Introduction to Early Childhood Assessment. Gloria Maccow, Ph.D. Assessment Training Consultant

Introduction to Early Childhood Assessment Gloria Maccow, Ph.D. Assessment Training Consultant

Objectives Describe assessments for use in classroom instruction to document a child s relative knowledge of specific skills, information, and accomplishments; identify children who may be at risk for school failure; and confirm the presence of a disability. 2 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Different Types of Assessment Are Used to Answer Different Questions

What is Assessment?... A systematic process for measuring student achievement. Identify learning goals and objectives. Use assessment data to determine the extent to which children have attained the learning goals. (Linn & Gronlund, 1995) 4 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Principles of Assessment Specify what will be assessed. Select assessment procedure that is is most effective for measuring the content to be assessed. Use a variety of procedures. (Linn & Gronlund, 1995) 5 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Types of Assessments Type of Assessment Achievement Tests - norm-referenced - performance-based Readiness Tests Developmental Screening Diagnosis Question What are child s previous accomplishments? What is child s relative knowledge of specific skills and information? Is the child at risk for school failure? Does the child have a disability? What are the causes for persistent learning difficulties? 6 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Assessing Previous Accomplishments Does the child exhibit the skills that are foundational to success? What is the content to be assessed?

Self-Regulation The internal mechanism that enables mindful, intentional, and thoughtful behaviors. Self-regulation involves: the ability to control one s impulses and to stop doing something. the capacity to do something (e.g., awaiting one s turn). Cat (Bodrova & Leong, 2008) 9 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Pre-literacy: Pre-Academic Skills vocabulary size, complexity of spoken language, understanding of language concepts, familiarity with alphabet and books, recognizing and naming letters. 10 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Language and Literacy early development of reading depends critically on whether the receptive phonological component of the aural system and the expressive phonological component of the oral system are developing in an ageappropriate manner (Berninger, V., 2007). Language Literacy 11 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Pre-Academic Skills Children are ready to read when they can hear the way words sound, identify rhyme and alliteration, blend sounds, recognize onset and rime, identify sound units in words. Phonological Awareness 12 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Vocabulary = Critical to Reading Children learn word meanings through conversations with other people. They often hear adults repeat words and use new and interesting words. The more words they hear, the more word meanings they learn. (National Reading Panel Report, 2000) 13 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Importance of Oral Language If children have been offered fewer opportunities to hold conversation they may: have limitations in the grammar they control have difficulties with comprehending oral and written language have limited control of some of the most common sentence structures used in storybook English be unable to anticipate what may happen next in sentences (Gentile, 2003) 14 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Pre-Academic Skills Pre-numeracy rote counting, number recognition (1-5 then 6-9), count to 10 with one-to-one correspondence, basic concepts (sizes, comparisons, shapes). 15 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Examples of Achievement Tests Tool Grade/Age Areas Assessed AIMSweb Test of Early Literacy AIMSweb Test of Early Numeracy K - 1st gr. K - 1st gr. Letter Naming Fluency, Letter Sound Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency Oral Counting, Missing Number, Number Identification, Quantity Discrimination Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills (K-SEALS) 3:0 6:11 yrs. Expressive, Receptive, Number, Letter & Word Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement-Second Edition 4:6 25 yrs. Reading, Mathematics, Written Language, Oral Language Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition 4:0 50:11 yrs. The Work Sampling System Pre-Grade 3 Reading, Mathematics, Written Language, Listening Comprehension, Oral Expression Personal & Social Development, Language & Literacy, Mathematical Thinking, Scientific Thinking, Social Studies, The Arts, Physical Development and Health 16 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

The Work Sampling System Performance based achievement test Domains Personal and Social Development Language and Literacy Mathematical Thinking Scientific Thinking Social Studies The Arts Physical Development, Health and Safety 17 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Assessing Readiness Skills

Examples of Readiness Tests Tool Grade/Age Areas Assessed Boehm-3 Preschool 3:0 5:11 yrs. Basic Concepts. Boehm-3 K Grade 2 Basic Concepts. Bracken School Readiness Assessment-III Metropolitan School Readiness Test-6th Edition: Level I Metropolitan School Readiness Test-6 th Edition: Level II 3:0 6:11 yrs. PreK beg K Mid, end K beg Gr 1 Early Academic Concepts (colors, letters, numbers/counting, sizes/comparisons, shapes). Literacy Development. Beginning reading and mathematics development. 24 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Is the child at risk for school failure?

