Early Childhood Standards of Quality for ... - State of Michigan

Child Assessment and Program EvaluationChild Assessment and Program EvaluationYoung children present special challengesfor assessment. Growth and developmentis most rapid during early childhood andis often uneven and greatly influenced bychildren’s environments. Young children donot understand testing in the same way olderchildren do. Children may be harmed if thewrong instruments are used in the wrong way.Such inappropriate practices often result inthe use of faulty information to make programplacements or to alter children’s learningopportunities. Options for gathering and reporting information are numerous. It iscritical that the methods selected are sensitive to cultural, racial, class, gender,linguistic, and ability differences among children and families.Knowing how children are doing as a result of participating in a program orset of services is of critical importance to teachers, parents, program leadersand local, state and federal agencies having responsibilities for the programs.Each of these stakeholders may have different reasons for needing theinformation quality child assessment can bring, but in the end, the most importantstakeholder is the child (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2003).1. Program Standard: The program uses information gained from avariety of child assessment measures to plan learning experiences forindividual children and groups.A Quality Program:1. Uses sound developmental and learning theory to plan and conduct childassessment.2. Uses assessment tools and processes that are continuous, ongoing,cumulative, and in the language that the child understands.3. Primarily uses children’s involvement in ordinary classroom activities, notartificially contrived tests, to gauge children’s growth.4. Uses a variety of instruments and processes to document children’sgrowth, development, and learning over time (e.g., observation andanecdotal reports; teacher questions; parent, provider, and childinterviews; products and samples of children’s work; teacher-constructedor standardized checklists; children’s self-appraisals).5. Arranges assessment so that it does not bring added stress for childrenor teachers.Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Prekindergarten 51