Early Childhood - Connecticut State Department of Education

Assessment Chapter 4
Assessment Is Mindful
Of The Age Of The Child
In an effort to simplify assessment and create a “one-sizefits-all”
approach, instruments developed for assessing
older children often are used inappropriately in early
childhood settings (Meisels and Fenichel, 1996). Early
childhood teachers, instead, should use observations and
systematic documentation of children’s activities, and
avoid complicated “paper-and-pencil” tests requiring
specific answers. Young children need to be active.
They must be allowed to represent their knowledge
with concrete materials in a suitable atmosphere and
setting in order for the results to be useful.
Assessment Is Respectful Of Diversity
Of Culture, Family, Language
And Style Of Learning
It is essential that teachers consider all aspects of a
child’s individual development and environment
in an integrated manner, for growth in all areas is
interrelated. Different approaches to child rearing and
the use of different languages affect children’s reactions
and performance. Teachers convey attitudes toward
the cultural groups represented in each classroom. By
appreciating the diversity of families, values, approaches
to parenting, and attitudes around school and learning
children need to be shown that they are accepted and
valued for who they are. Gathering information from
families is essential to creating a full description of each
child as a learner. This also provides insight into whether
aspects of a child’s behavior or pattern of development
can be explained by language or cultural differences.
For children who speak another language at home, it
is especially important to determine which language to
use in assessment in order to ensure that the process is
tailored to the child’s strengths and abilities (Neisworth,
1993).
Assessment Is Adapted To
Meet All Children’s Needs
Children with special needs or disabilities usually follow
the same developmental stages as typically developing
children. Depending on the nature of a disability, some
children may require special modifications for assessment
to accurately determine their knowledge, skills, growth
and behavior patterns. These accommodations may
include rephrasing directions; using concrete visual
examples, large print and pictures; using sign language
or an interpreter; providing more time to complete
tasks; and, above all, maintaining an accepting and calm
atmosphere.
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INFORMAL ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
There are many informal tools for conducting early
childhood assessments. Informal tools used within
the daily classroom routines can be tailored to meet
each teacher’s specific needs and the abilities of each
child. Several suggestions are provided and include the
following.
Observing And Recording
Planning and observing are continuous activities. As
teachers observe children’s responses to activities,
they plan new activities that continue to challenge the
children and promote their growth. This creates an
ongoing cycle of planning and observing.
The process of documenting children’s
behaviors with specific behavioral observations is the
most common informal tool used by teachers on a
daily basis. Each teacher must develop her or his own
system of collecting and recording information. These
collections reveal patterns over time, providing teachers
with insight to support individual growth and classroom
planning. This approach requires setting a time line for
the observation of behaviors and activities.
The following guidelines may be helpful:
• Develop a system for collecting observations,
e.g., post-its, clipboards around the room,
notepads in pockets. Otherwise, the
opportunity to record will pass. It is difficult
to retrieve pertinent information from the
daily routine after the fact.
• When planning observations, target a
specific set of children or particular areas
or times of day. This ensures that all
children are noticed, all times of the day
are addressed, and all curricular goals are
considered.
• Use the information gathered to modify
the program, reshape teaching strategies,
and adapt to specific needs and strengths of
the children. Consider information about
temperament, interests, learning styles,
dispositions, oral language, processing
abilities, and social and emotional
interactions with peers and adults.
• Beware of overgeneralizing, judging,
labeling, stereotyping, blaming, comparing
or making long-term predictions.
Teachers often prepare reports to foster
communication at parent-teacher conferences. A report