Child Assessment: An Essential Component of Quality Early Childhood Programming NAEYC Administrator Competencies Addressed in This Chapter: Management Knowledge and Skills 4. Educational Programming · Knowledge and application of different curriculum models, standards for high-quality programming, and child assessment practices Early Childhood Knowledge and Skills 3. Child Observation and Assessment · Knowledge and application of developmentally appropriate child observation and assessment methods · Knowledge of the purposes, characteristics, and limitations of different assessment tools and techniques · Ability to use different observation techniques, including formal and informal observation, behavior sampling, and developmental checklists · Knowledge of ethical practice as it relates to the use of assessment information · The ability to apply child observation and assessment data to planning and structuring developmentally appropriate instructional strategies 4. Curriculum and Instructional Methods · Ability to evaluate outcomes of different curricular approaches Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Contrast the characteristics of appropriate and inappropriate approaches to assessing young children. 2. Identify performance assessment strategies that are appropriate for documenting what children know and are able to do. 3. Describe some ways teachers of young children share their insights about what they know and are able to do with their families. 4. Discuss the origins of kindergarten readiness assessments, the challenges faced by those tasked with their development, and factors that make it difficult to compare states’ results. Grace’s Experience Grace’s many years as a classroom teacher gave her a great deal of experience observing and documenting children’s learning, growth, and development. She used what she learned through this process to inform her teaching and was able to develop portfolios based on her observations and documentation to describe children’s accomplishments to their families. Since becoming the program director, Grace has observed that some teachers collect very little documentation, mostly in the form of checklists and rating scales, to describe their children’s learning, growth, and development. She realizes she must use what she learned in the classroom to lead her teachers in the implementation of authentic, developmentally, and culturally appropriate assessment strategies that align with the program’s core values, mission, and vision. She is hoping this chapter will help her develop an assessment plan that will serve children, families, and staff well. Child Assessment is the process that early childhood educators use to understand a child’s current development, what he knows, or what he is able to do. They use this information to describe children’s progress to their families and as the basis for decisions that they make at the classroom or programmatic level. As the program  ...

1. Child Assessment: An Essential Component of Quality Early Ch
ildhood Programming
NAEYC Administrator Competencies Addressed in This Chapter
:
Management Knowledge and Skills
4. Educational Programming
·
Knowledge and application of different curriculum models, stan
dards for high-
quality programming, and child assessment practices
Early Childhood Knowledge and Skills
3. Child Observation and Assessment
·
Knowledge and application of developmentally appropriate chil
d observation and assessment methods
·
Knowledge of the purposes, characteristics, and limitations of d
ifferent assessment tools and techniques
·
Ability to use different observation techniques, including forma
l and informal observation, behavior sampling, and development
al checklists
·
Knowledge of ethical practice as it relates to the use of assessm
ent information
·
The ability to apply child observation and assessment data to pl
anning and structuring developmentally appropriate instructiona
l strategies
4. Curriculum and Instructional Methods
·
Ability to evaluate outcomes of different curricular approaches
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

2. 1.
Contrast the characteristics of appropriate and inappropriate app
roaches to assessing young children.
2.
Identify performance assessment strategies that are appropriate
for documenting what children know and are able to do.
3.
Describe some ways teachers of young children share their insig
hts about what they know and are able to do with their families.
4.
Discuss the origins of kindergarten readiness assessments, the c
hallenges faced by those tasked with their development, and fac
tors that make it difficult to compare states’ results.
Grace’s Experience
Grace’s many years as a classroom teacher gave her a great deal
of experience observing and documenting children’s learning, g
rowth, and development. She used what she learned through this
process to inform her teaching and was able to develop portfoli
os based on her observations and documentation to describe chil
dren’s accomplishments to their families. Since becoming the pr
ogram director, Grace has observed that some teachers collect v
ery little documentation, mostly in the form of checklists and ra
ting scales, to describe their children’s learning, growth, and de
velopment. She realizes she must use what she learned in the cla
ssroom to lead her teachers in the implementation of authentic,
developmentally, and culturally appropriate assessment strategi
es that align with the program’s core values, mission, and vision
. She is hoping this chapter will help her develop an assessment
plan that will serve children, families, and staff well.
Child Assessment is the process that early childhood educators
use to understand a child’s current development, what he knows
, or what he is able to do. They use this information to describe
children’s progress to their families and as the basis for decisio
ns that they make at the classroom or programmatic level. As th
e program director, you are responsible for taking the lead by de
veloping a “clearly written, well-

3. organized, complete, [and] comprehensive assessment plan” that
teachers and families can understand (Copple & Bredekamp, 20
09, p. 178). Programs receiving public funds are typically accou
ntable for enhancing children’s learning, growth, and developm
ent in measurable ways. They are usually required to administer
specified assessments to demonstrate how children have benefit
ed from those investments. Chapter 2 addresses child assessmen
ts that are measures of program outputs. In this chapter, we will
focus on assessments that are used to keep families informed ab
out their children’s learning and development and to support chi
ldren’s learning by informing instruction. Refer to Figure 11.1C
ommon Assessment Terms for definitions of words and phrases
commonly used when discussing assessment of young children.
It will be a useful resource as we apply the principles of approp
riate child assessment practices to programs of early care and ed
ucation.
Figure 11.1
Common Assessment Terms
11.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT
The first of the influential National Education Goals adopted by
the first President Bush and the nation’s governors in 1990 crea
ted the expectation that “by the year 2000, all children in Ameri
ca will start school ready to learn.” It soon became clear that a
definitive definition of “ready to learn” was elusive, and existin
g assessments were ill suited to accurately describe what divers
e populations of young children know and are able to do. To pre
vent the widespread use of existing, on-
demand tests and the adoption of potentially harmful assessment
practices to measure school readiness, a workgroup made up of
leading early childhood educators was asked to create guideline
s identifying appropriate approaches to assessment in early chil
dhood. They stressed the importance of using assessments only f
or their intended purpose and avoiding subjecting young childre
n to frequent assessments. What’s more, they identified four leg

