A Developmental Approach to Assessment of Young Children
There is so much pressure on students and teachers alike to
make sure children are able to pass the standardized tests. However, all children
do not learn the same way. Many children (and adults) do not test well. They may very well know the material, but
when it comes time to sit down and answer the questions with a pencil and paper
they draw a blank, or the questions are asked in a manner the child may not
understand. The student may develop test anxiety and not do well. Besides,
there are different areas in which children develop and gain knowledge areas
that cannot be tested with pencil and paper.
Purpose of Assessment:
·
to determine progress on significant
developmental achievements
·
to make placement or promotion decisions
·
to diagnose learning and teaching problems
·
to help in instruction and curriculum
decisions
·
to serve as a basis for reporting to parents
·
to assist a child with assessing his or her
own progress (Katz, 1997)
The
assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of older children
and adults in several ways. The greatest difference is in the way young children
learn. They construct knowledge in experiential, interactive, concrete, and
hands-on ways rather than through abstract reasoning and paper and pencil
activities alone. To learn, young children must touch and manipulate objects,
build and create in many media, listen and act out stories and everyday roles,
talk and sing, and move and play in various ways (Guddemi & Case, 2004).
Stakeholders should keep in mind that 1) plans,
strategies, and assessment instruments are differentially suited for each of
the potential purposes of assessment; 2) an overall assessment should include the
four categories of educational goals: knowledge, skills, dispositions, and
feelings; and 3) assessments made during children’s informal work and play are
most likely to minimize the many potential errors of various assessment strategies
(Katz, 1997).
Assessment
is also challenging during early childhood because a child’s development is
rapid, uneven, episodic, and highly influenced by the environment. A developing
child exhibits periods of both rapid growth and frequent rest. Children develop
in four domains––physical, cognitive, social, and emotional––and not at the same
pace through each. No two children are the same; each child has a unique rate
of development. In addition, no two children have the same family, cultural,
and experiential backgrounds. Clearly, these variables mean that a
“one-size-fits-all” assessment will not meet the needs of most young children. Another
assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time to administer
assessments properly. Assessments primarily should be administered in a one-on-one
setting to each child by his or her teacher. In addition, a child’s attention
span is often very short and the assessment should therefore be administered in
short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks. While early childhood
educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments for children, they
often complain about the time it takes to administer them and the resulting
loss of instructional time in the classroom. However, when quality tests mirror
quality instruction, assessment and teaching become almost seamless, complementing
and informing one another (Guddemi & Case, 2004).
There is a risk of assigning false labels to children.
The longer children live with a label (true or false label), the more difficult
it may become to discard it (Katz, 1997). The expression of what young children
know and can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and
pencil assessments.
References:
Guddemi, M & Case, B. J. (2004).
Assessing Young Children. Pearson Education. Assessment
Report. Pearson Inc.,
San Antonio, TX. Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from:
43878827FD76/0/AssessingYoungChildren.pdf
Katz, Lilian G. (1997). A Developmental Approach to
Assessment of Young Children. ERIC Digest.
April 1997. Retrieved on
December 8, 2012 from:
Assessing Young Children in Australia
The
assessment tasks are not learning and teaching units, but they do suggest, in
broad terms, what learning needs to have taken place before students undertake
the provided assessment tasks. Teachers make professional decisions about
whether or not a particular task is suitable for their students.
For each assessment task, the
following details are provided:
·
its
relevance to state or territory curriculum statements
·
necessary
prior learning
·
a
series of scaffolding activities for establishing the context within which the
task can be undertaken
·
resources
for students and teachers to assist in the completion of the task
·
assessment
rubrics for both teachers and students
·
annotated
work samples
·
suggested
follow-up teaching and learning activities.
Strategic questioning
This Professional
Learning module focuses on strategic questioning, which is one way the teacher
can seek evidence to establish where students are in their learning, and is
therefore the result of careful planning.
Specifically, strategic questioning
provides teachers with the opportunity to identify and correct
misunderstandings and gaps in knowledge, as well as identify the need for
extension work for those students whose knowledge and skills base demand it.
This kind of questioning provides
information about student knowledge, understanding and skills that informs the
teacher's planning and selection of teaching strategies to move students from
where they are to where they need to go.
Assessment for Learning
is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and
their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they
need to go and how best to get there. Assessment for Learning is also known as
formative assessment.
Activities associated
with summative assessment (Assessment of Learning) result in an evaluation of
student achievement - for example, allocation to a level or standard or
allocation of a letter or numerical grade, which might later appear in a
report.
Activities associated
with formative assessment (Assessment for Learning) do not result in an
evaluation. Information about what a student knows, understands and is able to
do is used by both the teacher and the learner to determine where learners are
in their learning and how to achieve learning goals.
Research has identified
a number of classroom strategies that are particularly effective in promoting
formative assessment practice.
Assessment for Learning strategies
are:
·
The
strategic use of questioning:
Questioning is used not only as a
pedagogical tool but also as a deliberate way for the teacher to find out what
students know, understand and are able to do.
·
Effective
teacher feedback
Effective teacher feedback focuses on
established success criteria and tells the students what they have achieved and
where they need to improve. Importantly, the feedback provides specific
suggestions about how that improvement might be achieved.
·
Peer
feedback
Peer feedback occurs when a student uses
established success criteria to tell another student what they have achieved
and where improvement is necessary. Again, the feedback provides specific
suggestions to help achieve improvement.
·
Student
self-assessment
Student self-assessment encourages students
to take responsibility for their own learning. It incorporates self-monitoring,
self-assessment and self-evaluation.
·
The
formative use of summative assessment
Summative assessment is a necessary aspect
of education. Formative use can be made of summative assessment, both before
and after the assessment event.
Reference:
Education Services of
Australia. Assessment for Learning. [online]. Retrieved on December
8, 2012 from:
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