Appropriate Assessment Practices for Young Children, P-2

Chess M. Van Wyk, B.A., Baxter

Susan K. Verwys. Ph.D., Calvin College

What kinds of questions/

concerns do you have today?

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National Association for the Education of Young Children : Code of Ethical Conduct

P-1.1 Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children. This principle has precedence over all others in this Code.

I-1.6 To use assessment instruments and strategies that are appropriate for the children to be assessed, that are used only for the purposes for which they were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children

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I-1.7—To use assessment information to understand and support children’s development and learning, to support instruction, and to identify children who may need additional services.

P-1.6—We shall strive to ensure that decisions such as those related to enrollment, retention, or assignment to special education services, will be based on multiple sources of information and will never be based on a single assessment, such as a test score or a single observation.

P-2-7—We shall inform families about the nature and purpose of the program’s child assessments and how data will be used.

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Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and

Program Evaluation (naeyc)

• Assessments must be appropriate for characteristics of children - development, cultural background, linguistic competencies

• Assessment evidence is gathered from realistic settings and situations that reflect children’s actual performance.

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

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Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8

(National Association for the Education of Young Children)Sound Assessment Practices for Children from Birth through

Elementary Grades.

• Assessment is ongoing, strategic, & purposeful.

• Results are used for planning, communicating with families, and evaluating teachers and program effectiveness.

• Focus on progress toward goals that are developmentally and educationally significant.

• Formative assessment guides classroom practices 6

Sound Assessment Practices for Children from Birth through Elementary Grades, con’t

• Methods of assessment are appropriate to the developmental levels and varying experiences of the children.

• Methods recognize individual variation and allow children to demonstrate their competencies in different ways.

• Assessment looks at what children can do on their own and with others providing scaffolding.

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Sound Assessment Practices for Children from Birth through Elementary Grades, con’t

• Input from families and children themselves is valued.

• Assessment must be valid and reliable.

• Assessment must be tailored to a specific purpose.

• Major decisions are never made on the basis of one assessment.

• Diagnosis is made on the bases of multiple assessments/sources, including families. 8

What else do we know about excellent assessment practices?

• Assessment needs to be periodic, comprehensive, multi-domain.

• Each assessment needs an explained rationale and purpose.

• Assessments need to draw from multiple formats, traditional and alternative.

• There should be multiple opportunities for children to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and skill development. 9

Excellent assessment practices, con’t

• Children should be involved in data collection, self-appraisal, and articulation (sharing info).

• People should be well-trained in assessment: what does it mean and how can it be used to help children?

• Specific plans need to be made for children who are underperforming.

• Teachers and classrooms should also be assessed.

• Data should be shared in a meaningful way.

(Soderman, 2003)

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• In order to be valid and reliable, assessment should be carried out by someone the child knows.

• Assessment should drive instruction

• Assessment should be differentiated/utilize the Universal Design for Learning

• Your planning has to begin with targets; consider planning assessments before units and lessons.

• Computerized assessments should not be used for children under Grade 2

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YOU and Assessment

• You as the “kid watcher”

• You Can document

• Your eyes, ears, and fingers are your best assessment tools

• Your assessments are often the most valid and reliable!12

Chess - What I learned in Education courses:

•Teachers have the power to create valid and reliable assessments

•Observation & documentation: running records, anecdotal records, time samplings, event samplings, checklists, & rating scales

•Assessment is continuous and happens pre-teaching, during teaching, and post teaching

•Assessment is the backbone of learning 13

What I learned from the front of the Classroom• Portfolios

• Your gradebook should have just as much as impact in your lessons as your MAP scores

• Time is short and assessments take a lot of work. Good assessments take even MORE time and work

•Good assessments are worth the extra time

• If you aren’t excited about an assessment, they probably wont be either 14

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Assess the way you teach

Reuse assessment techniques

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Assessments are your friend and your backup

17http://metro.co.uk/2010/08/26/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-film-review-492062/

You

Assessment

An assessment is student centered and student-driven learning activity

What is this assessment teaching my students?18

Standards

objectivesStudent

and student interests

Sound Assessment

Standardized Assessments

• THE GOOD

• We need to have a benchmark of where our students are in learning (caveat: SES)

• Schools need to be held accountable for teaching

• Public and charter schools are funded this way

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Standardized Assessments - The BAD

• Young children & computerized tests.

• 4 major publishing companies: Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Educational Testing Services,Houghton Mifflin Harcourt making a great deal of money.

