Child Care Professional 2 - Lesson 3 - Observation and Assessment: The Basics

Early Childhood Education Assessment Categories

- Ability - Health - Family - Culture and Religion - Language - Socioeconomic Status

Observation Strategies

- Anecdotal Notations - Narratives or Daily Records - Daily Health Checks - Teacher Observation Checklists - Frequency Counts and Time Samples - Interviews and Conversations

Domains of Child Development

- Approaches to Learning: initiative, curiosity, engagement, persistence, reasoning, and problem-solving skills - Social and Emotional Development: social competence (the ability to interact with others), self-regulation (the ability to control one's own thoughts, feelings, and behavior), and emotional intelligence (the ability to identify and respond to emotions) - Language and Literacy: receptive language (understanding), expressive language (using), print awareness and use, phonological awareness, and fluency - Cognition: general knowledge including mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as executive functioning (the ability to organize and manage knowledge and information), attention, and memory - Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development: overall health, hearing, vision, and motor (both fine and gross) development.

Section 3.4 - Key Points

-Assessment tools should help you determine whether a child is reaching appropriate developmental milestones. It should also help you understand whether your instruction is effective. -There are several specific considerations if you're selecting the assessment tools you'll use. If there are assessment tools you must use, you should make sure you have training in how to use and interpret them. -When selecting tools, consider whether they're formal or informal, standardized, evidence-based, and practical. Using several tools that fit into these categories will help you gather complete information about a child. -The tools you select should match your purpose for choosing them. There is an important difference between screening tools, ongoing assessment tools, and evaluation or diagnostic assessment tools. Links

Section 3.3 - Key Points

-Objective observations lack bias or judgment and capture children's development within the context of their own learning. -To understand information within observations, consider a child's goals and strategies for learning. -To analyze observations, organize your observation by the developmental domains. This allows you to ensure you have captured enough to understand how the child is progressing in each domain. -Several tools assist with observation including narratives or daily records, teacher observation checklists, frequency counts and time samples, anecdotal notations, daily health checks, and interviews and conversations. -The law that protects children and family privacy is the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). It helps you understand the requirements for maintaining confidentiality in children's records.

Section 3.1 - Key Points

-The purpose of observation and assessment is to help you understand children's abilities, preferences, and approach to learning. -Observation is paying close attention to someone and capturing his or her behaviors without judgment. -Assessment is an ongoing process to capture and understand learning. It includes a wide range of strategies including observation that are proven to work well with children in a similar setting. -Observation and assessment data help you modify and individualize your instruction. In addition, using your knowledge of developmental milestones, the data helps you identify children who may need additional support. -Observation and assessment are part of a larger process for understanding and addressing children's needs. They support screening results to determine whether to refer a child for further evaluation.

Section 3.2 - Key Points

-There are five domains of child development, including approaches to learning, social and emotional development, language and literacy, cognition, and perceptual, motor, and physical development. Growth in these domains is interconnected and supported by brain development. -Each child develops in a slightly different manner, but developmental milestones capture the typical or expected paths for development. -When identifying concerns, look for a child who lacks significant progress or loses skills.

Section 3.5 - Key Points

-There are outside factors that impact effective observation and assessment. These include health, ability, family, culture and religion, language, and socioeconomic status. -When considering children's language and ability, select assessments or make appropriate accommodations to make sure you're capturing children's learning. -To get the best picture of a child, schedule observations and assessments at times when the child will be at their best. Also, keep in mind any other things that may be going on in a child's life that impact their learning or performance.

Observation

A planned activity to capture information about who children are and what they can do

Developmental Screening

A quick snapshot about a child, using a standardized tool that takes anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to conduct

Informal Assessment

A way to gather data about children within the context of their play and learning

Practice Quiz- Question 7: Which of the following categories would a caregiver most likely want to explore if they make adjustments to a child's assessment to get an accurate picture of what they know and can do? A. Ability B. Language C. Culture and religion D. Socioeconomic status

A. Ability

Practice Quiz- Question 9: Which growth domain includes initiative and curiosity? A. Approaches to learning B. Language and literacy C. Social and emotional development D. Cognition

A. Approaches to learning

Practice Quiz- Question 3: Which of the following can be used to assess students in a classroom? A. Documentation of student work B. What a child thinks he/she can do C. Parent evaluation of student only D. Standardized tools only

A. Documentation of student work

Exam- Question 6: Select the objective observational statement. A. She said, "You shouldn't speak that way to me. I don't like it." B. He couldn't stop moving--it was like he had too much sugar for breakfast. C. He yelled angrily at her. D. She slammed the ball crazily into the air.