Examples of Developmental Screening Tests Tool Grade/Age Areas Assessed Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-2 BESS) CELF-5 Screening Test Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Fourth Edition (DIAL-4) Early Screening Inventory- Revised (ESI-R) PreK grade 12 5:0 21:11 yrs. 3:0 6:11 yrs. 3:0 5:11 yrs. Behavioral and emotional strengths and weaknesses Morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics Motor, Language, Concepts, Self-Help, Social Visual Motor/Adaptive, Language & Cognition, Gross Motor 27 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

DIAL-4 Quick Facts Screens in five areas in both the English and Spanish versions Motor Concepts Performance-based measures Language Self-Help Development Social Emotional Development Ratings based on teacher/caregiver observation 28 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

What are the Causes for Persistent Learning Difficulties? Does the Child Have a Disability?

Examples of Tests for Classification and Diagnosis Cognitive Domain Grade/Age Areas Assessed Differential Ability Scales- Second Edition Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition 2:6 7:11 yrs. 3:0 18:0 yrs. 2:6 7:7 yrs. Verbal Reasoning, Nonverbal Reasoning, Spatial Reasoning, School Readiness, Working Memory, Processing Speed, Special Nonverbal Composite Sequential, Simultaneous, Planning, Learning, Knowledge Full Scale IQ, Verbal Comprehension, Visual- Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working Memory, Processing Speed 31 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Examples of Tests for Classification and Diagnosis Language Domain Grade/Age Areas Assessed Clinical evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fifth Edition Preschool Language Scale- Fifth Edition Expressive Vocabulary Test- Second Edition (EVT-2) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (PPVT-4) 5:0 21:11 years Birth 7:11 years 2:6 90:0+ years 2:6 90:0+ years Core Lge, Receptive Lge, Expressive Lge, Lge Content, Lge Structure, Lge Memory Total Language, Auditory Comprehension, Expressive Communication Expressive Vocabulary Receptive Vocabulary 32 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Examples of Tests for Classification and Diagnosis Tool Grade/Age Areas Assessed Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Second Edition (BOT-2) Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Second Edition (Vineland-II) 4:0 21:0 yrs. Birth 90:0 yrs. Fine Motor Precision, Fine Motor Integration, Manual Dexterity, Bilateral Coordination, Balance, Running speed, Upper-Limb Coordination Communication, Daily Living Skills, Socialization, Motor, Maladaptive Behavior 35 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

Developing a Comprehensive Assessment Program

Selecting Assessments Tool The Work Sampling System Bracken School Readiness Assessment-III DIAL-4 DAS-II; WIAT-III; Vineland-II Question What are child s previous accomplishments? What is child s relative knowledge of specific skills and information? Is the child at risk for school failure? Does the child have a disability? What are the causes for persistent learning difficulties? 37 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

References Berninger, V. (2007). Process Assessment of the Learner-Second Edition. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson. Bodrova, E., and Leong, D. J. March 2008. How to develop self-regulation in Kindergarten. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Gentile, L. (2011). The Oral Language Acquisition Inventory-Second Edition. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson. Gentile, L. (2003). The Oral Language Acquisition Inventory & The Oracy Instructional Guide. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson. 38 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

References Klein, L., & Knitzer, J. (2007). Promoting effective early learning: What every policymaker and educator should know. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University. Linn, R. L., & Gronlund, N. E. (1995). Measurement and assessment in teaching. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill. National Institute for Literacy. Put Reading First. June, 2003. US Department of Education. www.psychcorp.com 39 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

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