Understanding How to Use Real Time Assessment as a Tool in Curriculum Design

Cathy Grace,
Ed. D.
March 13, 2014
UNDERSTANDING HOW
TO USE REAL TIME
ASSESSMENT AS A TOOL
IN CURRICULUM DESIGN
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TODAY’S SPEAKER
Cathy Grace, Ed.D.
Director of Early Childhood Programs
Gilmore Early Learning Initiative

Data
Driven
Decisions
Makes
for

High
Quality
Early
Childhood

Classrooms

Cathy
Grace,
Ed.D.

Early
Childhood
Coordinator

Gilmore
Early
Learning
Ini@a@ve

Collabora@ve

Ques@ons
to
be
Explored

•  Why
is
developmentally
appropriate
assessment

of
children
important
in
developing
high
quality,

child-‐focused
classrooms
and
programs?

•  What
are
some
of
the
reasons
teachers
are

resistant
to
using
technology
as
an
instruc@onal

tool
in
the
classroom
and
how
can
they
be

addressed?

•  How
can
the
use
of
technology
as
an
instruc@onal

and
assessment
tool
be
beIer
integrated
into
the

overall
program
design
of
high
quality
early

childhood
programs?

Purpose
of
the
Promise
School
Program

The
purpose
of
the
Promise
School
Program
is
to
provide
four-‐year
old

children
the
opportunity
to
develop
skills
needed
for
them
to
be
successful
in

kindergarten
and
throughout
school.
Appropriate
learning
experiences
are

provided
to
enhance
and
encourage
growth
in
all
domains
of
development.

Program
Structure:
Large
and
Small

Group
Sessions…

Learning
Centers:
Math
and
Computer

Learning
Centers:
Art
and
Drama@c

Play

Learning
Centers:
Library
and

Manipula@ves

Learning
Centers:
Blocks
and
Science

Outside
is
Learning
Time

Why
is

Developmentally
Appropriate
Assessment

Important?

Why
is
developmentally
appropriate
assessment
of
children
important
in

developing
high
quality,
child-‐focused
classrooms
and
programs?

Begin
with
the
End
in
Mind

•  Successful
high
quality,

child
focused
programs:

-‐  Regularly
communicate
with

teachers
to
ensure
they
know
the

end-‐of-‐year
learning
standards
set

by
the
program
or
school
children

are
expected
to
master;

-‐  U@lize
student
data
through
out

the
weeks
and
months
to
make

curricular
and
instruc@onal

revisions
based
on
individual
or

groups
of
children;
and

-‐  Provide
teachers
with
needed

resources
to
appropriately
teach

students
.

Defining
Assessments
and
Their
Use

•  The
defini@on
and
use
of
assessments
is
cri@cal
in

developing
a
high
quality
early
childhood
program:

-‐
screening
for
health
purposes,
obtaining

baseline

data
on
child’s
knowledge
of
skills
and
concepts
in

different
learning
domains;

-‐
con@nuous
for
the
purpose
of
informing
instruc@on

and
determining
child
progress
in
“real”
@me
and
for

informa@on
used
in
conferences
with
parents;
and

-‐
quarterly
for
the
purpose
of
program
evalua@on
and

“tweaking
“
curriculum
if
needed
based
on

numbers
of
children
who
are
not
making
progress

in
a
certain
curriculum
or
domain
area.

Taking
a
Posi@on
on
Assessment

•  The
Na@onal
Associa@on
for
the
Educa@on
of
Young
Children

has
clearly
defined
appropriate
purposes
of
using
assessment

instruments.

•  Use
of
assessment
instruments:

-‐for
their
intended
purpose

-‐for
the
age
and
development
of
the
children
assessed

-‐
in
compliance
with
the
professional
defini@on
of
quality

-‐
for
the
purpose
of
collec@ng
educa@onal
and

developmentally
relevant
informa@on
that
is
used
for
follow-‐
up

-‐
for
the
gathering
of
informa@on
to
be
used
in
ways
to

improve
the
child’s
learning
and
in
as
many
authen@c
ways
as

possible

hIps://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/posi@ons/StandCurrAss.pdf

Assessments
Must
be
Used
in
Conjunc@on
with

Curriculum
Units
and
Learning
Themes

High
quality
programs
operate

through
an
interconnec@on
of:

•  child
development
principles

reflected
in
environmental

se`ngs
and
program
design;

• 
research-‐
based
prac@ces

on

how
children
best
learn
and
are

assessed
which
influences

instruc@onal
prac@ces;
and

•  curriculum
reflec@ve
of
a
scope

and
sequence
that
is

comprehensive
and
relevant
to

the
targeted
audience.

Poll
Ques@ons

•  Do
you
consider
children’s
progress
monitoring
results
in
developing

the
content
of
your

lesson
plans?

Most
of
the
@me

Some
of
the
@me

Rarely

Never-‐I
use
district
pacing
guides

•  Do
you
consider
data
collected
through
progress
monitoring
in
how
you
construct

instruc@onal
@me?

Most
of
the
@me

Some
of
the
@me

Rarely

Never-‐I
follow
the
lesson
plan
and/or
curriculum
guide

•  How
much
@me
to
you
average
in
collec@ng
student
data?

50-‐75%
of
the
day

25-‐49%
of
the
day

Less
than
25%
per
day

Only
assess
on
certain
days
of
the
week

Is
technology
a
tool
for
assessing
pre-‐kindergarten

children
that
teachers
should
use?

What
are
come
of
the
reasons
teachers
are
resistant
to
using
technology

as
an
instruc@onal
tool
in
the
classroom
and
how
can
they
be
addressed?

Na@onal
Posi@on
on
Technology
as
an

Assessment
Tool

•  The
Na@onal
Associa@on
for
the
Educa@on
of
Young
Children
has

issued
a
posi@on
statement
on
the
use
of
technology
as
a
tool
for

assessing
young
children.
The
statement
highlights
the
following:

-‐  allows
for
children
to
freely
explore
touch
screens
in
an
interac@ve

manner
with
an
abundance
of
well
designed
games
and
ways
for

the
child
to
feel
successful;

-‐  provides
children
with
opportuni@es
to
explore
using
the
tradi@onal

“mouse”
and
keyboards
to
research
and
answer
ques@ons;

-‐  records
stories
a
part
of
a
video
and/or
audio
ﬁle

on
each
child;

and

-‐  provides
adap@ve
tools
and
accommoda@ons
for
children
with

special
needs.

hIps://www.naeyc.org/content/technology-‐and-‐young-‐children/preschoolers-‐and-‐
kindergartners

Challenges
for
Teachers

•  What
is
the
teacher’s
personal
belief

and
value
system
around:

-‐
data
collec@on
and
use
as
part
of
a
high

quality
instruc@onal
program?

-‐
the
use
of
technology
as
a
method
of
data

collec@on?

•  Are
teachers
comfortable
with
change?

•  Are
teachers
technologically
challenged
?

•  Do
teachers
have
the
right
tools,

infrastructure
and
knowledge
on
how
to

eﬀec@vely
and
eﬃciently
use
technology
?

•  Do
teachers
have
mentors
or
instruc@onal

leaders
to
help
them
make
the
transi@on

from
non-‐technology
to
using
technology?

•  Do
class
schedules
and
the
@me

management
skills
of
teachers

compliment
the
use
of
technology?

•  Is
there
a
school
wide
plan
for
the
use
of

technology
in
instruc@on
and
assessment

of
students?

Searching
for
Solu@ons

•  When
making
a
decision
to

invest
in
technology
as
an

instruc@onal
as
well
as
an

assessment
tool
it
is
wise

to:

-‐get
teacher
buy-‐in
as
much
as

possible
in
advance
of
transi@on;

-‐
invest
in
ongoing
staﬀ
development

in
the
system
for
teachers;

-‐u@lize
on-‐site
technical
assistance

from
peers
in
near-‐by
loca@ons;
and

-‐start
small
by
pilo@ng
the
programs/
system
which
includes
professional

development.

Poll
Ques@ons

•  What
percentage
of
teachers
that
currently
have
technology
available
in

the
classroom
consistently
u@lize
it?