4. itimate purposes of assessment: (a) to promote children’s learni
ng and development; (b) to identify children for health and spec
ial learning services; (c) to monitor trends, evaluate programs, a
nd services; and (d) to assess academic achievement and hold in
dividual students, teachers, and schools accountable (Shepard,
Kagan, & Wurtz, 1998).
During this period as many as seven professional associations,
whose members include teachers and caregivers, program admin
istrators, policy makers at both the state and national levels, and
researchers, issued position statements that expressed their con
cerns about the risks to children’s well-
being posed by inappropriate assessment practices. They warned
, in particular, about the damage that can be caused by on-
demand high-stakes pencil-and-
paper tests that are stressful and frustrating for children and fail
to provide an accurate picture of their knowledge and skills bec
ause they violate what we know about how children demonstrate
what they know and are able to do (Walker & Feeney, 2014). T
hese position statements advocate for alternative approaches to
assessing young children’s knowledge and skills. Concern about
the potential for harm that can come from inappropriate assess
ment practices is also evident in the Code of Ethical Conduct of
the National Association for the Education of Young Children,
which has nine items addressing issues related to appropriate as
sessment of young children. At the heart of the National Educati
on Goals Panel guidelines, these professional organizations’ pos
ition statements, and the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct is th
e mandate that assessments used in early childhood be “ethical,
appropriate, valid and reliable … developmentally appropriate,
culturally and linguistically responsive, tied to children’s daily
activities, supported by professional development, [and] inclusi
ve of families” (NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2003). Additionally, a
ppropriate assessments:
· benefit children and families.
· must be used for their intended purpose.
· assess meaningful and significant skills and knowledge.

5. · collect information from a variety of sources.
·
must be embedded in classroom activities and consistent with cu
rricular goals.
· help teachers make informed decisions about teaching.
·
must be the focus of professional development designed to enha
nce teachers’ knowledge and skill.
·
must be shared with families to help them understand their child
ren’s learning, growth, and development. (Copple & Bredekamp
, 2009; NAEYC, 2014; NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2003)
As noted above, the National Education Goals Panel workgroup
advised that developmental screenings and assessments based o
n teachers’ observations should be essential features of quality
programs of early care and education. Directors of early childho
od programs and their teaching team play an essential role by ad
ministering developmental screenings to all children to identify
those who might benefit from further evaluation to identify deve
lopmental disabilities or delays that would require specialized i
nterventions. They have the opportunity to serve as a bridge con
necting families to available services to meet identified children
’s special needs. Descriptions of developmental screenings and t
heir use are addressed in more depth in Chapter 9 of this text as
part of the discussion of how to meet each child’s individual ne
eds. This chapter will focus, in particular, on performance or ob
servational assessments,1 the process of observing, documentin
g, and interpreting children’s behavior to inform instruction and
to share information about children’s learning, growth, and dev
elopment with their families.
11.2 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
Performance assessments involve observing and documenting ch
ildren’s behavior. Performance assessments are considered to be
authentic when children demonstrate their knowledge and skills

6. in the context of ordinary classroom interactions and events (M
eyer, 1992). High-
quality performance assessments of young children are closely a
ligned with applicable learning standards, such as states’ early l
earning guidelines or the Common Core, as well as families’ an
d the program’s values and goals for children. They reflect an u
nderstanding of typical development, taking into account the var
iations likely to be found in culturally and linguistically diverse
communities and among children who have developmental dela
ys or disabilities; use multiple observation and documentation st
rategies; and involve multiple stakeholders, including children’s
families and other early childhood professionals (NAEYC & N
AECS/SDE, 2003; Riley-Ayers, 2014).
Performance assessment requires teachers to collect, over time,
evidence of children’s approaches to learning as well as their co
gnitive, language, social, emotional, and physical development;
and to interpret this information to gain insights into individual
children’s interests, strengths, and needs to make meaningful ad
aptations to their instruction (NAEYC, 2014; Riley-
Ayers, 2014). These are some of the many benefits of performan
ce assessment that should be a routine part of every classroom s
erving young children.
·
Teachers who document and interpret children’s behavior and le
arning are able to individualize instruction.
·
Systematic documentation of what children know and are able t
o do can help teachers identify children who may have a develo
pmental or learning delay. Early intervention can sometimes kee
p a small problem from becoming a larger concern.
·
Teachers’ documentation communicates to children that their le
arning is important. They can appreciate what they have accomp
lished when they see samples of their work that has been collect
ed over time.
·

7. Documentation of what children know and are able to do is an i
mportant starting point for teachers’ work with families and giv
es them an opportunity to seek families’ perspectives on their c
hildren’s learning, growth, and development (Seitz, 2008).
Performance assessment requires teachers to plan, to be organiz
ed, to devote time and effort to the process, and to reflect. It is t
he program administrator’s responsibility to provide them with t
he structural supports as well as the professional development a
nd coaching they need to collect, organize, interpret, and use as
sessment information to inform instruction.
Structural supports that teachers need to implement performance
assessment strategies include digital cameras and audio and vid
eo recorders to document children’s activities; equipment and m
aterials such as a printer, filing cabinet, file folders, binders, hi
ghlighting pens, and Post-
It® notes to help them organize their data; resources to help the
m interpret their data; and time to reflect on that they have learn
ed.
Many teachers of young children report that they are not knowle
dgeable about effective strategies for documenting their observa
tions of children’s behaviors; identifying children’s strengths an
d needs; and using that data to adapt and adjust instruction (Ban
erjee & Luckner, 2013; Heritage, Kim, Vendlinski & Herman, 2
009; Roderick, 2012; Turner & Coburn, 2012). These findings i
ndicate that teachers need professional development opportuniti
es that:
· ensure that they have a firm grasp of child development.
· give them practice documenting their observations.
·
provide them with opportunities to practice assessing children’s
knowledge and competencies.
·
inform them about commercially available tools that can help th
em collect and interpret documentation.
·
give them opportunities to practice using the results of their ass

