1. Assessing Infants & Toddlers:
Finding Out What They Know
Dr. Douglas Bell
dbell22@kennesaw.edu
GAYC Annual Conference 2012

2. What is Assessment
• A process for gathering information for
making decisions about Infants &
Toddlers
• Measurement and appraisal of what
children know and can do

3. Marty Lipp of Harlem
Children’s Zone
• Good Teachers are like good parents…
• A good parent “does whatever it takes.”
There’s no barriers for a parent. A parent
doesn’t say “Oh, my job stops here.” If the
child needs it, a good parent tries to supply
it. And that’s what we do. We’re constantly
assessing what we do and looking at how we
can do it better.

4. Principles That Guide
Assessment in ECE
• Principle 1: Benefit Children
• Principle 2: Be Used for a Specific Purpose
• Principle 3: Recognize limitations for young
age
• Principle 4: Be age appropriate
• Principle 5: Be linguistically appropriate
• Principle 6: Value Parents

5. Assessing Infants & Toddlers
• Serves infants/toddlers, families, and
caregivers
• Should be embedded in the
developmental tasks, processes, and
content of appropriate educational
activities
− This reduces the need to get data from
isolated tests

6. More Principles
• Should use multiple sources of information
• Should benefit the child and improve learning
• Should involve the child and family
• Should be fair for all children
• Should be authentic
• Should be tailored to a specific purpose and
be reliable, fair, and valid for that purpose

7. NAEYC Requires Assessment
• Should be a comprehensive system
• Implemented in a thoughtful systematic and documented way
• Should connect planning for individual children to assessment
• Should balance formal, standardized assessment with informal
assessment and direct observation
• Should include developmental screening
• Results should be shared with those that need to know
• Should involve the team
• Results should be shared regularly with families

8. Overview
• Give the big picture of the subject
• Explain how all the individual topics fit
together
Screen Parent
System GELS Input
Direct Docum Reflect Act
Observ ent
ation

9. Developing a Comprehensive
System
• Should use a variety of assessments and
observations
• Over time and across
routines/activities
• Use standardized/normed formal
assessments (screens)
• Use informal observations and samples

10. Screen
• A first look at a child’s development
• Identifies the potential for delay
• Screening does not provide direct links
to curriculum

11. Screening Best Practices
• Contextually relevant
• Functionally appropriate
• Relationship enhancing
• Observationally based

12. Observe
• Regularly
• With purpose
• Separate objective from subjective info
• Select the appropriate tools
• Observation reveals trends in behavior
that allow you to choose among goals
to emphasize

13. Observation & Assessment
Tools • The ounce scale
• Anecdotal record • Creative curriculum
• Descriptive/interpret for I/T developmental
ive continuum
• Running record/diary • COR for I/T
method • ELAP
• Frequency count • Ages & Stages (& S.E.)
• Time sampling • DECA
• checklist

14. Connect it to the Standards
• GELS
• Conduct periodic observations to check
for attainment of the standards
• From your observations you can infer
what standards to work toward
• Remember the standards themselves
are not an assessment

15. The Process
• Document
• Reflect
• Act

16. References
• Bentzen, W. (1993). Seeing Young Children: A Guide to Observing and Recording Behavior, 2nd ed. Albany, NY:
Delmar.
• Cohen, L. & Spensiner, L. (1994). Assessment of Young Children. New York: Longman.
• Grace, C. & Shores, E. (1994). The Portfolio and Its Use: Developmentally Appropriate Assessment of Young
Children. Little Rock AK: Southern Early Childhood Association.
• Gullo, D. (2005). Understanding Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education, 2nd ed. New York:
Teachers College Press.
• Helm, J., Beneke, S., & Steinheimer, K. (2007). Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children’s Work, 2nd ed.
New York: Teachers College Press.
• Jablon, J., Dombro, A., & Dichtelmiller, M. (1999). The Power of Observation. Washington DC: Teaching Strategies
Inc.
• Martin, S. (2004). Take a Look: Observation and Portfolio Assessment in Early Childhood, 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
• McAfee, O., & Leong, D. (2002). Assessing and Guiding Young Children’s Development and Learning, 3rd ed.
Boston, MA: Pearson.
• Meisels, S. & Atkins-Burnett, S. (2005). Developmental Screening in Early Childhood: A Guide, 5th ed. Washington
DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
• Mindes, G. (1996). Assessing Young Children, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
• Puckett, M. & Black, J. (2008). Meaningful Assessments of the Young Child: Celebrating Development and
Learning, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
• Wortham, S. (2001). Assessment in Early Childhood Education, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.