A. She said, "You shouldn't speak that way to me. I don't like it."

Practice Quiz- Question 8: What would be a good strategy when assessing a child who speaks a language other than English? A. Think about the language the child speaks B. What type of holidays the child celebrates C. Deciding if early intervention is required D. What type of emotional support is given at home

A. Think about the language the child speaks

Exam- Question 14: Assessment is ___________________ to understand children and their development. A. an ongoing process B. a formal tool C. a teacher-focused activity D. a one-time test

A. an ongoing process

Exam- Question 9: Thinking about the impacts of socioeconomic status, you should A. consider the outside factors that are impacting that child's ability to learn and offer resources to the family when possible. B. assume the child who may live in poverty won't perform as well as others from wealthier families. C. talk with the family about their situation. D. use a standardized tool that's normed on children from low-income families.

A. consider the outside factors that are impacting that child's ability to learn and offer resources to the family when possible.

Exam- Question 20: You may want to observe children to determine A. interests, developmental level, strategies, skills, and personality. B. concerns, challenges, and anxieties about learning. C. developmental pathways, brain connections, and physical abilities. D. the way they relate to other people and things.

A. interests, developmental level, strategies, skills, and personality.

Exam- Question 7: If your setting already has an assessment tool that you must use, you should A. learn how to use the tool and determine what other complementary assessment tools will help you understand child development. B. ask your director, principal, or supervisor why he or she chose this tool. C. use it and report out the data. D. disregard it and use what you think will be most useful to you.

A. learn how to use the tool and determine what other complementary assessment tools will help you understand child development.

Exam- Question 18: You should have ____________________ in your toolbox of assessments. A. tools that offer meaningful information and that capture the development within the diversity of your setting B. tools that are piloted on a variety of different groups of children C. formal and informal, standardized and not standardized, evidence-based and teacher-created, and practical tools D. tools that are available in multiple languages

A. tools that offer meaningful information and that capture the development within the diversity of your setting

Standardized Assessment

All children are being assessed on the same skills and knowledge, you use the same criteria to determine each child's ability, and the results for each child would be consistent whether you administered the assessment or someone else did

Assessment

An ongoing process that builds on observation, which teachers use to understand children and their development

Practice Quiz- Question 12: What's the main purpose of observation and assessment in children? A. To help refer them to a specialist B. To determine how they perform within specific developmental expectations C. To help them advance in their development D. To determine their math skills

B. To determine how they perform within specific developmental expectations

Exam- Question 2: If you have significant concerns about a child's development, you should A. complete the special education evaluation to determine whether the child has a disability. B. sensitively present your concerns to the family and see if they're ready to talk about the next steps. C. talk with the child's physician about your concerns. D. refer the child to a special education provider in your community.

B. sensitively present your concerns to the family and see if they're ready to talk about the next steps.

Practice Quiz- Question 2: Which of the following is an example of a standardized assessment? A. Evidence of measuring specific skills B. Collecting spontaneous information C. Using same criteria to determine each child's ability D. Catching natural occurrences in children

C. Using same criteria to determine each child's ability

Exam- Question 11: Your assessment tools should help you determine A. your goals for instruction B. the child's progress and areas of concern. C. a child's developmental growth and the effectiveness of your setting. D. the effectiveness of your environment and instruction.

C. a child's developmental growth and the effectiveness of your setting.

Practice Quiz- Question 4: Ongoing assessment or _____________________ monitoring is a way to constantly keep an eye on child development, making referrals when concerns arise. A. objective B. comprehensive C. developmental D. observational

C. developmental

Exam- Question 8: As you select your tools, knowing whether a tool is formal or informal will help you A. capture spontaneous learning. B. direct your assessment toward children's interests. C. make comparisons across children in your setting. D. gather child-centered learning.

C. make comparisons across children in your setting.

Exam- Question 13: If you want to capture a scene in your setting, the best tool to use would be A. frequency counts and time samples. B. teacher observation checklists. C. narratives or daily records. D. interviews and conversations.

C. narratives or daily records.

Exam- Question 12: When thinking about whether a tool is practical, you should A. ask other people who have used the tool what it's like, use the tool for yourself, and determine whether you like using it or not. B. read the instructions to make sure you understand them, take a course to learn how to use the tool, and use the tool once to see if it works for you. C. read the instructions, rate how easy the tool will be to use, and figure out if the information you'll gather is useful. D. look at all of the components of the tool, determine whether it gathers information you need, and rate how easy it'll be to use.

C. read the instructions, rate how easy the tool will be to use, and figure out if the information you'll gather is useful.

Exam- Question 10: You may choose a standardized tool because A. you're required to use it. B. such tools are fail-proof. C. such tools often capture learning in all of the domains. D. such tools capture spontaneous, child-directed learning.

C. such tools often capture learning in all of the domains.

Exam- Question 17: The kinds of family considerations that might impact observation and assessment include A. the language family members speak. B. the level of education of the parents. C. the level of family engagement in their child's learning. D. the amount of time you see and communicate with family members.

