mod 8083 discussion
Candyy31
8083RESPONSE.docxRunning head: RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT 1
RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT 5
Response 1
Simon Kim
RE: Discussion - Module 6
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Based on the educator's review and reflection of all the learning materials for the course, there are seven important points of assessment and data-driven learning that can be explained in greater detail. The seven important points of assessment and data-driven learning consist of (1) the value of maintaining authenticity in assessment, (2) the use of multiple methods of assessment to achieve a fuller, comprehensive development profile, (3) the coverage of multiple domains of learning in the assessment process, (4) the need for assessments to be aligned with the curriculum and instruction of the educational program, (5) the end goal for assessments to employ evidence-based interventions, (6) assessments optimizing childhood learning, and (7) assessments being more beneficial and purpose-driven when involving family participation.
One of the most important points concerning assessments as an aspiring program leader of an early childhood learning facility is acknowledging the value of maintaining authenticity in the assessments. For example, Bagnato and colleagues (2014) conducted a research study to validate that authentic assessment is the “best practice” for early childhood intervention. It is important to recognize for program directors and teachers in an early childhood learning facility that “authentic observations” of young learners must be conducted especially when they are at play or engaged in self-directed learning activities. Anderson (2016) asserts that authentic assessment can be a powerful tool for early childhood educators because it provides insights into each child’s unique developmental path and progress. For the teacher, an authentic assessment process involves a consistent, comprehensive reflection on observational notes, artistic creations, emergent writing samples, and other learning outcomes to assess the individual child’s growth and progress as an individual and within the class group (Anderson, 2016). The singular advantage of using authentic assessment is reducing unintended or implicit biases by teachers and program leaders. The implicit biases are automatic, subconscious biases that teachers may have without conscious awareness about expectations and interactions with children in the learning environment (Anderson, 2016). The authentic assessments can greatly reduce the biases for teachers because they are depending on a comprehensive array of materials and observations deliberately done as accurately, factually, and realistically as possible through a conscious effort to exercise authenticity. In addition, authentic assessments guide teachers to perceive children in their learning environments in a strength-based manner rather than considering potential deficits and challenging behaviors (Anderson, 2016). It is more culturally appropriate and responsive because children can demonstrate they can apply specific learning concepts and learning skills within their own cultural schemas.
Another important point acquired from the course material is the use of multiple methods of assessment to achieve a comprehensive profile of a young learner. A program leader and the teachers of an early childhood education facility must understand how to use these various methods of assessment including tests, observation, portfolios, and educator and parental ratings. These different methods of assessment were rigorously overviewed and discussed in the course material. The key advantage of using all the methods of assessment is different data being derived in the process to assess the child’s learning progress and future learning needs. This is the data that can permit program leaders and teachers to decide what kind of interventions are beneficial for each child learner in the program. For instance, Bierman and colleagues (2017) conducted a study on low-income preschool children who benefited from having home visits and evidence-based interventions. The researchers found that multiple methods of assessment were useful in collecting vital data on student-teacher relationships, classroom participation, and social competence of the young learners (Bierman et al, 2017). The clearest benefit is that multiple methods of assessment provide data sets that help construct comprehensive students’ profiles for teachers, parents, and program leaders to decide what evidence-based interventions are appropriate for each unique child learner.
The domains of learning for young children are relevant and important for the assessment process. The domains include gross and fine motor skills, language, cognitive, social/emotional, adaptive, and morals/values. Program leaders, teachers, and parents must be cognizant and conscious of the domains of early childhood development to enable them to effectively apply the assessment methods and derive the accurate, valued data from them in the context of the domains. When undertaking observation logs or constructing portfolios for young learners, the different domains become critical to recording the appropriate, useful data that marks developmental progress in the different domains. However, there is room for improvement among educators to make the domains of learning more conducive for children to learn more effectively. For example, Piasta and colleagues (2015) conducted a research to improve learning opportunities for early childhood educators in science and math, so they could improve their own understanding of these subject matters to improve the curriculum and approaches to teaching science and math in early childhood classrooms with the goal of heightening the interest levels for the child learners in the subjects.
Another important point is the need for assessments to be aligned with the curriculum and instruction of the educational program in the early childhood education facility. In the course material, an in-depth analysis was undertaken to ensure aspiring early childhood educators understand how important this becomes for successful educational programs. In other words, the assessment methods and data have to provide insights into what evidence-based interventions are appropriate for individual child learners in the context of the program’s curriculum and instruction. The assessments must represent the valued outcomes on which the curriculum and instruction is focused (McLachlan et al, 2018). For example, teachers making observation logs and constructing portfolios for their young learners must be doing this in the context of the program’s curriculum and instructional content which entails that a program leader and teachers must engage in an honest, open dialogue about the assessment methods being aligned with the educational program’s curriculum and instructional content. In addition, this also entails parents being made aware of the importance of how data from their observations and data collected from home environments must be aligned with the program’s curriculum and instructional content.
