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In their Exchange article, "What Assessment Means to Early Childhood Educators," Angela Notari-Syverson and Angela Losardo point out these key considerations in assessing children in preschool settings:

Assess in Meaningful Contexts. Young children develop and learn primarily in the context of everyday interactions with adults during daily routines and activities. Assessment should reflect meaningful real life experiences and be conducted as part of regular classroom activities. Educators can identify specific behaviors that occur during routines and plan to observe individual children during these activities. For example, children’s language and communications skills can be observed during snack. Children’s knowledge of book conventions can be observed during picture book reading.

Consider Individual and Cultural Factors. Young children are easily influenced by context. It is important to observe how a child’s performance may vary across different situations. Some children may talk more during play rather than on demand. Some children may need initial encouragement from an adult in order to complete a task. This type of information is valuable for identifying instructional supports and strategies that work best for individual children. Alternative assessments that are open-ended and allow for adaptations and accommodations to make a task more engaging and culturally relevant are especially appropriate for use with children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and children with disabilities.

Involve Families. A child may display competencies differently in the home, in early childhood programs, and other social settings. Information from family members is critical, especially when the child’s family background differs from the mainstream culture and when traditional assessments may underestimate the child’s abilities.

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"What Assessment Means to Early Childhood Educators" is one of more than 60 Out of the Box Training Kits sold by Exchange. And this week, Out of the Box Training Kits are on sale at a 20% discount. Other related training kits include:

• The Power of Observation
• Observation: The Primary Tool in Assessment
• Assessing Mathematical Learning
• Brain Research and Its Implications for Early Childhood Programs
• Family Conferencing: Developing Trust
• Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice
• How Children Build Their Understanding of Numbers

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