8. essments to inform instruction.
These trainings can take the form of both in-person, hands-
on instruction and coaching as well online videos and training t
ools (Banerjee & Luckner, 2013; Riley-Ayers, 2014).
When directors ensure that teachers have the professional devel
opment, materials and equipment, and time they need, teachers a
re more likely to be motivated to continually monitor children’s
development and learning, to reflect on their teaching and succ
ess meeting children’s needs, and to adjust their instruction to s
upport children’s learning and development (Carter, 2008). Dire
ctors have found that encouraging teachers to create study group
s that give them opportunities to hone their data-
collection skills, to discuss their data analysis, and to support ea
ch other in applying these findings to their teaching can be an ef
fective extension to the coaching they are able to provide (Riley
-Ayers, 2014).
Teachers can use a variety of strategies to document and assesse
s children’s knowledge and skills. Several are illustrated in Figu
re 11.2. AnAnticipatory Web Showing Appropriate Ways to Doc
ument and Assess Children’s Learning. It shows the many ways
teachers can asses what children have learned about wind.Perfor
mance Assessments
Performance assessments involve systematically focusing on a c
hild or small group of children to document their behavior, whic
h will be used as the basis of assessments of what individual chi
ldren know and can do and can inform teachers’ efforts to suppo
rt their learning, growth, and development. Observations can be
of short duration or can take extended periods of time. They can
be used to assess all developmental domains, and even multiple
domains simultaneously. Some performance assessment techniq
ues are open-
ended observations that require observers to record and then int
erpret what they have seen and heard, and others are focused ob
servations that require the observer to describe or tally specific
behaviors.Open-Ended Observations:
Open-

9. ended authentic observational assessment techniques are very fl
exible and are popular ways for teachers and caregivers to asses
s young children’s development and learning because they allow
them to carefully observe and analyze their rich descriptions of
what children do as they play and interact with their peers. The
y also help teachers get to know each child well and help streng
then their relationships with individual children—
an important part of quality programming because strong relatio
nships provide children a foundation for their exploration and le
arning (Jablon, Dombro, & Dichtelmiller, 2007). Some disadvan
tages to these approaches to assessment are that they are time-
consuming to record and interpret. It is also difficult to assess s
ome domains, such as cognitive development. In addition, the v
alidity of the observation depends on the skill of the observer, a
nd teachers need a significant amount of professional developm
ent and practice to record observations objectively and analyze t
hem insightfully so that they can meet individual children’s nee
ds. As the program’s director, you can support teachers’ efforts
to conduct these observational assessments by coaching them to
avoid the temptation to draw any conclusions by recording just
what they see and hear; by reviewing their records with them; a
nd by helping them interpret their observations to assess childre
n’s learning, growth, and development and to inform their teach
ing.
Figure 11.2
Anticipatory Web Showing Appropriate Ways to Document and
Assess Children’s Learning
Two forms of open-
ended authentic observational assessments are anecdotal records
and running records. An anecdotal record is a brief, objective,
accurate description of a significant incident in one child’s day
that:
·
includes the child’s and observer’s names and indicates that dat
e, time, context (where and when the incident took place).

10. ·
describes what the child did, the reactions of anyone else involv
ed, and the child’s response to those reactions.
Figure 11.3
Example of an Anecdotal Record
·
includes the child’s exact words, and those of others involved.2
· describes the child’s nonverbal communication—
the posture, gestures, voice quality, and facial expressions that i
ndicate the child’s feelings. It does not label the child’s feelings
but provides cues that allow the reader to interpret what his fee
lings might be.
In addition to these facts, in a separate section, an anecdotal rec
ord includes the observer’s interpretation of what this episode il
lustrates about the child’s learning, growth, or development and
/or his professional opinion about what he can do to support the
child’s progress. See Figure 11.3. This Example of an Anecdotal
Record illustrates how to describe a significant classroom event
and interpret its meaning.
Application Activity
Watch this video clip of 4-year-
old Feng playing in the sand. Write an anecdotal record describi
ng your observations. Remember that your description of the inc
ident should report only what you can see (this clip has no soun
d), including any nonverbal communication that you notice. Wh
en you write your comments and interpretation, assume the role
of Feng’s teacher. Describe why you believe this incident is sig
nificant and explain what it tells you about Feng’s attention spa
n, persistence, fine motor development, or anything else you thi
nk is noteworthy.
Keeping anecdotal notes is an everyday, routine way that teache
rs document what children know and are able to do.
Suzanne Clouzeau/Pearson Education
A running record is a narrative report that records what one chil

11. d or a small group of children do and say. As when completing a
n anecdotal record, the observer records what he sees and hears
without interpretation, and describes the context; however, a ru
nning record adds an extra dimension by noting the time of each
entry. This form of documentation was popularized by Piaget (
1952). See Figure 11.4, an Exampleof a Running Record. Note t
hat this is the same incident that is presented as an example of a
n anecdotal record in Figure 11.3.
Figure 11.4
Example of a Running RecordFocused Observations:
Focused observations describe what happens before and after a s
pecific, usually challenging, behavior or describe children’s beh
aviors in a particular setting. Two types of focused observations
are event sampling and time sampling. The program’s director
plays a particularly important role by conducting these kinds of
observations because teachers who are responsible for the entire
classroom cannot focus their attention on one child or one area
of the classroom for the extended period that these forms of dat
a collection require. You can also help classroom teachers inter
pret the data to gain insights into what causes (and how to preve
nt) negative behaviors, and how to encourage positive interactio
ns. An advantage of these structured observations is that they ar
e less time-consuming than open-
ended observations and can record the behaviors of several chil
dren at one time; however, a disadvantage is that they lack the d
etail and richness of anecdotal and running records.
Event sampling is a description of events preceding and immedi
ately following a specified target behavior during a particular cl
assroom routine or event (e.g., Sarah had biting episodes on Mo
nday and Tuesday as the class was transitioning into circle time,
and you want to find out what might trigger this behavior). For
these observations, the target behavior and a particular classroo
m routine or event are carefully defined. To conduct an event sa
mpling observation, the observer must describe the target behav
ior along with what was happening before and after its occurren

