INTERVIEW REPORT The main focus of this report is the use of assessments in Early Years Education. These assessments are of different kinds depending on the purpose for which they are conducted. Assessments for high stake purposes test the feasibility of programs in achieving state goals and are usually required by government agencies and funding bodies. The other more common assessment is undertaken to observe a child's progress. It helps to determine the most effective mode of instruction for him/her and for notifying parents of their children's development. This report focuses on the latter and highlights programs that have been implemented in different school settings and the learning outcomes from each program. It is hoped that this report will provide readers with some best practices that can make learning assessment even more effective consequently ensuring that the objective of the No Child Left Behind program i.e. to reduce learning gaps between children from different backgrounds is achieved. INTERVIEWEE PROFILE This interview was conducted with two teachers specialized in early education. One of them belonged to a formal school setting while the other was a part of a community learning program for young children. The Initial information was gathered through a face to face interaction and was supplemented with formal modules about the assessment program at each institution. FINDINGS: Finding 1: An informal mode of assessment usually referred to
“Professional” early childhood educators are able to understand children and to understand him/her. They are devoted to what they do in a daily basis; they follow ethics and standards that the job asks for. Professionals are always willing to do what the job requires for them followed by having a positive attitude to transform those duties that discourage their teaching. A professional early childhood educator is always willing to self-actualize himself in order to grow professionally (Machado & Botnarescue, 2011). Analyzing all these characteristics, I am ready to teach ALL children and ready to learn more and more. I feel that I have the six integrated standards that are important for this field. I believe that I have what it takes to promote child development and learning in which I am aware about Developmental Appropriate Practice (DAP), as well as developmentally and culturally responsive practice (DCRP).
Assessments are important tools that educators use for a variety of reasons. The basic use of assessments is for measuring the student’s knowledge. For English Language Learners and special education students, assessments are generally used for placement. Using the results from the evaluations, educators use their findings to place the students in the most beneficial class for them. As more ELL students enter the classroom as well as other diverse scholars, the importance of having knowledge of different assessments and teaching strategies becomes imperative and basically mandatory. When entering the kindergarten English Language Learners classroom at Sprout State School of the Arts, the head teacher was able to give inciteful information in regards to the many educational questions that were asked concerning the different facets of education in the classroom. Through a lengthy interview with the teacher, information was gained concerning indicators of exceptionality in ELL students, information pertaining to the use of formal and informal assessments in placement, the role of parents and teachers in placement, as well as underachievement factors that may not need special education needs, justification for changes in proficiency levels, the integration of assessment types and the benefits of the SIOP protocol for all learners.
The first few years of a young child’s life, from birth to four years old, are very critical to his/her overall development, due to most of the time, teacher professionals are individuals who play the key and an active role in their early childhood development are teacher professionals who have a passion and a genuine desire to help them learn, grow and succeed in their education. These are just a few roles that early childhood educators plays in the field of early childhood education for working with young children in their early childhood years of life, which the requirements, most of the time, are to have both a formal education and passing teacher-certification score.
As an Early childhood, Educator. I am required to administer a developmental screening to all students within 45 calendar of enrollment. When I was doing my observation for the course ECE 221. I could see in the pre-school class, how the teacher was assessing, a three-year-old child using” The Early Screening Inventory-Revised”. To start with this assessment,
The 2010 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Initial and Advanced Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs provides standards that set guidelines for what and how early childhood professionals prepare themselves to be efficient educators and caregivers. Professional development tools and strategies are critical assets for providing high quality early childhood education and care that meets the needs and interest of all learners. Today’s early childhood settings are filled with a diverse group of learners. Efficient educators must use a broad range of approaches, tools, and resources to ensure success for all learners. The NAEYC Initial and Advanced Standards demonstrates particular strategies for early childhood educators to prepare themselves to be successful and effective teachers. For this brief composition I chose to highlight the initial standard #4: using developmentally effective approaches.
The names are familiar to most parents: No Child Left Behind, Common Core State Standards, Race to the Top. These initiatives and others signify the importance of education in the United States and the many ways in which the standards have been set throughout the last couple of decades. The early childhood education community has felt the pressure to meet benchmarks set forth by these initiatives just as much as elementary, middle school, and high school teachers have, often times struggling to maintain a balance between play based learning and the high-stakes assessments that are now required. So, how do the United States Early Childhood Education programs begin preparing
Assessment strategies: The educator will identify the children’s progress through observing their engagement and interactions with the set activities. The educator will
As an Early Childhood Education teacher, I am in favor of informal assessments. Elementary curriculum is designed to spiral across grade levels. Related content and subject matter will be stumbled upon at various grade levels, increasing in complexity and level of mastery each year. In 3rd grade, students should be able to solve problems with larger whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Students should also be able to collect and organize real-world data and construct ways to display the data. These skills require practice for automaticity and mastery. I will be assessing 3rd grade students’ in a public school proficiency and understanding of fractions as part of a whole and as part of a set using a pictorial representations. This formal
Please look at the numbered items below and develop an outline prior to writing the draft.
The Scale was designed to go beyond available assessments by revealing the infant 's strengths and range of individuality, while still providing a health screen.
The assessment gives parents and teachers a idea what the child can do. This assessment is a way to enforce account ability in the school. When the assessment is given it helps out
Assessment is very important in the beginning years. Teachers who teach students in these early years of development have a tremendous responsibility in regards to assessing their learning abilities. Furthermore, the decisions that these teacher make can be either positive or negative in regards to the educational foundation of the students. I also agree that the teachers should communicate with parents and guardians on a regular basic regarding assessment measurement of their
Peer Reviewed Research Article: According to Johanson, S., & Kuh, L. (2013). This source is the publishing research of early child hood teachers. These teachers are often underrepresented as authors in the educational research arena. It involves informative articles, resources and tools to promote teacher participation of early childhood
In education assessments are used in a variety of ways. They are used to measure, evaluate, and track the academic standing and progress of individuals. As a tool assessments help to identify academic readiness, strengths and weaknesses, and skill acquisition. They provide educators with data so that they can provide specialized support, if needed. The two articles that will be synthesized for this paper are “The Language of Young Children on Entry to School as Measured by Baseline Assessments. Why Ignore the Evidence From Research?” And “Mental health: Early Intervention and Prevention in Children and Young People.” Both articles are based on assessments used to scaffold how young children learn; however, both differ in approach and
As an early childhood education professional it is important to understand obstacles and make a plan to overcome those obstacles. In my current position as an owner operator of a family daycare program. I have taken a variety of the common checklists combined them together into my own form adding a section to make my own notes. This overcomes a variety of the challenges that come with using checklists assessments. It is also important to write exactly what the child/ren are doing in order to not add personal bias. I also make sure to review the information prior to sharing with parents or making individualized planning.