Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/developing-a-child-assessment-plan-an-integral-part-of-program-quality/5018451/
Three-year-old Zach is beginning his first day at his new child care center. After having been in a family day care home since he was two months old, he is moving to a center-based program. In the initial interview with Miss Beth, the preschool teacher, Zach’s mother expressed some concerns about his development. She commented, “He does not talk in complete sentences or say as many words as his older brother (age five) did at that age.” She was also concerned about other behaviors: “screaming when he gets frustrated or has to change activities, a very short attention span when playing with toys, and he seldom plays with other children.” Miss Beth plans to observe him for a few days and then meet with his mother to develop a plan and identify appropriate strategies for working with Zach.NAEYC’s Accreditation Criteria for Assessment clearly identifies the need for observation and assessment in early childhood programs, “Programs conduct assessments as an integral part of the program. Programs use assessments to support children’s learning, using a variety of methods such as observations, checklist, rating scales . . . ” (NAEYC, 2005, p. 35). NAEYC also addresses the need to create an assessment plan ...