12. ce (see Figure 11.5 an Example of an Event Sampling Record).
Notice how it describes what happened before, during, and after
Jamie hit his classmates.
Figure 11.5
Example of an Event Sampling Record
Time sampling is a tally of observations in a specified classroo
m area or center at pre-
determined time intervals (e.g., every 5 minutes, every 10 minut
es). Expected behaviors are identified in advance and then obser
ved and recorded at specified intervals (Mindes & Jung, 2015).
Because less writing is required than when completing an event
sampling, the observer can record her observations of several ch
ildren in one session by recording the actions of each of the chil
dren in a predetermined, consistent order (e.g., record what Jero
me is doing, then Alice, Victoria, Ralph, and back to Jerome, et
c.). A time sample record like the example in Figure 11.6 is like
ly to show trends, such as which children engage in play for a s
ustained time and which are apt to wander or mainly observe, as
well as which areas or activities are the most appealing. It is he
lpful for the observer to include a summary of the trends he ide
ntifies.
This Example of a Time Sampling Record shows what four child
ren chose to do while in the housekeeping center during a 15-
minute observation. It includes an interpretation/reflection highl
ighting the trends that the observer noticed.Structured Observati
ons:
A third category of performance assessments includes checklists
and rating scales. Checklists are structured observations that pr
ovide a list of behaviors or traits with a system for recording if
or when they are observed. They can be an effective way to kee
p track of children’s attainment of developmental milestones or
their mastery of specific skills. Rating scales are similar to chec
klists, but in addition to listing expected behaviors, they also pr
ovide a way to indicate how well, how often, or how independen
tly a child exhibits the identified behaviors or traits. Checklists

13. and rating scales can be formatted to track an individual child’s
achievements over time or to record observations of an entire gr
oup of children’s mastery or behaviors (Feeney, Moravcik, & N
olte, 2016). Teachers often create them to meet their particular
needs.
Figure 11.6
Example of a Time Sampling Record
Figure 11.7, an Example of a Developmental Checklist for One
Young Infant. It illustrates how a caregiver can quickly and easi
ly document when one infant attains specific developmental mil
estones.
Figure 11.8 is an Example of a Developmental Checklist Used f
or Several Young Infants. It illustrates how a primary caregiver
can use one checklist to record the attainment of several develo
pment milestones of all her assigned infants.
Rating scales describe children’s abilities along a continuum. T
hey can collect data about individuals or a group of children. So
metimes they use terms such as “independently,” “with a little h
elp,” or “with a lot of help,” or “not yet,” “sometimes,” and “al
ways.” In other instances, they use a numerical continuum to de
scribe children’s skills or competencies.
Figure 11.7
Example of a Developmental Checklist for One Young Infant
Figure 11.8
Example of a Developmental Checklist Used for Several Young
Infants
Figure 11.9
Example of a Rating Scale for a Group of Children
Figure 11.9 is an Example of a Rating Scale for a Group of Chil
dren that uses symbols to show children’s competence mastering
specific self-help skills.
Figure 11.10 is an Example of a Rating Scale Using Words to de

14. scribe one child’s mastery of these same self-
help skills, and Figure 11.11 is an Example of a Numerical Rati
ng Scale that uses numbers to describe one child’s large motor s
kills.
Some commercial checklists and rating scales have been shown
to be reliable and valid (Mindes & Jung, 2015). Two examples a
re The Early Learning Observation Rating Scale (ELORS) (Cole
man, West, & Gillis, 2010) and the Work Sampling System (WS
S) (Meisels, Marsden, Jablon, & Dichtelmiller, 2013). The ELO
RS is meant to be used with 4-year-
olds preparing to enter kindergarten and is designed to identify
children who may have learning disabilities, while the WSS incl
udes checklists based on Common Core State Standards and stat
es’ early learning guidelines. They give teachers a quick and eff
icient way to track if children’s performance of expected skills
and abilities is “proficient”, “in process”, or has “not yet” been
demonstrated.
Figure 11.10
Example of a Rating Scale Using Words
Figure 11.11
Example of a Numerical Rating Scale
Many kinds of ordinary classroom activities give teachers oppor
tunities to assess children’s skills.
David Kostelnik/Pearson EducationInterviews
Teachers can also gain valuable insights into what children unde
rstand, are interested in, and are curious about by interviewing t
hem. Teachers conduct informal interviews when they ask childr
en about their block structure or what they did over the weekend
. These interviews are likely to be spontaneous and grow out of
teachers’ observations and classroom events. Some of the insigh
ts they can provide are into children’s language development as
well as their interests, friends, relationships, and fears. A good
way to document these conversations is to record them as anecd

15. otal records.
In formal interviews, teachers ask each child the same questions
. They need to plan for these interviews by identifying a focus,
such as what children learned from a recent trip to the fire statio
n. For interviews to serve as useful documentation of children’s
learning and development, teachers must keep complete and acc
urate notes of what they say as well as their nonverbal communi
cation. When used intentionally, interviews can become part of
effective teachers’ efforts to identify children’s interests, streng
ths, and needs (Feeney, Moravcik, & Nolte, 2016).Collecting W
ork Samples
Collecting samples of children’s work is a particularly effective
way to document their learning, growth, and development; it al
so gives teachers opportunities to clearly illustrate children’s pr
ogress to their families (McAfee, Leong, & Bodrova, 2004). The
samples of children’s work used as a form of performance asses
sment can include:
·
video or audio recordings of child dictating stories, singing, rea
ding (or “reading” favorite books from memory), and other class
room events.
· drawings, paintings, and other two-dimensional art projects—
children might prefer that you take photographs so that they can
take their artwork home.
· photographs of three-
dimensional artifacts, such as art projects, block constructions,
and science experiments.
Work samples that effectively illustrate what children know and
are able to do should be collected on a regular basis and organi
zed logically. They must be dated with notes describing their cr
eation and interpreted to indicate what learning, growth, and de
velopment they demonstrate.
It is important to remember that teachers must be intentional an
d strategic in saving work samples that accurately demonstrate c
hildren’s knowledge and skills. Program directors have a respon
sibility to coach teachers in effective data collection strategies,

16. to provide them with the resources they need to collect and orga
nize data, and guide them as they learn to interpret their collect
ed work samples in terms of appropriate developmental guidelin
es, standards, and program goals.Portfolios
A portfolio is a performance-
based assessment that is a compilation of evidence demonstratin
g children’s competencies while celebrating their learning, grow
th, and development. It can be organized to show growth across
social, emotional, cognitive, and/or physical developmental dom
ains; to address applicable learning standards; or to showcase h
ow the child has met the particular program’s goals. Portfolio as
sessment is an important feature of programs accredited by NAE
YC (NAEYC, 2014). Portfolios provide much more information
than any checklist or rating scale alone possibly can and are a p
articularly effective approach to assessment when working with
children with developmental delays and children who are learni
ng English as a second language because they are based on real-
life examples of what each child can do. The process of develop
ing a portfolio begins by making a decision about its purpose.
Teachers of young children most often use portfolios as a forma
tive assessment. When used in this way, they are designed to de
monstrate to children, their families, and their teachers their pro
gress over time and to identify their strengths as well target are
as for improvement to inform instruction. Formative portfolios a
re particularly useful when conducting parent conferences. They
can be shared as “works in progress” several times throughout t
he year and can be presented to parents and passed on to the chi
ld’s new teachers when she transitions from one classroom to th
e next or moves on from preschool into kindergarten. When port
folios are used as a summative assessment, they document for fa
milies and next year’s teacher what the child knows and can do
at the end of the year.
Both formative and summative portfolios begin as working portf
olios, extensive collections of the child’s work that include sam
ples of her drawing and writing, paintings, and photographs of t
hree-

17. dimensional constructions. It may include a list of books she ha
s read or enjoyed having read to her; notes from parent conferen
ces; and anecdotal notes, checklists, rating scales, and other doc
umentation of her learning, growth, and development collected t
hroughout the year. All work samples should be dated and annot
ated with short notes describing their significance before they ar
e filed. If it is to be a formative portfolio, these work samples m
ust be saved over time. But whether it is to be a formative or su
mmative portfolio, it is important to remember that a portfolio i
s not a scrapbook. This collection of “everything” the child has
done is the raw material for the presentation portfolio. Artifacts
can be collected in boxes, drawers, and file folders.
The next step is for teachers, who sometimes involve older pres
choolers, kindergarteners, or primary-
age children in the process, is to develop a presentation portfoli
o. This step requires them to select from the working portfolio t
he artifacts that most clearly demonstrate what the child knows
and is able to do, and that, when taken together, create a well-
rounded portrait of her learning, growth, and development. Chil
dren can benefit from being involved in this selection process b
ecause it is likely to make them appreciate what they have acco
mplished and helps them to understand the purpose and process
of assessment. When children join in the selection of artifacts, t
hey can also help teachers draft the rationale or interpretation fo
r each item. They can consider:
· Does it show their best work?
· Do several artifacts taken together show growth over time?
·
Do selected artifacts illustrate their favorite classroom activities
, including their favorite classmates for work and play? (Mindes
& Jung, 2015)
Presentation portfolios are often presented in a folder or binder
with page protectors; or documentation can be collected and org
anized electronically and presented using PowerPoint or other p
resentation software that can incorporate pictures and video rec
ordings. The decision about whether to store and present materi

18. als in hard copy or electronically needs to take into account teac
hers’ as well as families’ access to and expertise in using digital
tools (Feeney, Moravcik, & Nolte, 2016).
Teachers take the final step in developing children’s presentatio
n portfolios when they reflect and analyze what they have learn
ed about each child’s learning, growth, and development. They s
hould put each child’s progress into the context of development
al guidelines and/or appropriate learning standards; and identify
the child’s interests, strengths, and any areas for concern. This
reflection and analysis are essential components of presentation
portfolios. They help families put the documentation included in
the portfolio into the context of developmentally appropriate ex
pectations for their children’s learning, growth, and developmen
t.
As the program’s director, it is your responsibility to create a st
ructure and expectations for how the teachers in your program w
ill develop and present portfolios. You may specify:
·
that teachers use a checklist to ensure that they keep documenta
tion across all developmental domains and addressing all approp
riate learning standards on a regular basis.
· a timeline for collecting and interpreting artifacts.
·
that all portfolios include specific items such as drawings from
preschoolers’ first and last weeks of school.
·
that all portfolios include evidence of how children complete sp
ecific activities, such as a recording of their speech, a photogra
ph of a block structure, or samples of their “writing” or drawing
.
·
the topics that must be included in teachers’ portfolio reflection
s and summaries.
·
a schedule for conferences for teachers to present portfolios to f
amilies several times throughout the year (Feeney, Moravcik, &

19. Nolte, 2016).
Figure 11.12Information and Documentation to Collect for Stud
ents’ Portfolios lists materials that teachers should collect to hel
p them develop portfolios to be used as a form of formative asse
ssment.Tools for Structuring Documentation and Analysis
A number of commercially available tools designed to guide tea
chers’ documentation of children’s learning, growth, and growth
across all developmental domains are briefly described below.
All of these assessments have demonstrated their reliability and
validity when used by teachers trained in their use. Your progra
m might be mandated to use one of these assessment systems if i
t is sponsored by a governmental agency or receives other exter
nal funding. You may, however, be in a position to lead the deci
sion-
making process to determine if one would be the right fit for yo
ur program. We recommend that you review these brief descripti
ons and visit each system’s informative website to find addition
al information to guide your selection.
Figure 11.12
Information and Documentation to Collect for Students’ Portfoli
os
·
Child Observation Records (COR). The Infant/Toddler Child Ob
servation Record (COR) (High/Scope Educational Research Fou
ndation, 2002) together with the second edition of the Preschool
COR (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2003) are
designed to assess children from 6 weeks to 6 years of age. Alth
ough they were developed to align with the HighScope curriculu
m, they can be used by programs implementing other developme
ntally appropriate approaches. Teachers complete the assessmen
t process two or three times each year, beginning after children
have participated in their program for at least 6 weeks. Data can
easily be digested into reports to share with families or to give
teachers data organized in a number of ways to give them infor
mation about their entire class. The authors recommend that tea

20. chers participate in a COR training, which is available either in
person or online, before using it in their classrooms.
·
The Work Sampling System. The WSS (Meisels, Marsden, Jablo
n, & Dichtelmiller, 2013) is designed to assess the skills, knowl
edge, behavior, and accomplishments of children from 3 to 12 y
ears of age three times a year using the information teachers col
lect through observations, photographs, checklists, running reco
rds, portfolios, and children’s dictations. It is available in paper
-and-
pencil and online versions. Teachers can use the data they gathe
r through the WSS to modify instruction and to generate reports
describing children’s learning and development in a variety of
ways, including formats that are appropriate to share with childr
en’s families. Trainings in its use are conducted in many commu
nities, and the publisher regularly posts training webinars on its
website (Maccow, 2015).
·
The Ounce Scale.3 The Ounce Scale (Meisels, Marsden, Dombr
o, Weston, & Jewkes, 2003) assesses the development of infants
and toddlers from birth to 3½ years of age. Its purpose is to hel
p teachers and parents recognize and appreciate children’s rapid
growth during this period and to help ensure that their daily int
eractions with children reflect their knowledge of child develop
ment and what they know about a particular child’s developmen
tal trajectory. The Ounce has three essential components: the ob
servation record for caregivers’ use; the family album, a small b
ooklet for parents to keep mementoes and record their observati
ons of their child’s development; and the developmental profile,
for caregivers to compare individual children’s development wi
th accepted developmental norms. Reports can be easily generat
ed from data gathered through its use to describe individual chil
dren’s growth as well as to summarize the development of an en
tire class of children. Trainings on the use of the Ounce are offe
red in many communities, and online webinars provide overvie
ws and regular updates on its use (Maccow, 2014).

21. The WSS is a comprehensive observational assessment used fre
quently in programs of early care and education. Watch this vid
eo for an overview of the WSS process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7BHFuf9eAY&t=38
·
Teaching Strategies GOLD®. Teaching Strategies GOLD® (Her
oman, Burts, Berke, & Bickart, 2010) is a performance-
based assessment system for use with children from infancy thro
ugh kindergarten. It was developed to accompany the Creative C
urriculum; aligns with the Head Start Early Learning Framewor
k, Common Core State Standards, and each state’s early learnin
g guidelines; and can be used by any program using a developm
entally appropriate curricular approach. Teaching Strategies GO
LD® is appropriate to use to assess typically developing childre
n as well as those who have disabilities and those who are Engli
sh language learners. It also offers assessments of Spanish lang
uage and literacy development. Assessments are to be complete
d three times annually, but teachers and caregivers are encourag
ed to collect artifacts and observation notes to document childre
n’s development on an ongoing basis. Training is available on-
site and online and the publishers host periodic online webinars.
·
The Early Learning Scale. The Early Learning Scale (ELS) (Rile
y-
Ayers, Boyd, & Frede, 2008) was developed by researchers at th
e National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) in re
sponse to early educators’ request for a comprehensive standard
s-
based assessment system. It is based on states’ early learning gu
idelines, is designed to assess what children from 3 to 5 years ol
d know and are able to do, and can be used in classrooms using
a variety of curricular approaches (Rile-
Ayers, Frede, & Jung, 2010). Training is available either in pers
on or online.
Directors must not only determine if one of these assessment to
ols is appropriate for use in their program, but they must also co

22. nsider the cost of its adoption. Purchasing materials and arrangi
ng for the needed staff development can be very expensive but c
an be excellent investments if the assessments are used not only
to identify what children know and are able to do, but also to g
uide teachers’ efforts to adapt instruction to meet children’s cha
nging needs and to keep families informed about their children’
s learning and development.
11.3 SHARING CHILD ASSESSMENT INFORMATION
Just as it is important for teachers to collect and interpret data il
lustrating what children know and are able to do, it is also essen
tial that they schedule regular opportunities to gain insights abo
ut the children with whom they work from the children’s familie
s. Teachers can encourage informal two-
way communication with families by writing frequent notes and
emails about classroom happenings and having phone conversati
ons to share insights and respond to families’ questions and con
cerns. Teachers must also schedule regular conferences with chi
ldren’s families on a regular basis, however, to give them oppor
tunities to systematically share evidence of children’s strengths
and needs.
Most programs schedule individual conferences with members o
f each child’s family on a regular basis, typically two or three ti
mes a year. Conferences give teachers and parents opportunities
to discuss children’s progress, share any concerns about what is
happening at home or at school, and set goals for the future. Th
ey also help to build relationships of mutual trust and respect. T
eachers should prepare for each conference by creating a list of
talking points that they want to be certain to address. If formati
ve portfolios are the centerpiece of the program’s child assessm
ent plan, teachers should use the documentation they include as
well as her reflections and analysis as the framework for parent
conferences. It is important to put families at ease, providing th
em with plenty of opportunities to ask questions, share observat
ions, and express any concerns both as they review the documen
tation presented in the portfolio and as a response to the teacher

23. ’s analysis and reflection. When addressing concerns, teachers s
hould plan to start by describing a strength, then addressing the
concern, taking care to end all parent–
teacher conferences on a positive note by summarizing any plan
s to follow up with promised information or to answer any quest
ions that could not be addressed during the conference.
Parents enjoy seeing artifacts showing what their children can d
o.
Suzanne Clouzeau/Pearson Education
Directors play an important role in supporting teachers during t
hese conferences. They can give teachers feedback on the prese
ntation portfolios they have developed and can provide teachers
opportunities to practice their presentations to parents. They sh
ould also plan to participate in conferences when teachers are pl
anning to raise a sensitive issue, such as recommending that a c
hild receive additional screenings or evaluations because of a po
ssible developmental or learning delay. A director’s objective p
erspective can help smooth these potentially emotional discussi
ons for parents and teachers alike. Directors should also stress t
o teachers how important it is that they never label a child’s beh
avior or use a term that they are not qualified to apply. For exa
mple, a teacher should never state that she thinks a child is hype
ractive. She can, however, share her anecdotal and running reco
rds that describe a child who is always on the go and can sit for
just a few minutes, seldom long enough to see a task through to
its completion.
A Better Way
As a new director, Grace soon realized that documenting childre
n’s learning, growth, and development and using that data to ass
ess children’s progress, inform instruction, and to share insights
about children’s development and learning with families, was
many teachers’ most pressing professional development need. A
t the next staff meeting, she asked teachers to reflect on how the
y documented their observations of what children know and are
able to do and to consider how they used what they learned for a

24. ssessing children’s progress, for adapting their instruction to me
et children’s needs, and for describing children’s strengths and
needs to their families.
It became apparent that all of the center’s teachers faced the sa
me challenges. The first was having the time to systematically d
ocument children’s learning, growth, and development; another
was that they lacked expertise interpreting their observations in
the context of developmental guidelines and their state’s early l
earning guidelines. The teachers were enthusiastic about Grace’
s willingness to help them refine their observation and documen
tation skills and her offer to help them interpret the documentati
on they had collected. Grace asked for volunteers to join her in
developing a school-
wide child assessment plan. She was pleased that several of the
most experienced teachers offered to contribute their time, effor
t, and expertise to this project, and she felt certain the center wa
s on track to implementing a performance-based school-
wide child assessment plan that would benefit children, families
, and teachers.Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FER
PA)
In this chapter we have stressed how important it is that teacher
s keep detailed and comprehensive records describing children’s
experiences in your program as well as what they have learned
about what children know and are able to do. As you and your st
aff collect this information about children and their families, yo
u should be aware of how the federal Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) safeguards the privacy of these recor
ds.
All programs receiving federal funds must abide by FERPA; ho
wever, it is advisable that all programs, regardless of the source
of their funding, be aware of and adhere to its guidelines. Progr
ams must notify families of their rights under FERPA. It permit
s schools to share students’ names’ address and phone numbers i
n a directory, but must give parents the opportunity to opt out o
f being included. These are additional relevant provisions of thi
s law, and you can find additional information by visiting the F

25. ERPA website hosted by the U.S. Department of Education:
·
Program officials must notify parents and guardians of their FE
RPA rights.
·
Parents or legal guardians of children who attend a program rec
eiving federal funding may see information in the program’s off
icial files, including any test scores or assessment records, healt
h records, psychological reports, notes on behavioral problems,
information about the family’s background, attendance records,
and all other records except personal notes made by a member o
f the staff solely for their own use.
·
Parents or legal guardians have the right to request that a school
correct any records which they believe are inaccurate or mislea
ding.
·
Generally, programs must have written permission from a child’
s parents or legal guardians before releasing any information ab
out the child’s education; however, schools may share records w
ithout consent with:
· another school to which the student in transferring.
· accrediting organizations.
· to comply with a judge’s orders or subpoena.
·
Programs must keep written records indicating who has seen or
requested to see a child’s records.
·
Parents or legal guardians have the right to know where records
are kept and which program personnel are responsible for them.
·
Unless a divorced parent is prohibited by law from having any c
ontact with the child, divorced parents have equal access to offi
cial records.

26. 11.4 KINDERGARTEN READINESS ASSESSMENTS
The federal Enhanced Assessment Grants program that began in
2002 and the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant p
rogram that began in 2011 required states receiving those award
s to develop and implement kindergarten readiness assessments.
These accountability mandates were part of national efforts foc
used on improving the quality of preschool programming and ac
curately assessing what young children know and are able to do
(Gerwertz, 2014). Creating useful kindergarten readiness assess
ments has proven to be a more difficult task than policy makers
might first have imaged. There is no consensus definition of “ki
ndergarten readiness”; nor is there agreement about how it shoul
d be evaluated or how states, communities, schools and teachers
should use the data they generate. For those reasons it is not su
rprising that states’ kindergarten readiness assessments:
· use different definitions for readiness.
·
differ in their focus (e.g., is the child ready for school, is the sc
hool ready for all children, does the family support school readi
ness, or is the community contributing to children’s school read
iness?).
·
use their assessments in different ways (e.g., to support instructi
on, or to determine if children are ready to be successful in kind
ergarten).
·
address different developmental domains (e.g., some assessment
s measure academic readiness such as children’s knowledge of t
he alphabet or numbers, others assess the development of the w
hole child including social and emotional domains).
·
are administered at different times (e.g., at the end of preschool
in the spring or in the first weeks of kindergarten in the fall).
· take different forms (some are on-
demand tests, others rely on teachers’ observations including rat
ing scales and checklists, and in some instances they combine se

27. veral assessment strategies (Walker & Feeney, 2014).
These factors reduce the usefulness of kindergarten readiness as
sessments and make it difficult to gauge states’ success in prepa
ring children for school.
Advocates warn against the implementation of high-
stakes developmentally inappropriate kindergarten readiness ass
essments and advise that any instrument used to measure childre
n’s kindergarten readiness must be used for its intended purpose
and align with learning standards and instructional goals while
satisfying accepted levels of reliability, validity, and standardiz
ation (Snow, 2011). Appropriate assessments must also reflect c
hildren’s and families’ language and culture. Teachers must not
“teach to the test” or make them the focus of the curriculum by
overemphasizing academic skills that the children they teach are
unlikely to be ready to master.
As the program administrator, you need to be informed about w
hether your state assesses children’s kindergarten readiness, and
, if it does, it would be wise to learn about the test children may
be required to take when they leave your program. It is importa
nt, however, to avoid the temptation of coaching your program’s
teachers to let this assessment determine how and what they tea
ch. They may be responsible for addressing your state’s early le
arning guidelines that describe what young children should kno
w and be able to do, but it is the director’s responsibility to sup
port their efforts to keep instruction hands-
on, meaningful, and linguistically and culturally relevant to the
children they teach.
Application Activity
Investigate your state’s (or a neighboring state’s) kindergarten r
eadiness assessment. Identify its definition of “readiness,” the p
urpose of the assessment, its focus (i.e., the child, the school, th
e family, or the community), the developmental domains it addr
esses, when it is administered, and its form. Based on what you
have learned, explain why you believe it is, or is not, an approp
riate approach to assessing children’s kindergarten readiness.

28. SUMMARY
Quality programs of early care and education make observing, d
ocumenting, and assessing children’s learning, growth, and deve
lopment a routine part of every day. These processes are not sim
ple or easy to implement, however. They depend on a well-
prepared staff and directors who can model, teach, and coach te
achers to use observation and documentation to assess children i
n developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate wa
ys.
·
Contrast the characteristics of appropriate and inappropriate app
roaches to assessing young children.
Young children should be assessed in “ethical, appropriate, vali
d and reliable … developmentally appropriate, culturally and lin
guistically responsive” ways (NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2003). A
ppropriate assessment is imbedded into children’s ordinary dail
y activities, incorporates information from a variety of sources,
and is used to help teachers respond to children’s interests and
needs. Appropriate assessment processes also involve families a
nd keep them informed about their children’s learning, growth,
and development.
On-demand high-stakes pencil-and-
paper tests are inappropriate ways to assess young children. The
y are stressful and frustrating. What’s more, they fail to provide
an accurate picture of children’s knowledge and skills because
they violate what we know about how they demonstrate what chi
ldren know and are able to do (Walker & Feeney, 2014).
·
Identify performance assessment strategies that are appropriate
for documenting what children know and are able to do.
Authentic performance assessments are based on teachers’ obser
vations of what children know and are able to do in the context
of ordinary classroom interactions and events. Anecdotal record
s and running records are two open-
ended authentic assessments, and event sampling and time samp

29. ling are two focused authentic assessment strategies appropriate
for use with young children. Checklists and rating scales are str
uctured performance assessments that can be used to keep track
of children’s attainment of developmental milestones or mastery
of specific skills. Additional forms of performance assessments
include interviews and samples of children’s work that are first
collected into a working portfolio and then refined into a prese
ntation portfolio.
·
Describe some ways teachers of young children share their insig
hts about what they know and are able to do with their families.
Regular notes, phone calls, and emails are informal ways teache
rs can share information about children’s development and learn
ing with their families. Teachers should also schedule formal co
nferences with children’s families on a regular basis to share ins
ights about their children’s progress and to set goals for their fu
ture learning. Portfolios that include the teacher’s reflections an
d analysis make an effective centerpiece for parent–
teacher conferences and give teachers opportunities to talk with
families about what is happening at home and at school.
·
Discuss the origins of kindergarten readiness assessments, the c
hallenges faced by those tasked with their development, and fac
tors that make it difficult to compare states’ results.
States that were awarded federal Enhanced Assessment and Rac
e to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grants were required to d
evelop and implement kindergarten readiness assessments. This
has proven to be a difficult assignment because there is not an a
greed-
upon definition of “readiness.” The resulting assessments differ
in their focus, are used in different ways, assess different devel
opmental domains, are administered at different times of the yea
r, and take different forms. These factors reduce their usefulnes
s and make it difficult to gauge states’ success preparing childre
n for school.

30. USEFUL WEBSITESDefending the Early Years
This advocacy group focuses on efforts to support the rights and
needs of young children. Its leaders are among the most respect
ed experts in early childhood education. They provide guidance
about how to respond to inappropriate standards, assessments, a
nd classroom practices.FairTest: The National Center for Fair a
nd Open Testing
This organization is committed to promoting fair, open, valid as
sessment practices that benefit children, families, and schools. I
t works to educate the public about issues related to testing prac
tices from kindergarten through college admission, stressing the
importance of using tests appropriately and evaluating students
and schools with data collected over time.National Institute for
Early Education Research (NIEER)
NIEER’s research addresses a wide variety of topics of interest
to early childhood educators, including child assessment and ass
essments of the programs they attend.Child Trends
Child Trends conducts research on topics of importance to early
childhood educators. It takes a “whole child” approach to its w
ork with children from infancy through the school years, with a
n emphasis on exploring ways to increase children’s chances for
being successful in school and beyond.
TO REFLECT
1.
It is essential that assessment practices used with vulnerable yo
ung children are ethical. Using the NAEYC Code of Ethical Con
duct (Appendix 2), evaluate the extent to which your center’s as
sessment and evaluation plan might be considered appropriate. I
f your center does not yet have a child evaluation plan, design a
sample plan that would be considered ethical.
2.
The director of an early childhood center decided that authentic
assessment took too much time and that administering a standar
dized literacy assessment in the pre-
K year would show the quality of her program if the children sc

31. ored well. What concerns would you share with this director on
the use of one standardized assessment as a reflection of childre
n’s learning and her program’s overall quality?
1 The terms observational assessment and performance assessme
nt, sometimes called “classroom assessment,” are often used int
erchangeably when discussing child assessment strategies. We
will use them interchangeably here.
2 Children’s speech is not always clear or accurate. Observers s
hould record what they heard, not what they believe the child m
eant. For example, if a child says “I’s needs that k-
on” the observer should record that utterance, not “I need that c
rayon,” which is what the child probably meant.
3 This tool is named The Ounce Scale because funding for its de
velopment was provided by the Ounce of Prevention Fund based
in Chicago.