C. the level of family engagement in their child's learning.

Exam- Question 16: To get the best understanding of your observations, you should consider A. their knowledge. B. the context for their learning. C. their goals and strategies for learning. D. their skills and abilities.

C. their goals and strategies for learning.

Exam- Question 3: Observation and assessment are most effective when A. the state has selected them as an appropriate tool for you to use. B. assessments are formal and gather focused information. C. tools are appropriate for the children in your setting and meet professional requirements for quality. D. parents select the tools you use.

C. tools are appropriate for the children in your setting and meet professional requirements for quality.

Exam- Question 1: When conducting an assessment with a child whose home language is something other than English, you should A. ask a family member who speaks English to help with the assessment. B. get an assistant or volunteer to help. C. use a translator or interpreter. D. conduct the tool in the child's home language regardless of whether you speak it or not.

C. use a translator or interpreter.

Practice Quiz- Question 11: Which word in this sentence might cause a teacher to make a biased observation? Kara angrily replied, "pass me that book!" A. Replied B. Pass C. Book D. Angrily

D. Angrily

Practice Quiz- Question 1: What's one benefit of selecting a formal assessment tool? A. Gather data bout children within the context of their play and learning B. Not assessing specific skills at particular moments C. Spontaneous learning or children's knowledge and skills D. Comparisons about the growth of children

D. Comparisons about the growth of children

Practice Quiz- Question 10: Tara asked her supervisor to read through her observations. What's Tara trying to eliminate? A. Unbiased observations B. Neutrality C. Detachment D. Subjectivity

D. Subjectivity

Practice Quiz- Question 6: Why is it important to capture an unbiased observation? A. To capture the events with judgement B. To get a snapshot of the event C. To include things that aren't true D. To capture the events without judgment

D. To capture the events without judgment

Practice Quiz- Question 5: What's one important goal of regularly assessing children? A. To give students practice with test taking B. To observe their behaviors in the classroom C. To fill the time in the curriculum D. To customize instruction

D. To customize instruction

Exam- Question 4: You should expect each child's development to be A. following a predictable path as defined in the Early Learning Outcomes Framework. B. exactly the same as for the other children in your setting. C. full of ups and downs depending on their life outside of your setting. D. different, including meeting milestones a little early or late, and not progressing in each domain at the same time.

D. different, including meeting milestones a little early or late, and not progressing in each domain at the same time.

Exam- Question 5: Observation helps you gather information that's A. formal, structured, and comprehensive. B. naturally occurring and child-led. C. useful for planning other ways to assess the child. D. meaningful in the child's context.

D. meaningful in the child's context.

Exam- Question 19: The ability to interact with others and manage one's own emotions is part of _________________ development. A. language and literacy B. cognitive C. perceptual D. social and emotional

D. social and emotional

Exam- Question 15: When choosing an evidence-based tool, make sure A. you can accommodate it to make it work for you. B. the tool you use is practical. C. it's guaranteed to take into account the diversity of children in your setting. D. the tool you use has been tested with other children like the ones in your setting.

D. the tool you use has been tested with other children like the ones in your setting.

Baseline Data

Introductory information

Formal Assessment

Planned and conducted with a tool that may be standardized and captures information about children's learning in a set way

Section 3.5 - Self Assessment: Analyze Data on a Whole Child

Question 1- It's important to understand the details of a child's life because each child's differences impact how they _____________________ in learning. Answer 1- engage Question 2- When assessing a child, particularly a child with a disability or at risk, you should use _______________________ forms of assessment to create as complete a picture as possible. Answer 2- multiple Question 3- The best observation tool to assess a child's health and attitude when he or she arrives at school is a daily ______________________ check. Answer 3- health Question 4- Question 4 options: If a child is unwell on the day you've scheduled to conduct a standardized assessment, you should ________________________ the assessment. Answer 4- reschedule Question 5- _________________________ factors can impact how you interpret the results of an assessment by helping you create a home-school connection to enhance development. Answer 5- Family Question 6- When you review assessments to determine whether they're _____________________ responsive to each of the children in your classroom, you should read about the assessment to determine whom it should be used with. Answer 6- culturally Question 7- To make sure your assessment plan is _________________________ responsive, you should use some strategies that capture learning without language. Answer 7- linguistically Question 8- _______________________ factors can impact a child's access to resources. Answer 8- Socioeconomic Question 9- Using a _____________________________ approach means considering all of the factors that impact a child's life. Answer 9- whole-child

Section 3.3 - Self Assessment: Differentiate Between Biased and Unbiased Observation

