Week 1 EDUC 3003 Content Review

The importance of developmentally appropriate assessments is to learn about the child. Assessments support the teacher in educating that child according to their particular development. It is part of the teaching learning process; it is part of everything that teachers do in the class.

Assessments are developmentally appropriate. Children learn and assess best when they are in care of a trusted individual. Individuals should be responsive to the child as an individual because that too is part of developmentally appropriate practice. Cultural appropriateness is also needed for validity of assessments.

2. Policymakers, the early childhood profession, and other stakeholders in young children's lives have many shared responsibilities regarding effective assessment (NAEYC & NAEC/SDE, 2003, p. 4). Using the information presented on pages 3–6 of Assessing and Guiding Young Children's Development and Learning, explain the responsibilities of each of these groups in ensuring effective assessment.

The responsibilities of each group tie in with one another. The organizations take informed positions on significant, controversial issues affecting the education and development of young children. These organizations take on issues related to curriculum implementation and development to ensure that children are learning at an age appropriate lever. The organizations also have a purpose and use of assessment data of the students. The data reveals the benefits and risks in accountability systems for early childhood programs. These programs also stimulate investments needed to create accessible, affordable, high-quality learning environments and professional development that support the implementation of excellent early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation (McAfee, 2016).

However, all of this information is according to text. As an individual who has worked in NAEYC accredited centers, some of these details are often overlooked once a school receives accreditation. The process should be ongoing and some type of assurance that schools are consistently fulfilling their obligation of quality childcare services.

3. Each child approaches, interacts, and processes their world in unique ways. Effective assessment takes this uniqueness into account through sensitivity to individual abilities and linguistic, social, and cultural differences. Review pages 18–24 of Assessing and Guiding Young Children's Development and Learning, and explain, using examples, why sensitivity to each of these factors is such an important component of effective assessment. Then, summarize the role fair and impartial assessment plays in achieving this sensitivity.

To emphasize and apply child-centered approaches of appropriate assessment, it is requisite to be sensitive to various cultural, social, linguistic, and individual abilities that uniquely make children approach, interact, and approach their immediate environment different from each other (McAfee & Leong, 2016). Sensitivity to the factors that make children unique from each other in learning and development is a crucial component as it is by appreciating uniqueness of children in learning and development that the practices for supporting development assessment originates (McAfee & Leong, 2016).

One of the trials in developmentally appropriate assessment strategies is stressing child-centered approaches. Fair and impartial assessment provides a guide to early childhood professionals in their observation as they seek to design effective child-centered educational practices for each child.

Reference:

McAfee, O., Leong, D. J., Bodrova, E. (2016). Assessing and Guiding Young Children's Development and Learning (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson