The Denver Developmental Growth Chart, or Denver II, has been used by educational professionals for more than 20 years to assess the development of preschool-age children.
The Denver II assesses four areas of development: social (which includes smiling, laughing and cooperative or parallel play), fine motor (drawing, using the pincer grasp), gross motor (walking, running and jumping) and language development (stringing together two or more words) by comparing a child's progress against a series of norms.
The purpose of the Denver II is to identify children who may be at risk and in need of special services. It is not a diagnostic tool; it is only intended to identify whether or not the child is in the normal range of development.
Head Start and other preschools often use this assessment in their programs. The preschool teacher or other early childhood education professional administers the test through a series of observations. The administrator checks the behavior he or she sees.
The major benefit of the Denver II is that if a child is determined to be at risk, teachers and parents have ample time to intervene and get that child the support and extra help so that the child can get to where he or she needs to be developmentally.