlers

Universal screening and progress monitoring measures are increasingly of interest to early interventionists who make decisions about the services provided to young children. A measure of infant-toddlers’ growth in early movement, the Early Movement Indicator (EMI), was reported in 2002. However, the EMI has remained an experimental measure based on a small sample and not used broadly by practitioners in real-world programs. We addressed this limitation by advancing knowledge the EMIs scalability through a website and improved psychometrics in a large sample. Results indicated that the EMI was (a) scalable evidenced by a large volume of early childhood staff users in programs in five states with 628 children and 2,258 individual EMI assessments, (b) sensitive to growth over time, (c) comprised of a complex continuum of skill development, and (d) influenced by moderators (i.e., home language, Individual Family Service Plan [IFSP] status). Implications for research and practice are discussed