The next two important points can be discussed together since the end goal for assessments is to employ evidence-based interventions because assessments must always optimize children’s learning. Based on the course material, assessments in early childhood education are done to optimize the learning environment and experiences for the young children. In addition, these assessments are undertaken to decide which evidence-based interventions should be selected to help the young learners progress in their development in the various domains. For example, Terrell and Watson (2018) conducted an extensive review of relevant literature to find a variety of direct and indirect intervention practices for young children in the home, childcare facilities, and preschools that support and enhance all aspects of oral and written literacy. By reviewing a number of these intervention practices, the researchers concluded that parents and teachers need to comprehend which practices are age appropriate and when children are ready for such practices to continue to develop their literary skill sets (Terrell and Watson, 2018). The evidence-based interventions become effective when parents and teachers are aware of when and how to employ them at the right time and situation. In turn, evidence-based interventions would optimize learning for the young children.
The final important point acquired from the course material is that assessments are more beneficial and purpose-driven when involving family participation. It is obvious that most parents do not know how to use assessments which means that parents need to be with teachers and program leaders in early childhood educational facilities to learn about assessment methods, how to use them in the home environment, and the value of accurate data collection in the home environment. For example, parents can be instructed on how to use observational data logs and know how important this data becomes in the comprehensive profile building of their child’s learning progress and needs. For example, Kiracioglu and colleagues (2019) in their study conducted on families’ involvement in their children’s preschool education including the assessment process, concluded there was a positive impact on the children’s learning progress compared to those in a control group whose parents and families did not become involved. The researchers found that families’ participation in the assessment process of their children in the home environment when they were doing their routines or at play, was critically important for building data on their children’s learning needs and progress (Kiracioglu et al, 2019). Despite the time and effort that needs to be invested in involving parents in the assessment process, the positive impact can bring further benefits to the young learners’ progress.
Involving families in the assessment process becomes even more challenging when dealing with parents who speak another language as the primary language in their home environments. However, this is critical to motivate the parents to become involved in their children’s assessment process in their own language and providing them observation log forms in their native language as well. A program leader must be ready to challenge and take the task to include toward the parents and families who use different languages. It also may require the hiring of interpreters to inform parents about how to use the assessment process, make observation logs, and comprehend its importance in their child’s learning progress. It is culturally appropriate and much more accurate to allow parents to use their own language and feel more at ease in taking observation logs in their own language. It is the program’s leader's responsibility to ensure the parents are included in the assessment process and that being fluent in a different language is not an obstacle. As research validates, families’ participation in the assessment process of young children’s learning is important in helping to accurately assess learning needs, strengths, and weaknesses.
References
Anderson, D. (2016). Authentic assessment: A critical tool for early childhood educators. New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute.
Authentic Assessment: A Critical Tool for Early Childhood Educators – The Institute Blog (earlychildhood ny.org)
Bagnato, S. J., Goins, D. D., Pretti-Frontczak, K., & Neisworth, J. T. (2014). Authentic assessment as “best practice” for early childhood intervention: National consumer social validity research. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 34(2), 116-127.
Bierman, K. L., Heinrichs, B. S., Welsh, J. A., Nix, R. L., & Gest, S. D. (2017). Enriching preschool classrooms and home visits with evidence‐based programming: sustained benefits for low‐income children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(2), 129-137.
Kiracioglu, D., Demirbas-Celik, N., & Aytaç, P. (2019). Effectiveness of family involvement activities in pre-school education. Global Journal of Guidance and Counseling in Schools: Current Perspectives, 9(3), 131-137.
McLachlan, C., Fleer, M., & Edwards, S. (2018). Early childhood curriculum: Planning, assessment and implementation. Cambridge University Press.
Piasta, S. B., Logan, J. A., Pelatti, C. Y., Capps, J. L., & Petrill, S. A. (2015). Professional development for early childhood educators: Efforts to improve math and science learning opportunities in early childhood classrooms. Journal of educational psychology, 107(2), 407.
Terrell, P., & Watson, M. (2018). Laying a firm foundation: Embedding evidence-based emergent literacy practices into early intervention and preschool environments. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49(2), 148-164.