• Pearson is the world’s largest education company and book publisher--> $9 billion annually.

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Standardized Assessments: THE UGLY

1. Children and teachers experiencing stress.

2. Parents worry about children’s learning.

3. Teaching to the test is a reality.

4. Teachers complain that they have to spend more time in test prep and testing than on teaching.

5. Schools are rated upon the results of one test.

(http://www.alternet.org/education/corporations-profit-standardized-tests?paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

)

(from Jessica’s group- acknowledge somehow

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THE UGLY, con’t.

6. Children’s scores are determining continued employment for teachers.

7. Testing companies spend millions of dollars lobbying state and federal officials to mandate more standardized testing

3. The tests have errors. Companies resistant to change them

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What can we do about standardized assessments?

• Advocacy

– Share NAEYC guidelines with administration, including school board, legislator, MDE

– Share your concerns with parents so that they can become advocates, too!

– Protect young children from computerized tests

– Reduce fear & stress in children 23

Alternatives to standardized testing• Portfolio-based assessment. Teacher evaluates through a

rubric and assigns a score. A random selection of portfolios is taken. An independent group reviews and assigns scores. If there is a big difference, bring in a 3rd group to evaluate or take a larger sample. Used in Vermont, Britain, Australia

• Administer traditional tests to a statistically representative sample of students.

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Alternatives to standardized testing• Scotland: inspectors come to observe a variety of assessment

approaches in action. They interview teachers and students, observe lessons, and look at student work.

• Data tracking systems are in place in most states

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Examples of Appropriate Assessment

Lewis and Clark Journal

26http://www.wellpromo.com/search/f/Family-Photo-Album-With-Wrap-Closure/index.htm

Create a rocket ship… oobleck

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http://kms.kapalama.ksbe.edu/2008/1101652/oobleck/science.html

http://www.mswolfsclass.com/class-photos-2013-14.html

Design a City:

• Draw a map

• Use legos

• Use milk cartons

28http://www.littlehiccups.net/2014/11/milk-carton-city.html

http://thekidizens.com/2012/03/the-week-21-newsboard/

Questions?

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ReferencesBerliner, D, (7/19/2011). Why giving standardized tests to young children is really ‘dumb’. The

Washington Post.

Brunn-Bevel, R., & Byrd, W. C. (2015). The foundation of racial disparities in the standardized testing era. Humanity & Society,39(4), 419-448. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0160597615603750

Deiner, P.L. (2013). Inclusive early childhood education: Development, Resources and Practice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

Defending the Early Years. http://deyproject.org/

DeWitt, P. (11/17/2013). State Ed. agrees to ban standardized testing in pre-K. to Second Grade. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/11/state_ed_agrees_to_ban_standardized_testing_in_pre-k_to_2nd_grade.html

Kohn, A. (9/27/2000) Standardized testing and its victims. Education Week.

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National Association for the Education of Early Childhood. ( 2000 ). STILL Unacceptable Trends in Kindergarten Entry and Placement. A position statement developed by the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education 2000 Revision and Update Endorsed by NAEYUC

Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation. ( 2003). A Joint Position Statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE)

National Association for the Education of Early Childhood (2009 )Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment. Position Statement. Revised April, 2005. Reaffirmed and updated May, 2011.

National Association for the Education of Early Childhood (2009 ). NAEYC Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. Washington D.C.: NAEYC.

Peterson, B. & Neill, M.. Alternatives to Standardized Tests. Re-thinking Schools. Retrieved from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/13_03/assess.shtmlhttp://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/13_03/assess.shtml 31

References

ReferencesQ & A with the editors of Developmentally Appropriate Practice. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/event/developmentally-appropriate-practice?page=1#Comments

Segool, N. K., Carlson, J. S., Goforth, A. N., von, d. E., & Barterian, J. A. (2013). Heightened test anxiety among young children: Elementary school students' anxious responses to high-stakes testing. Psychology in the Schools, 50(5), 489-499.

Strauss, V. (3/30). Report: Big education firms spend millions lobbying for pro-testing policies. Washington Post. Zernike, K. (10/24/15). Obama administration calls for limits on testing in schools. The New York Times. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/obama-administration-calls-for-limits-on-testing-in-schools.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=1

Weingarten,R. & Carlsson-Paige, N. (11/17/13). Reject Common-Core tests in grades K-2. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/17/reject-common-core-tests-in-grades-k-2-weingarten-carlsson-paige/

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