1. What Parents Need to KnowAbout the Purpose of Early Childhood Assessment
By: Lara Elizabeth Marie Fox
Produced as a class project at WKU for
CFS: 294 Fall 2009

2. What is Assessment?
The process of gathering information about children from several forms of evidence, then organizing and interpreting that information
3. Assessment Principles
Benefit children
Tailor to a specific purpose
Recognize reliability and validity increase with age
Age appropriate
Linguistically appropriate
Value parents
4. Assessment Strategies
Standardized Tests
Informal Assessments: Observations, Teacher-Designed Measures, Checklists, Rating Scales, Rubrics, Performance/Portfolio Assessments, and Technology-Based Assessments
5. Purpose 1
Assessing to promote childrens learning and development
6. Purpose 2
Identifying children for health and social services
7. Purpose 3
Monitoring trends and evaluating programs and services
8. Purpose 4
Assessing academic achievement to hold individual students, teachers, and schools accountable
9. 10. Standardized Tests
Measure abilities, achievements, aptitudes, interests, attitudes, values, and personality characteristics
11. 12. Observations
Allow the teacher to get to know the child as a unique individual, rather than as a member of a group
13. 14. Teacher-Designed
Allow the teacher to obtain more specific information about each students knowledge and skills relative to the instructional objectives of the class
15. 16. Checklists
Become a framework for assessment and evaluation, instructional planning, record keeping, and communicating with parents
17. 18. Rating Scales
Require the teacher to make a qualitative judgment about the extent to which a behavior is present
19. 20. Rubrics
Act as qualitative instruments for assessing student progress or scoring student work
21. 22. Performance/Portfolio
Measures what children can do or apply, in addition to what children know
Assessment and evaluation, self-assessment and reflection, and reporting progress
23. 24. Technology-Based
Assess children through the use of computers and other forms of technology
25. Students
Know what they are doing well
Know where they need to work harder
26. Teachers
Decide what and how to teach
27. Parents
Additional support for their children
28. School Districts
Additional support for teachers and students
29. State/Federal Dept. of Education
Assess educational status
Additional funding
Make improvements
30. Sources
DiGesu, E. (n.d.). The purpose of assessment. Retrieved from http://www. gecdsb.on.ca/d&g/onlinepd/Assessment%20&%20Evaluation/Purpose.htm
Katz, L.G. (1998, January 27). A developmental approach to assessmentof young children. Retrieved from http://www.kidsource.comkidsource content4/assess.development.html
Wortham, S.C. (2008). Assessment in early childhood education (fifth edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
NOTE: All images can be found on http://www.google.com under an image search
31. Thank You!
This presentation was produced as a class project at WKU for CFS 294 Assessment of Young Children Fall 2009