Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood Feel free to chat with each other. We will start class at 9:00 PM ET! Seminar Two: Using Standardized Tests and Authentic Assessments

Unit 2 Assignments Reading: Read Chapter 2 of your eBook, Assessment in Early Childhood Education Read the web resource article on the “Why, What, and How of Early Childhood Assessment.” Complete Discussion Question (one each week) Complete Graded Review Attend Seminar 2

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. What Assessment Should Do The objective is not to eliminate established methods of assessment and replace them with new ones, but to formulate how to use each most effectively to serve the needs of the child.

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Principles for Appropriate Assessment Assessment should: use multiple sources of information benefit the child and improve learning involve the child and family be fair for all children

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Principles for Early Childhood Assessments Assessment: should bring about benefits for children should be tailored to a specific purpose and should be reliable, valid, and fair for that purpose policies should be designed recognizing that reliability and validity of assessments increase with children ’ s age should be age appropriate in both content and the method of data collection should be linguistically appropriate, recognizing that to some extent all assessments are measures of language parents should be a valued source of assessment information, as well as an audience for assessment results

What should be the purposes for assessing young children?

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Appropriate Uses Of Assessment In The Early Childhood Years 1.Assessments to support learning 2. Assessments for identification of special needs 3. Assessments for program evaluation and monitoring needs 4. Assessments for high-stakes accountability

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Assessment for Risk in Developmental Status In the preschool years, assessment includes evaluating and predicting the likelihood of a child developing a learning disability. The evaluation measures identify: the nature of the problem, and helps determine the most successful intervention

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Developing a Comprehensive Assessment System Standardized tests Designed to measure individual characteristics Determine development and learning Plan instruction Study differences between individuals and groups and for guidance and counseling Informal assessment strategies Determine development and learning How are informal measures different from psychological or standardized tests?

Informal Assessment Strategies Observation Teacher-Designed Measures Checklists Rating Scales Rubrics Performance and Portfolio Assessments

How do performance assessments differ from other types of informal assessment? What should performance assessments reflect?

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Informal Assessment Strategies Performance and portfolio assessments:  permit the child to demonstrate understanding of a concept or mastery of a skill.  communicate learning and development from a meaningful perspective.  report student progress related to outcome-based assessments.

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Using Assessment Results to Report Progress In a comprehensive assessment system… strategies are used to assess the child and report the child’s progress. many examples of how the child demonstrated growth and achievement are provided. Traditional reports and report cards provide a static snapshot of progress.

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Using Assessments to Plan for Instruction The teacher creates learning activities and direct instruction that reflect the curriculum goals established by the school, and also address how each child can best achieve these goals. The teacher: selects the assessment methods that are linked to learning experiences and instruction. ensures that the assessments are fair, authentic for all children, and relevant to the information needed.

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Assessment is Ongoing Preassessments are conducted at the beginning of the year to: learn about individual differences and determine each child’s current developmental level plan appropriate curriculum experiences Formative Assessment is used to monitor a child’s progress during a series of learning activities. Summative Assessment is used at the end of a cycle of instructional experiences to confirm mastery of information or skills.

Wortham. Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 5e. © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Conducting Assessments with Infants and Young Children Teachers and other professionals who administer assessments need to be sensitive to young children ’ s very short attention spans and distractibility. They should: 1.Know the procedures and materials to be used 2.Know if alternative procedures can be used for children with disabilities 3.Have all materials ready prior to the session 4.Be familiar to the child 5.Conduct the assessment in a setting familiar to the child 6.Develop rapport with the child before beginning the session 7.Be alert to signs of fatigue or behaviors that indicate the child is no longer responding 8.Use time efficiently without hurrying the child

Unit 3 Preview Reading Read Chapters 3 and 4 of your eBook, Assessment in Early Childhood Education. Read the web resource article, “Assessment for Children,” and visit one state’s website and explore “About Response to Intervention.” Complete Discussion Question (one each week) Complete Graded Review Attend Seminar

References Segal, M., Bardige, B,. Woika, M.J., Leinfelder, J., (2006). All About Child Care and Early Education: A Comprehensive Resource for Child Care Professionals. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc