Child Assessments

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In the Classroom: Child Assessments

Many early care and education providers across the U.S. regularly assess the children they serve, using a variety of formal and informal practices.

Examples of child assessment are:

• observing, documenting, and evaluating the child's growth and progress
• designing instruction or identifying teaching strategies that are best suited to each child
• making decisions about interventions, accommodations, or referral of support services
• reporting findings to others: families, governing bodies, supporters, administrators

Teaching teams should be skilled in sound assessment practices including ensuring that all child assessment is developmentally appropriate and free of bias. Multiple sources of evidence should be gathered to determine each child's progress. Evidence might include anecdotal records of teachers' observations, development checklists, sample of child's work, language samples, pictures, videos, tape recordings, interviews with other adults who interact with the child and conversations with families. Many programs develop a portfolio to document progress.

Typically, children are assessed within the first few weeks of enrollment (often at 30 days) or after transitioning to a new classroom. Additionally, an effective teaching team will engage in authentic assessment daily to inform classroom planning and teaching strategies. Programs often have a calendar for other regular assessments in order to report to governing bodies or to prepare for family conferences. At times, it might be necessary to address a problem or concern regarding a child and additional assessment measures are put into action.

Upcoming Webinars:

• Wednesday, December 6 @ 1:30pm-2:30pm | Child Assessments
• Wednesday, December 13 @ 1:30pm-2:30pm | Employee Benefits

Contact theteam@showmeresource.org to learn more or if you have questions.

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