A Research Study On Child Literacy Assessment

3. Assessment of Literacy Development in Early Childhood is a research that was conducted by Johnson, Peter H, and Rogers, Rebecca. Both authors highly believe in assessing literacy development, since it is a huge aspect in students’ literacy development. Both authors state, “Most literacy assessment occurs in the school years because, at least in most Western countries, literacy learning is considered the responsibility of the school, though when school literacy instruction actually begins…In the United States, since the thirties, literacy-related assessment has occurred in the early years of schooling because of beliefs about the relationship between learning and development” (pg. 1).

Learning to read and write as a child is an experience that all can relate to. The average child learns to read and write at the early ages of three and four. Developing literacy at an early age is crucial to academic development as well as to performance in life. Early development can be just what a child needs to stimulate their minds, which in turn is assisting in the evolution of their future. The early and latter stages of development in a child’s literacy journey are the makings for their reading and writing skills. It also plays part in their analysis of obstacles as well as their developed or problematic literacy future. A child

Zero to Three is an organization that was established in 1977 by some of the best experts in health, child development, and mental health. The main focus is on the development of infants and toddlers. The main goal of this organization is to guarantee that all babies and toddlers are given a strong start in life. Promoting an understanding about key issues that affect young children and their families. Key issues include infant mental health, child care, early language and literacy development, early intervention and the impact culture has on early childhood development (About Us, 2016).

In primary schools, literacy is taught through things such as Phonics. In 2012, The Department for Education (DfE) introduced a phonics screening check for pupils at the end of year 1. The check asks pupils to read 40 words, of which 20 are pseudo-words. This allows teachers to identify which pupils have a genuine grasp of decoding and which pupils are in need of further support. “Since 2012, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard has increased from 58% to 74% in 2014”. Literacy enables children at a young age to understand how the alphabet works and concentrates on speaking and listening skills, phonological awareness and oral blending and segmenting. Additional activities that can be done to help with literacy are drama, guided reading, peer work and talking in groups. Children with good literacy skills are abler to take advantage of the opportunities that they may come across as they would be literate in a subject area. A child should have good word recognition and language comprehension in order to be successfully literate. Furthermore, Literacy skills can be developed outside of the school environment. DfE found that “research has shown that children’s motivation and achievement improve when their parents or carers are involved in their education”.

The use of formal and informal reading assessments provide important data that allow educators to identify at risk students (Tompkins, 2010). The data collected from the assessments address any factors that may prohibit the development of students’ reading and writing skills. In addition to the assessments, the more an educator can learn about students’ backgrounds and their past reading, language development, and writing experiences the more instructional strategies can be designed to specifically meet the needs of diverse learners in the classroom.

On Thursday, June 25, 2015, I met with my host teacher, Ms. Madison and Joseph’s mother about getting permission to use Joseph to conduct my assessments on. During this time, I asked her a series of questions regarding Joseph’s development. First, I asked her how she saw his literacy and language development. She said, “I feel that he is doing what children his age should be doing.” I then asked her if he likes to read, write, and contribute to conversations? She replied that he does not like to read; however, he likes to try and write when they are at restaurants waiting on their food and that he is always talking. I then asked her if someone at home reads to him frequently. She explained that she is a single parent and that she has

If someone were to ask what your favorite book was as a kid, what would first come to mind? Ranging from Where the Wild Things Are to The Very Hungry Caterpillar to There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, the list is sure to swell as memories and moments flood back with your favorite pictures and characters making themselves known. Whatever the book, it’s likely everyone has special stories associated with their childhood, sitting and listening as their imaginations ran wild. However, I’m sure it’s not often that these beloved books are revisited past elementary school, yet it’s not rare that their significance still remains. Children’s books aren’t only valuable to the audiences they’re written for, but they’re a source of expression

Mrs. Grill was able to provide an abundance of useful information regarding her kindergarten class and also explained how she acquires this information, as many of her students are entering school for the first time. The students’ linguistic background is identified at enrollment, by the parents and the teacher is provided with and English Learner roster. The EL students are then given a formal assessment, by bilingual team and rated as either beginner, intermediate or advanced in their ability to speak and understand English. Content knowledge and skills are assessed at kindergarten registration and again at the beginning of the school year. The assessment consists of letter names and sounds, shapes, colors, rote

Teaching is a career that always provides learning opportunities. There is a life-long opportunity to learn from your students and colleagues. As an administrator it is essential that I am able to provide guidance and instruction to my staff and students. However, there are always new and improved strategies and concepts introduced. This allows me to study and evaluate theories that have been introduced. This happens because it allows me to constantly stay informed and learn from others. After completing the evaluation, it allowed me to identify areas of improvement in my instructional leadership.

Children’s books are written to open children’s horizons and broaden their imaginations; instead they close minds to new experiences and peddle stereotypes. Children often look into

There are many varied benefits of children’s literature, and Hill (2015) addresses many of them in chapter five in the textbook. In particular what resonated with me was how Hill discusses that immersing children in literacy early, promotes a life long love of reading and furthermore supports children’s literacy development. Working in Early Childhood I have been able to witness this first hand, children that have a literacy enriched environment at home have a deeper interest in language groups, a good vocabulary and comprehension, and early reading behaviors at a younger age. (INF)

A 2005 Randolph Caldecott Honor was presented to The Red Book by Barbara Lehman. The Red Book is a wordless book that follows a boy along after he is sent on a journey by a red book. Barbara Lehman’s visual literary shines threw in The Red Book as she is able to use simple images and few colors to engage readers in this text.

Reading is a skill often taken for granted but it is essential in order to progress in life. For a child being able to read well helps them learn new things, give ideas and enables use of imagination. National literacy trust (2015) suggests that children’s early language skills can have a major impact on a child’s development of literacy skills. Five-year olds with poor language and literacy have a higher risk of underachieving at age seven and beyond. Reading skills encourage more opportunities in life and it can affect a child’s wellbeing if they do not achieve this effectively (Finnegan,2015).

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be

Language assessment literacy refers to the familiarity of the stakeholders with measurement practices and the application of this knowledge to classroom practices and issues of assessing language (Inbar-Lourie, 2008). Appropriate assessment provides teachers with important information about student performance and about the extent to which learning objectives have been achieved in the classroom. Despite the importance of student progress assessment (Taylor, 2009; Scarino, 2013), many teachers and test users have a limited understand¬ing of assessment essentials (Popham, 2009). Competencies that language teachers need to acquire in order to develop assessment literacy include the ability to understand proper testing practices, use various means of assessment, interpret assessment results, and use the results in their teaching (Boyles, 2005). Language teachers, who also fulfill the role of testers, want a practical text that includes relevant activities. In addition to textbooks, other approaches to develop assessment literacy are traditional as well as face-to-face workshops, online tutorials, reference frameworks, video projects, pre-conference workshops, and series of narrative accounts.