-‐75-‐100
%

-‐74-‐50
%

-‐49-‐25%

-‐less
than
25%

•  What
percentage
of
professional
development
is
spent
on
suppor@ng

teachers
in
the
u@lizing
of
technology
as
a
tool
for
data
collec@on
and

instruc@on
related
to
the
data
gathered?

-‐75-‐100
%

-‐74-‐50
%

-‐49-‐25%

-‐less
than
25%

How
should
curriculum
construc@on
be
more
inclusive

How
do
we
“retro
ﬁt”
curriculum
to
include
more

coordina@on
with
technology
based
content?

How
can
the
use
of
technology
as
an
instruc@onal
and
assessment
tool

be
beIer
integrated
into
the
overall
program
design
of
high
quality
early

childhood
programs?

Pu`ng
the
Pieces
Together

•  Assess
current
tradi@onal

curriculum
and
determine
if
any

content
is
accessible
on
the

internet
or
provided
through

downloading.

•  Develop
and
use
planning
and

assessing
protocols

that

accommodate
all
required
learning

standards
and
instruc@onal

strategies
by
using
technology

based
systems
as
well
as
tradi@onal

curriculum
scope
and
sequence
lay-‐
outs.

•  Create
a
learning
environment

where
the
use
of
technology
is

authen@c
and
integrated
into
the

daily
rou@ne
on
a
consistent
basis.

Lessons
Learned

•  Full
appropriate
u@liza@on
of
technology
by
teachers
in
the

classroom
is
an
ongoing
process.

•  Having
an
on-‐site
trouble
shooter
is
cri@cal
in
reducing
teacher

anxiety
regarding
the
use
of
the
diﬀerent
elements
of
the
system

•  Developing
a
“cheat”
sheet
for
teacher
use
when
planning

helps
to

iden@fy
the
speciﬁc
Smart
Board
ac@vi@es
that
correspond
to
the

skills
and
concepts
highlighted
per
unit
topic

from
the

comprehensive
curriculum
used
as
well
as
Shell
Squad
Games.
This

helps
@e
program
elements
together.

•  In
parent
conferences
we
reference
informa@on
from
both
the

H@tch
repor@ng
system
as
well
as
the
informa@on
collected

through
teacher
observa@on
and
the
comprehensive
curriculum

based
assessment.

•  A
strong
infrastructure
is
cri@cal
if
the
system
as
designed
is
fully

integrated
into
the
daily
rou@ne.

Polling
Ques@ons

•  How
much
@me
is
spent
on
using
cross
walks
between
curriculum
and
state
and
local

learning
standards
in
the
curriculum
unit/theme
construc@on?

-‐Very
liIle
(less
than
one
hour
per
curriculum
unit)

-‐  1-‐3
hours
per
unit

-‐  3-‐5
hours
per
unit

-‐  5-‐10
hours
per
unit

•  Is
there
a
repor@ng
system
to
parents
that
is
consistent
across
the
pre-‐kindergarten

and
kindergarten
in
the
school
or
program
?

-‐yes

-‐no

•  In
discussions
around
alignment
of
programs
serving
pre-‐kindergarten
students
what
is

the
most
discussed
curriculum
element:

-‐  Curriculum

-‐  Teaching
strategies

-‐  Assessment
of
students

-‐  Classroom
environment-‐daily
schedule,
resources

Contact
Informa@on

•  For
more
informa@on

contact
Dr.
Cathy
Grace

at

Cathy@gilmorefounda@on.com

or
662.312.1395

Understanding
How to Use
Real Time
Assessment
as a Tool in
Curriculum
Design
QUESTIONS?

…with reporting
technology to
make progress
monitoring a
snap.
TECHNOLOGY
THAT REALLY
WORKS

COMING NEXT MONTH
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Encouraging and Scaffolding
Activities & Explorations
Nicola Yelland, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 10th 2014
2-3:30 PM ET

THE WINNER IS…

THANKS!
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH

Understanding How to Use Real Time Assessment as a Tool in Curriculum Design

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