Assessment

Principles of Assessment

EDUU325Wortham S.C. (2008)

Assessment in Early Childhood Education

(p. 3)

Appropriate Uses of Assessment

• Assess to promote children’s learning and development

• Identify children for health and social services

• Monitor trends and evaluate programs and services

• Assess academic achievement to hold students, teachers, and schools accountable.

(p. 3)

Assessments Use Multiple Sources of Information

• A single assessment application is insufficient

• Need comprehensive and complete picture of child’s development and learning

• Need different perspectives - including those of parents and caregivers

(p. 3)

Assessments Should Benefit the Child and Improve Learning

• Purpose of assessment is to determine whether child is:– Developing normally– Exhibiting delays– Needs assistance or intervention

• Assessments should determine child’s progress and inform your instructional planning

• Tests should NOT be used if they do not enhance learning

(p. 3)

Assessment Should Involve the Child and Family

• Parents are primary sources of information

• Parents’ knowledge about their child is essential for a true understanding of the child’s development

• Self-assessment ability improves as children get older

• Older children can understand what they know and what they are able to do

(p. 3)

Assessments Should be Fair for All Children

• Many tests are inappropriate for culturally and linguistically diverse children

• Need other strategies for assessment• Need to be alert to limitations of specific

tests• Particularly important when working

with children who are outside normal developmental ranges.

Principles for Early Childhood Assessment

Early Childhood Assessment Consortium

Assessments Should Bring About Benefits for Children

• Gathering accurate information about young children can be difficult and stressful.

• Formal assessments may be costly and take resources away from other programs and services.

• Must be a clear benefit in:– Direct services to the child – Improved quality of educational programs

Assessment Should be Tailored for Specific Purpose

• To be reliable, valid, and fair, must be used only for the test’s designed purpose.

• Not necessarily valid if designed for a different purpose.

• Misuse of testing can result in abuses with young children

Recognize that Reliability and Validity Increases with Child’s Age

• The younger the child, the more difficult it is to obtain reliable and valid assessment data.

• Difficult to assess children’s cognitive abilities accurately before age 6.

• Some types of assessment should be postponed until children are older because the are not reliable or valid.

• Some types of assessment can be used, but only with necessary safeguards.

Assessments Should be Age-Appropriate

• Both content and the method of data collection should be age-appropriate.

• Assessments of young children should address the full range of early learning and development– physical well-being and motor development – social and emotional development– approaches toward learning – language development– cognition and general knowledge

• Children need familiar contexts in order to be able to demonstrate their abilities.

• Abstract paper-and-pencil tasks may make it especially difficult for young children to show what they know.

Assessments Should be Linguistically-Appropriate

• To some extent all assessments are measures of language.

• Language proficiency affects performance even if the assessment is intended to measure – early reading skills, – knowledge of color names, – learning potential,

• Assessment of children with limited exposure to English in the home is necessarily a measure of their English proficiency.

Child’s First and Second Language Development

• Each child’s first- and second-language development should be taken into account

• Must determine appropriate assessment methods in terms of language development.

• Must interpret the meaning of assessment results with first and second language in mind.

Parents are Valued Source of Assessment Information

• Source as well as an audience for assessment results.

• Assessments should include multiple sources of evidence, especially reports from parents and teachers

• Direct measures of young children are fallible

• Assessment results should be shared with parents as part of an ongoing process

• Parents need to be informed and involved in their child’s education.

NAEYC Indicators of Effectiveness in

AssessmentEarly Childhood Curriculum, Assessment,

and Program EvaluationBuilding an Effective, Accountable System

in Programs for Children Birth through Age 8Online Position Statement with Expanded Resources

Ethical principles guide assessment practices.

• Ethical principles underlie all assessment practices.

• Young children are not denied opportunities or services

• Decisions are not made about children on the basis of a single assessment.

Assessment instruments are used

for their intended purposes.• Assessments are used in ways

consistent with the purposes for which they were designed.

• If the assessments will be used for additional purposes, they are validated for those purposes.

Assessments are appropriate for ages and other characteristics

of children being assessed.

• Assessments are designed for and validated for use with children who are similar to those children with whom the assessments will be used.– ages – cultures – home languages – socioeconomic status – abilities and disabilities– other characteristics

Assessment instruments are in compliance with professional criteria for quality.

• Assessments are valid and reliable.• Accepted professional standards of quality

are the basis for selection, use, and interpretation of assessment instruments, including screening tools.

• Measurement standards are those set forth by – American Educational Research Association (AERA)– American Psychological Association (APA)– National Center for Measurement in Education

(NCME)

What is assessed is developmentally and educationally

significant.• The objects of assessment include a

comprehensive, developmentally, and educationally important set of goals, rather than a narrow set of skills.

• Assessments are aligned with early learning standards, with program goals, and with specific emphases in the curriculum.

Assessment evidence is used to understand and improve

learning.• Assessments lead to improved

knowledge about children. • This knowledge is translated into

improved curriculum implementation and teaching practices.

Assessment helps early childhood professionals

• Understand the learning of a specific child or group of children

• Enhance overall knowledge of child development

• Improve educational programs for young children while supporting continuity across grades and settings

• Access resources and supports for children with specific needs.

Assessment evidence is gathered from realistic settings and

situations that reflect children’s actual

performance.• Evidence used to assess young children’s characteristics and progress:– derived from real-world classroom or

family contexts – consistent with children’s culture,

language, and experiences.

Assessments use multiple sources of evidence gathered over time.

• The assessment system: – emphasizes repeated, systematic

observation, documentation, and other forms of criterion- or performance-oriented assessment

– uses broad, varied, and complementary methods with accommodations for children with disabilities.

Screening is always linked to follow-up.

• When a screening or other assessment identifies concerns, appropriate follow-up, referral, or other intervention is used.

• Diagnosis or labeling is never the result of a brief screening or one-time assessment.

Use of individually administered, norm-referenced tests is limited.

• The use of formal standardized testing and norm-referenced assessments of young children is limited to situations in which such measures are appropriate and potentially beneficial,– identifying potential disabilities. – using individual norm-referenced

tests as part of program evaluation and accountability

Staff and families are knowledgeable about assessment.

• Given resources that support staff knowledge and skills about early childhood assessment and their ability to assess children in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.

• Preservice and inservice training builds teachers’ and administrators’ “assessment literacy,” creating a community that sees assessment as a tool to improve outcomes for children.

• Families are part of this community, with regular communication, partnership, and involvement.