Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/riding-the-assessment-tide/5018063/
The tide is coming. If it hasn’t affected your program, we’d be surprised. Scientifically�"based child assessment tools, observation, screening, portfolios, individualized research-based curriculum . . . sound familiar? These are now requirements for accreditation by the NAEYC. Head Start has set them as expectations in their performance standards. And increasingly, entities that fund early childhood programs are looking to the use of child assessment tools as a way of guaging a program’s quality and improving its outcomes for children. For example, expectations to assess children with research based tools are fast becoming part of funding requirements for agencies funded by United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and for state pre-kindergarten programs.But are early childhood programs ready for these new expectations and requirements? A needs assessment conducted for United Way by Brandeis University in 2005 estimated that 28% of all children in UW programs had social and emotional challenges, but just half of United Way-funded agencies reported using standardized child assessment measures.
There are now good resources available to help early childhood programs set up and establish an assessment system for early learners. But how does the theory of implementing child assessment systems stand up in practice? What does the ...