Assessing Young Children
Alternative Assessment (May 2000)
http://ericec.org/faq/gt-atlas.html
“Our school system wants to use alternative assessment along with standardized tests to assess our students. What is alternative assessment and how does it differ from other concepts such as portfolio assessment?”
Assessing the Development of Preschoolers
http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/preschoolers.htm
“This digest focuses on the question of individual growth, namely, Is the individual child's development going so well that he or she can be described as thriving?”
Assessing Your Preschooler’s Development
http://npin.org/library/pre1998/n00411/n00411.html
Lilian Katz suggests “It can be difficult to judge development--there is no simple equivalent to a fever to indicate that something is wrong with a child and that help is needed.” Guidelines for parents are provided.
Assessing Language Development in Bilingual Preschool Children
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/pigs/pig22.htm
This paper contains a discussion of the child's language background, issues in the language development of bilingual children, and issues in the language assessment. It concludes with a procedure for assessing language development in bilingual preschool children.
Assessing Language in Young Children by Using Parent Report and Prelinguistic Measures: An Important Way to Involve Families.
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/canchild/publications/keepcurrent/KC98-2.html
“This issue of "Keeping Current" outlines this shift toward increased family involvement in the language assessment process, including the parent's completion of report measures and parent and professional co-involvement in prelinguistic assessments.”
Assessing Young Children’s Progress Appropriately
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea500.htm
“School improvement emphasizes enhanced achievement for all children, but determining young children's achievement demands special consideration. Assessment of the progress and attainments of young children, 3 to 8 years of age, requires understanding….”
Assessing Young Children for Whom English is a Second Language
=http://www.regionvqnet.org/qnet/research/RI2002/pdfs/MMAssess.pdf
Because assessment of young children from culturally and linguistically different families cannot be tested as others, this article suggests gathering information from parents and families before referral for assessment to provide an appropriate cultural and linguistic assessment.
Assessing Young Children’s Social Competence
http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/2001/mcclel01.html
A review of research and a set of items “based on research on elements of social competence in young children and on studies in which the behavior of well-liked children has been compared with that of less-liked children.”
Assessment
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea5lk1.htm
Authoritative views on assessment in the field of early childhood education are provided.
The Challenges of Assessing Young Children Appropriately
http://www.cse.ucla.edu/CRESST/Files/challengesshepard.pdf
Lorrie Shepard suggests that given the history of misuse, it is the responsibility of the assessment advocates to clearly define what is appropriate.
The Contribution of Documentation to the Quality of Early Childhood Education
=http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/1996/lkchar96.html
“… high-quality documentation of children's work and ideas contributes to the quality of an early childhood program in at least six ways.”
Critical Issue: Assessing Young Children's Progress Appropriately
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea500.htm
“…how can educators determine what the youngest children know and can do, and how can they use that information to carry out the aims of early childhood programs?”
A Developmental Approach to Assessment of Young Children
http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/1997/katz97.html
Lilian Katz provides information on an appropriate approach to the assessment of young children.
A Guide to Assessing and Placing Language Minority Students
http://npin.org/library/pre1998/n00379/n00379.html
“This guide will help parents understand how schools assess their children's English language ability, and suggest ways for them to help schools place their children in the most useful language program.”
Protecting Children from Inappropriate Practices
http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/1990/bredek90.html
The “use of standardized test scores as the predominant indicator of accountability is ill-advised… We need alternative strategies that ensure excellence, equity, and accountability.” Some are provided here.
Recommended Practices for Assessing Young Children in Early Childhood Settings
http://www.nectac.org/topics/earlyid/RecPractices/txtrecpractices.asp
“A more developmentally-appropriate and authentic assessment approach aligns best with the content and style of behavior shown by infants, toddlers, and preschool children.”
Portfolios
The Boston University/Chelsea Public Schools Early Childhood Home School Portfolio Project
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ECI/newsletters/97fall/early11.html
The project has three core activities: (1) family literacy classes (2) after-school seminars for teachers, and (3) an exchange between family and teachers of children's “home and school literacy portfolios as a way for each to learn about how children use literacy at home and at school.”
Electronic Portfolios in the K-12 Classroom
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech111.shtml
“The electronic portfolio, already a well-established tool in higher education, is beginning to appear in K-12 classrooms as well. Learn what electronic portfolios are and discover how they can help you and benefit your students.”
Portfolios
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea5l143.htm
NCREL defines portfolios and examines their use in schools.
The Portfolio and Its Use: Developmentally Appropriate Assessment of Young Children
http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/1992/grace92.html
“Appropriate assessment of young children should involve the children themselves, parents, and teachers. The portfolio method promotes a shared approach to making decisions that will affect children's attitudes toward work and school in general.”
The Power of Portfolios
http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/assessment/powerportfolios.htm
“Because we want to understand the development of the whole child, your observations about children’s growth provide a much more individualized, accurate, and up-to-the-minute picture. These insights, along with samples of children’s work, can be used to create valuable portfolios.”
Sample Portfolios
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/kidpower/portfolios.asp
Several portfolio samples are linked to this site.
Teaching and Technology
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/whats_new/techknow/october98.shtm
Helen Barrett provides general information about the use of portfolios in schools.
Readiness
Developmental Disabilities and the Concept of School Readiness
http://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu/library/1994/farran.html
“This paper reviews the concept of school readiness as it applies to children with disabilities. It is argued that children with disabilities are of two primary types: normative and non-normative.”
Entering Kindergarten: A Portrait of American Children When They Begin School
http://npin.org/library/2001/n00525/n00525.html
A 2000 report of who entering kindergarten children are.
Family Support Programs and School Readiness
http://npin.org/library/pre1998/n00329/n00329.html
Four approaches are provided for helping parents understand various roles they play in getting their children ready for school.
Getting Schools Ready for Children: The Other Side of the Readiness Goal
http://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu/library/1994/sreb-gsr/sreb-gsr.html
“This report identifies changes that schools must make in their kindergarten and primary programs if they are to contribute to rather than hinder progress toward” achieving school readiness.
The Inappropriate Use of School "Readiness" Tests
http://www.aap.org/policy/00694.html
The “use of readiness testing that is designed for screening should not be used to make placement decisions. No child should be excluded from school, placed in a special education setting, or provided with special educational services on the basis of such testing.”
Ready Schools
http://www.negp.gov/Reports/readysch.pdf
Ensuring that children are ready for school is one thing—but schools being ready for children is perhaps a more critical issue.
Reconsidering School Readiness: Conceptual and Applied Perspectives
http://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu/library/1994/crnic1.html
“In order to begin such a reconceptualization, it is necessary to review some of the relevant history of school readiness as an area of inquiry, and detail the issues that have led to the current level of confusion in the readiness controversy.” This article reviews the various controversites associated with screening for readiness.
School Readiness and Children's Developmental Status
http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/1995/zill95.html
“The results of the study point to a need for innovative approaches in providing early education services for children from low socioeconomic circumstances.”
