This presentation was produced as a class project at WKU for CFS 294 - Fall 2009.

1. What Parents Need to Know…About the Purpose of Early Childhood Assessment By: Lara Elizabeth Marie Fox Produced as a class project at WKU for CFS: 294 – Fall 2009

2. What is Assessment? The process of gathering information about children from several forms of evidence, then organizing and interpreting that information

3. Assessment Principles Benefit children Tailor to a specific purpose Recognize reliability and validity increase with age Age appropriate Linguistically appropriate Value parents

4. Assessment Strategies Standardized Tests Informal Assessments: Observations, Teacher-Designed Measures, Checklists, Rating Scales, Rubrics, Performance/Portfolio Assessments, and Technology-Based Assessments

5. Purpose 1 Assessing to promote children’s learning and development

6. Purpose 2 Identifying children for health and social services

7. Purpose 3 Monitoring trends and evaluating programs and services

8. Purpose 4 Assessing academic achievement to hold individual students, teachers, and schools accountable

10. Standardized Tests Measure abilities, achievements, aptitudes, interests, attitudes, values, and personality characteristics

12. Observations Allow the teacher to get to know the child as a unique individual, rather than as a member of a group

14. Teacher-Designed Allow the teacher to obtain more specific information about each student’s knowledge and skills relative to the instructional objectives of the class

16. Checklists Become a framework for assessment and evaluation, instructional planning, record keeping, and communicating with parents

18. Rating Scales Require the teacher to make a qualitative judgment about the extent to which a behavior is present

20. Rubrics Act as qualitative instruments for assessing student progress or scoring student work

22. Performance/Portfolio Measures what children can do or apply, in addition to what children know Assessment and evaluation, self-assessment and reflection, and reporting progress

24. Technology-Based Assess children through the use of computers and other forms of technology

25. Students Know what they are doing well Know where they need to work harder

26. Teachers Decide what and how to teach

27. Parents Additional support for their children

28. School Districts Additional support for teachers and students

29. State/Federal Dept. of Education Assess educational status Additional funding Make improvements

30. Sources DiGesu, E. (n.d.). The purpose of assessment. Retrieved from http://www. gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/onlinepd/Assessment%20&%20Evaluation/ Purpose.htm Katz, L.G. (1998, January 27). A developmental approach to assessment of young children. Retrieved from http://www.kidsource.comkidsource content4/assess.development.html Wortham, S.C. (2008). Assessment in early childhood education (fifth edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. NOTE: All images can be found on http://www.google.com under an image search

31. Thank You! This presentation was produced as a class project at WKU for CFS 294 Assessment of Young Children – Fall 2009