Question
What are the principles of assessment?
Answer
Due to the increased accountability and pressure put on educators and programs to show increased performance and achieved learning goals, early childhood professionals must keep the principles of assessment at the forefront of their minds. There are four principles of assessment that we will talk about. We have to keep these at the forefront of our minds because it is very easy to succumb to that pressure or to those inappropriate accountability standards. Sometimes you may be asked to do things or assess children in a way that you feel is not appropriate or that's developmentally inappropriate. It's important that we remember the principles of assessment so that we have some real research-based information to go back to our directors or our curriculum people and say, "I feel like this assessment could be done a better way, and this is why I feel that way." Sometimes we don't know what we don't know, even if we’re a director, curriculum specialist, or have another role. It's important now that we've got this information and now that we know better, that we do better.
Assessment Takes Place in a Natural Setting
The first principle of assessment is that assessment takes place in a natural setting. When you first read this, you might think you have to assess the child outside in the trees. That's not necessarily what that means. It could mean that, but assessment is actually part of the daily routine that's natural and comfortable for the child. The children are familiar with the educator that's interacting with them. They don't mind when that educator writes down comments or notes or observations. It's not where children are removed from the classroom to be tested. They're observed in the classroom doing everyday activities that they always do, participating in routines and rituals, and classroom activities and events. Then we use that information to complete the assessment of their development and their learning.
About 17 years ago when I was a preschool teacher and assessment was becoming the hot topic, my director asked me to begin testing or assessing the children. At this point, I was a brand-new teacher and I said, "Okay, great. How do I do it? What do I do?” I'd never done it before. She said, "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to come down and take a child out of your classroom. I'm going to take them down to my office and see what they know. Things like how many colors they know, how many shapes, and what are the letters they know. Then you're going to do the stuff about social-emotional.”
When she first told me that was how we were going to do it, I kind of had an eye twitch. Something didn’t sound right about that. So, I said, "Oh gosh, are we sure that that's the best way to do it? Is there a way that maybe you could do it in the classroom?" Of course, that wasn't going to happen at that time. Again, this was about 17 years ago. It was very challenging. We figured out that wasn’t the best way when 26 of my 30 children failed their assessment.
She came back to me and said, "Oh, Natasha, we've got a problem because 26 of your 30 children failed. I just don't know. We can't refer 26 out of 30 kids." I said, "Okay, well, I think maybe it's because of the way we're doing it. Let's try this and see what happens." I started completing the assessments and I did it within everyday activities that I was already doing in the classroom. I could already pretty much tell you who knew what based on the circle time conversation that we had that morning, what I'd seen in art, or what I'd seen in home living that day or whatever. When we started filling it out that way it changed things dramatically. We had one child out of 30 who came up as possibly needing some sort of intervention. Just that example goes to show you that that natural setting, or what's typical or natural for the child, is the best place to do those assessments.
Assessment Takes Place over a Period of Time
Assessment takes place over a period of time. It's recommended at least two times a year for preschool-aged children. Best practice is to complete an assessment three times a year. This includes once at the beginning to measure the child's developmental level (or when they enter the program). This is also known as an initial assessment. The second assessment is a mid-year review and the third is to document the progress that the child has made over time. For infants and toddlers, assessment has to be done more often than twice a year because they develop so quickly over those first two years. If we wait and only do assessments two times a year, there's so much that we'll miss.
Assessment Happens As the Child Goes About Daily Activities
Assessment happens as the child goes about daily activities. When we've planned developmentally appropriate activities for our classroom, then the child can be observed as he participates in those activities and we will learn the child's capabilities as we observe those things happening. As we notice that we've not observed a child demonstrating a particular skill, then we might plan a specific activity to spark the child's interest and engage him in play. This will help us determine if he's not interested or if he can't actually do the skill.
This happens a lot with children who tend to only go to one center all the time. For example, you might have a couple of children that only go to blocks or only go to art. If you have a child who only goes to the block center it can be hard to say if he knows how to hold a pencil or a marker or how to do a 10-piece puzzle if you don't ever see him in those centers. Sometimes assessment can help you to know what things to change up to spark that child's interest or curiosity.
Assessment is Developmentally Appropriate
It's easy to observe children in developmentally appropriate activities without distracting them or making them feel like they're performing for us. With developmentally appropriate activities, you can avoid situations like calling a child over and asking the child to draw a line or a circle or to stand on one foot. These skills can be observed as a child draws in the art area, plays hopscotch on the playground, or interacts with other children in dramatic play. Those are examples of ways we can get that same information but through the natural setting.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Purposes and Benefits of Assessment, presented by Natasha Crosby Kile, MS.