Question 1- Objective observations do not include ______________________ , _____________________ , ____________________. Answer 1- bias, judgement, or interpretation Question 2- Observations can capture a child's _________________________ , __________________________ , ____________________ , _________________________ , __________________________. Answer 2- interests, developmental level, strategies, skills, and personality Question 3- It's important to use observations because they provide ___________________________ or _______________________ that define child growth. Answer 3- evidence, data Question 4- Understanding a child's __________________________ and _______________________ helps you accurately interpret an observation. Answer 4- goals, objectives Question 5- After writing an observation, you can use the ________________________ of child development to understand what milestones a child has accomplished. Answer 5- five domains Question 6- To make sure an observation is objective you can ask yourself, "Did I capture ___________________________ what happened?" Answer 6- exactly Question 7- One of the ways you can capture your observations is through ______________________ or _____________________. Answer 7- narratives, daily records Question 8- __________________________ and _____________________ are ways to count specific skills or behaviors and determine when they happen. Answer 8- Frequency counts, time samples Question 9- ______________________ , _______________________ , and ____________________ are ways to organize observation data. Answer 9- Files, binders, and computer systems Question 10- The federal law which ensures that all children and family education information is confidential is called ________________________. Answer 10- The Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA)

Section 3.4 - Self Assessment: Identify Appropriate Assessment Tools

Question 1- Observation is just one form of informal _____________________. Answer 1- director, principal, another supervisor Question 2- The person who would most likely know what assessments are required is the _____________________. Answer 2- assessment Question 3- Formal assessment is often _______________________ , conducted in a way that captures child learning in a set way. Answer 3- planned Question 4- Informal assessment captures children's learning in the _______________________ of their play and participation in activities. Answer 4- context Question 5- Standardized assessment includes the way you ____________________________ the assessment to the children in your setting. Answer 5- conduct Question 6- Standardized assessment also includes the way you __________________________ the results from the assessment. Answer 6- interpret Question 7- Validity means that assessment tools measure the ______________________ and _____________________ as they define it. Answer 7- skills, knowledge Question 8- Reliability means that the assessment is __________________________ regardless of the children assessed or the teacher who conducts the assessment. Answer 8- consistent Question 9- When you're looking at the evidence-base of an assessment, consider whether the _________________________ is the same as the children in your setting. Answer 9- pilot group Question 10- One of the critical things to keep in mind when looking at lists of assessment tools is to determine whether the tool is an ongoing assessment tool or a _______________________ or ________________________ tool. Answer 10- screening, diagnostic assessment/evaluation

Section 3.1 - Self Assessment: Describe How Observation and Assessment Help You to Teach Children

Question 1- ___________________ offers you a way to record children's abilities. Answer 1- Observation Question 2- A/An ____________________ observation of children is one without biases and beliefs. Answer 2- objective Question 3- Assessment can include children's work, checklists, and _______________________. Answer 3- norm-referenced tests Question 4- Assessment captures growth ___________________. Answer 4- over time Question 5- Child assessment information can help you ___________________ curriculum for each child. Answer 5- individualize Question 6- It's important for assessments to be _______________________ and _____________________ responsive. Answer 6- culturally, linguistically Question 7- Information from child assessments helps you improve your _________________________. Answer 7- program Question 8- Developmental screening works with ongoing assessment to identify children with _______________________ who may need additional support. Answer 8- red flags Question 9- Evaluations determine whether children are _____________________ for special education services. Answer 9- eligible Question 10- You need to collaborate with a _____________________ team to support growth for children with disabilities. Answer 10- special education

Section 3.2 - Self Assessment: Describe Child Development and How It Relates to Observation and Assessment

Question 1- _________________________ help you determine which skills a child should have and what they should learn next. Answer 1- Developmental milestones Question 2- Approaches to learning is a developmental ___________________. Answer 2- domain Question 3- Wash hands with soap and water without adult prompting is something you would expect a child to be able to do within the ______________________ , __________________________ and ______________________. Answer 3- perceptual, motor, and physical Question 4- The next skill you can typically expect a child to work on after they pull to stand is ___________________________. Answer 4- cruising Question 5- As you begin to use developmental milestones in your ____________________ , children developing on a progression and may not meet milestones at precise times, will guide your work. Answer 5- assessments Question 6- When ______________________ and ____________________ children your knowledge of developmental milestones will help you determine if children are meeting typical expectations in each domain and identify red flags. Answer 6- observing, assessing Question 7- A child shows several ___________________________ for development which may or may not include loss of skills during an assessment will lead you to refer a child who is 22 months old. Answer 7- red flags Question 8- Supervising children on the playground or during outdoor exploration time is a _________________________ you can use to apply your knowledge of child development in your everyday work. Answer 8- strategy

Valid

The tools measure what they say they'll measure

Reliable

The tools offer consistent results across children and teachers

Evidence-Based Assessment Tools

Tools that have been piloted or tested so that they have evidence that they measure specific skills with specific populations