Are you someone like me that views the start of the school year as a bit like the start of the New Year?
There's something about "Back to School" that says "New Beginnings" for everyone. If you are fortunate enough to be a teacher you get to begin again with another group of active young children and their families. There is nothing more exciting than this new beginning!
The beginning of the school year is the perfect time to begin new with observation and assessment. Generally everyone in early childhood education agrees that assessment is important, but many do not understand the process. In theory most people believe assessment is important. The difficulty becomes in how to make the assessment process manageable and authentic.
Authentic assessment is described as a series of developmentally appropriate methods. It is the process of gathering information about children to inform instruction. This means that assessment is part of what a teacher does everyday in the classroom as she promotes developmentally appropriate practices. There are many examples of authentic assessments such as work samples, photographs, videos showing work in progress, comments by adults working with the children, transcriptions or audio recordings of children’s discussions, and children’s dictated thoughts, and stories. It is easy to manage this type of assessment because most of the items listed are samples of things you do everyday in the classroom.
Observation is another key piece of assessment. Observation is best done during children’s informal work and play times. In other words, being a “kid watcher” and writing down what you observe. You need to be deliberate about the skills that you are looking for and systematic in recording your observations. Observations allow teachers and parents to see and record the actual capabilities, language, and reasoning of children in relation to everyday events.
Another important piece of assessment is collaboration. Teachers and parents should collaborate because children often show very different abilities in different settings. The most accurate picture of a child comes when parents and teachers share observations made in these different settings. Now is the time to have parents fill out forms where they list their child’s interests, strengths, and areas for growth. This is the beginning of collecting parents’ observations. Parent and teacher collaboration is so important because it builds good communication between the home and school and provides a true picture of the child’s capabilities.
Observing and assessing children’s learning must be foremost in your mind as you begin this new school year. That is the only way to plan and guide your instruction. By having specific policies and consistent practices in place for observation and assessment you send a clear message that children’s learning is the focus of the day and their growth and progress is of utmost importance.
As families begin this New Year with you they want to know that you know what you are doing and that you care about their child. Observation and assessment provides a great way for parents to be sure of these two things! So, go forward and begin a new year with observation and assessment in mind!