The Language of Assessment

02/25/2008

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
Anais Nin

According to Juanita V. Copley, writing in the Exchange article, "Assessing Mathematical Learning: Observing and Listening to Children," that in assessing children's math skills we must be aware that language often carries different meanings to young children. She offers this example...

"An assessor asked individual children to identify triangles from a series of shapes. Most children could identify the more typically shaped triangles with little problem and also give a definition of a triangle as 'a shape with three sides.' During her assessment, however, one of the triangles fell off the table; and when she asked the child to identify it, she held it up so it was standing on the point. When she asked the child to identify the shape, the child replied that he didn't know, but he was sure it wasn't a triangle because it 'didn't look like it.' He was then asked to tell what a triangle was; and when he responded 'a shape with three sides,' she asked him again why the shape wasn't a triangle. Again, the child responded that it 'didn't look like it' and that, in fact, it 'needed to look like a girl' if it was going to be a triangle. Puzzled, the assessor asked where the child had seen triangles 'that looked like girls.' The child pointed to the restroom door down the hall. After a quick glance at the doors, the teacher understood the child's answer! The girl's bathroom had a circle with a triangle under it for girl and the boy's bathroom had a circle with a rectangle under it for boy."

New Out of the Box Training Kit on Assessing Math

The article discussed above, "Assessing Mathematical Learning," serves as the basis of the newest Exchange Out of the Box Training Kit. The kit offers those training early childhood teachers, the article for the teachers to read, along with suggestions for exploring the article in a staff meeting, and follow-up exercises. Check out this and other Out of the Box Training Kits.

Nike teacher opportunities!
Nike's Child Development Programs is holding a virtual career event on March 20th. To learn more and register to attend the event go to www.nikevirtualevent.com

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