1. Standards, Assessment, and Curriculum
Thursday, July 8, 2004
8:00 am – 1:00 pm

2. Icebreaker Get into groups of three One of you represents standards
One represents assessment
The other represents curriculum
Describe the ideal relationship that should exist between the three of you

3. Standards
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Position Statement
Your school’s standards for the age group with which you work

4. My school’s standards Alignment with the NAEYC Position Statement
Problems or areas that need improvement in order to better meet the principles outlined in the NAEYC Position Statement

5. Assessment
Write down your own definition of “assessment” in relation to early childhood
Compare your definition with the NAEYC definition

6. NAEYC defines assessment as:
The ongoing process of
observing
recording
documenting
the work children do and how they do it to provide a basis for a variety of educational decisions that affect the child

7. Assessment is integral to curriculum and instruction
In EC programs, assessment provides a basis
for
Planning instruction and communicating with parents
Identifying children with special needs
Evaluating programs and demonstrating accountability

8. Standards and Assessment System
Using either your school’s standards or another set of standards, fill in the activity sheet
Target specific performance objectives
Determine what collection method you will use to collect the recordings

9. Curriculum Continuum…
How do you define “curriculum” in early childhood?

10. NAEYC defines curriculum as
An organized framework that delineates
The content children are to learn
The processes through which children achieve the identified curricular goals

11. NAEYC definition cont’d
What teachers do to help children achieve these goals
The context in which teaching and learning occur

12. Traditional Curriculum
“Children are consumers of curriculum.”
Deb Curtis and Marge Carter
Reflecting Children’s Lives

13. Child-Centered Curriculum
“Children are inventors and creators of curriculum.”
Deb Curtis and Marge Carter
Reflecting Children’s Lives

14. Negotiated Curriculum
“The child originates and the teacher frames.”
Forman & Fyfe (1998)
Authentic Childhood: Exploring Reggio
Emilia in the Classroom

15. Case Studies Read each case study as directed
Discuss with a partner the questions at the end
Share your discussion with the group

16. The Learning Cycle: The Quest for Knowledge
Awareness: recognition that develops from experience
Exploration: construction of meaning through sensory experiences
Inquiry: comparison of constructions within context of culture
Utilization: Understandings can be applied and used in new situations

17. Early Literacy Confusabet Alphabet Four Components of Literacy
Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing

18. Listening is a valuable academic and social skill Listening can
Teachers should
use songs, chants,
poems, and rhymes
to promote
phonemic awareness
Teachers must monitor
children’s receptive
language
Hearing and listening
are different!
Teachers should
use descriptive
language and
information talk
to increase
children’s
vocabulary
Listening
Adults must model
listening
Listening is a valuable
academic and
social skill
Listening can
be learned
© Linda Ruhmann, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

19. children are comfortable speaking Speech should be included in daily
Adults should create a
climate in which
children are comfortable
speaking
Speech should
be included in daily
routines
Speaking well is
a valuable
academic and
social skill
In order to learn to
speak well, children
must have many
opportunities to speak
Speaking
Using a variety
of questions
encourages speech
Sociodramatic
play encourages
speech
Adults should model
appropriate speech
© Linda Ruhmann, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

20. Reading Teachers provide Children with Children must perceive
Individualized
Information on
decoding
Children must perceive
reading as:
Functional
Purposeful
Meaningful
Teachers must help children to
become hooked on books
through book-rich environments
and motivating read-alouds
Reading
Teachers must
purposefully expand
children’s
knowledge about
print
Teachers must use
a variety of strategies
to promote
reading comprehension
© Linda Ruhmann, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

21. Requires both physical and cognitive development
Modeling
Encouragement
Support
Social and physical
environment
Composition is a
process
Materials
Time
Space
Children's stages of
writing are
similar to their
stages of drawing
Writing
Reading and writing
are inter-related
Spelling is a
developmental
process
Requires both physical and
cognitive development
© Linda Ruhmann, Child Development Department, San Antonio College

22. Number Sense
and
Counting
One-to-One
Correspondence
Logic and Classifying
Measuring
Math Concepts
and Skills
Comparing
Ordering, Seriation
and Patterning
Spatial Sense
Shape
Parts and Whole

23. Controlling Variables: Investigations
Observing
Comparing
Classifying
Hypothesizing and
Controlling Variables:
Investigations
The Basics of Science:
The Processes of Inquiry
Measuring
Predicting
Communicating
Inferring