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Response 2 5 days ago
Chukwunonyelum Eneje
RE: Discussion - Module 6
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Module 6-discussion-EDDD 8083
Post a reflective summary of what you have learned about assessment, identifying what you believe are the seven most important points about assessment and data-driven decisions in the learning environment.
These are the seven ideas that I feel every educator should know about assessment are:
Families and or guardians must play an essential part in the assessment from the start to the end because they know and care about their children. They offer useful true and longitudinal information about their children that is not otherwise obtainable. There will be greater developmental progress for their children when families are engaged in the assessment processes (Bagnato, 2007).
Assessments methods and resources must accommodate the children’s developmental and exceptionalities-specific features because the styles, content of assessment and methods must become well-matched with, rather than at odds with, the interests and behaviours of young children. When educators use the developmental approach for the assessment, it will cover the whole child.
Assessment must be helpful to achieve the many related goals of early care and early intervention. Assessment is crucial for identifying likely challenges and, through intervention, preventing more perverse and serious problems. Assessment is imperative for planning modified interventions, monitoring progress through consistent assessments, and for recording the effect of the quality programs.
In addition to that, assessment must have treatment validity -there must be an important relationship between program goals, individual child goals, and the developmental skills that are evaluated. Resources and approaches to assessment must support families and professionals to identify educational goals and ways of assisting.
Families and professionals must equally agree upon the strategies, resources, and styles for assessment. The goals and approaches suggested by the assessment must be considered worthwhile and acceptable. Assessment strategies should encourage collaboration among families and educators. Assessment must encourage the idea of parent-educator decision-making in which tests do not make decisions-people do.
Educators should know that observing children play in their natural environments offers real information that is much more descriptive of the child. Also, functional, valid, reliable information on the children’s progress and status can be obtained when educators, families, and other professionals observe typical behaviour in daily routines repeatedly. Changes in such data are vital to highlight so that areas of the required change in programming can be emphasized.
Assessment must accommodate personal differences. The idea of equity is accepted and required as vital for instructional materials. For example, a professional would not use standard print material with children with low vision. Materials can be selected that allow the child to show competencies through many response ways by using materials that can be transformed flexibly. When resources and processes accommodate a child’s sensory, affective, response, and cultural features they are equitable. Another example is an educator using unoriginal resources that have been used with children without exceptionality; to force-fit these resources to children with exceptionality breaches not only the principles of equity and developmental suitability but common sense.
Educators and families must be allowed to use assessment materials that sample evidence of progressively more complex skill development so that even the smallest increment of change can be identified and celebrated. Children with more severe delays and impairments particularly require assessment that is sensitive to small additions of progress. Many established tools do not contain enough items to make potential sensitive measurements of progress. Additionally, early childhood assessment resources and approaches must be created particularly for preschool, infants, toddlers, and primary school children (6-8) and align the style and interests of young children (Bagnato, 2007).
Discuss the ways to involve families in the assessment process.
These are the ways educators can engage families in the assessment process by partnering with them to assess the child’s process of progress and providing tools such as portfolios to support to assist the families to know their role in creating developmental change connected to their child’s outcomes. Additionally, including the families in assessment collection from the start and as allies in the process, translating the assessment results into daily activities that families can do with their children, and using the families, as consultants in developing the classroom activities can be good ideas too.
How can the results of assessments be communicated to families and or other stakeholders?
The assessment results can be communicated to families and or other stakeholders through many strategies, which are home visits, telephone calls, emails, parent-teacher meetings, parent education sessions, and staff meetings.
How can you communicate the results of assessments in a culturally responsive way?
These are the approaches that educators can communicate the results of the assessment in a culturally responsive way is through delivering the data in a user-friendly format, and keeping families up-to-date by consistently sharing the main results from the assessments and work samples together to form a child’s portfolio.
What information can families provide?
The information the families can offer about their children is that they can bring an array of information, views, feelings, and hopes important to the child’s experience in the setting such as the children’s personality, behaviour at home and health record, family beliefs, worries and expectations about their children’s success or failure, culturally-rooted opinions about child-rearing, and families’ knowledge of school and philosophies about their role in connection to the educators. In addition to that, the families’ sense of control and authority, and other individual and family influences can be part of the information that families can bring to the setting (The national center on parent, family, and community engagement, 2011).
References
Bagnato, S. J. (2007). Authentic assessment for early childhood intervention: Best practices. Guilford Press.
The national center on parent, family and community engagement. (2011). Family Engagement and Ongoing Child Assessment. http://www.foursquarecommunityactioninc.com/Documents/Family_Engagement_Ongoing_Child_Assessment.pdf
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