Module 10: Issues in Preschool
Assessment
Module 10: Issues in Preschool
Assessment
Module 10 focuses on assessment issues specific to preschool children.
The ways in which assessments are used to select children for
participation in various preschool programs is specifically addressed, as is
the relationship between assessment and instruction. By the conclusion of
this module, you will understand assessment as a comprehensive process
for collecting information to inform teaching, evaluation, and
placement; the role and value of families as partners in a comprehensive
assessment system, and formal and informal assessments of cognitive,
socio emotional, linguistic and motor development, as all of these
apply to the assessment of preschool children.
Preschool Assessment
Preschool assessment decisions include:
Selection for the preschool program;
Planning for instruction;
Referral for special education;
Transition to kindergarten.
Selection for Preschool Programs
Preschool programs usually accept children on a first come, first
serve basis.
Acceptance may be based on
age;
ability to pay;
religious affililiation;
other demographic characteristic.
A child's ability is rarely a consideration in the selection process at
the preschool level.
Universal Preschool
There is currently a push for universal publicly funded preschool,
which would make preschool education available to all preschool age
children.
Screening to select the most needy among preschoolers for public
funded preschool is not necessary in communities and states where
universal preschool is available.
Screening for Preschool
In communities where universal preschool does not exist, screening
is necessary accept children for a limited number of preschool
slots.
Screening criteria is based on demographic characteristics such
as:
Teen mothers
Children and families living in poverty
Children from home where English is not the primary language spoken
Screening instruments are chosen to select the most needy among
children with identified characteristics for special programs.
Selecting a Screening Instrument
Screening instruments should measure children’s ability and
achievement. A comprehensive developmental screening review
should include cognitive, physical, social, and emotional
development.
Screening issues to consider:
Screening activities should be play-based;
Cultural diversity of the community should be reflected in procedures used;
Involve families—they can provide information the child’s current functioning, as
well the child’s history and languages used in the home;
Speakers of the language of the community should be available;
The screening procedure should be quick to administer, in order to accommodate
preschoolers short attentions span.
Limitations of Screening
Screening instruments are not diagnostic instruments. They can
only select children who may be at-risk for academic failure.
Additional testing will be needed to determine special education
eligibility and or to plan for other interventions.
Screening programs should
not be used for identification of
eligibility and should not
exclude children from a program for
which they are legally eligible.
Using Screening Information to Plan
Instruction
Screening results can be used to plan instruction for children
admitted to a program.
Issues to consider while reviewing screening tests scores:
Was the cutoff missed by a few points;
Were points lost in one domain or area;
Were points lost when verbal directions were given;
Were points lost when sequencing visual or auditory memory were required;
Did it appear that the child did not understand directions;
What would happen if you moved the child to the next level of passing?
Planning for Instruction
The curriculum used for instruction is normally play-based and
focused on the needs and interest of children.
Knowledge
(content or subject
matter)
Skills
(e.g., problem solving,
communicating,
following schedules
and routines,
cooperating )
Attitudes
(e.g., curiosity, risktaking, selfconfidence, respect
for others)
Curriculum
The Curriculum
Teacher may used a prepared curriculum guides that include both
curriculum and assessments ( e.g., The Creative Curriculum for Preschool).
Teachers who plan their curriculum do so based on:
Thematic
Curriculum
Inquiry-based
Curriculum
• Based on themes and projects
• Themes are of interest to children, e.g., families, communities, toys
• Themes are taught in small groups, at interest centers, individually or
with the whole class
• Children learn by experimenting with materials, observing their
environments, talking with others and sharing what they have learned.
Teachers’ Instructional Roles
Teacher play a number of roles during instruction.
Observer
manager
organizer
validator
participant
converser
model
Problem
initiator
extender
Accessing and Documenting Children’s Thinking
In order to access and document children’s thinking:
Ask questions of individual children;
Make sure children can see all materials that may serve as a resource
for their responses;
Ask open-ended questions;
Accept and extend children’s responses;
Invite all children to reflect on what they know and can do;
Make comments on the plan and actual activity.
Instructional Approaches
The next several slides will provide examples of approaches to
instruction used by different programs. Each approach has
recording methods and goals for observation based on program
specific philosophy and goals. They are:
Head Start Child Outcomes
Multiple Intelligences
Project Approach
Reggio Emilia
Head Start Child Outcomes
Head Start Child Outcomes provides a framework for curriculum
planning and ongoing assessment for children in Head Start programs. The
Framework includes 8 domains, 27 domain elements, and 100 indicators of
child development and learning.
Learning domains addressed by the framework include language development,
literacy development, social and emotional development, physical health and
Development, approaches to learning, mathematics, science, and creative arts.
No particular model for delivering the curriculum is suggested over another.
Teachers in Head Start programs measure progress regularly based on the
outcomes.
Multiple Intelligences Curriculum
The approach is based on Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.
Teachers develop various methods of instruction that support
multiple ways of knowing.
Pathways Model is an approach to instruction that uses multiple
intelligences in the classroom.
Five “pathways to learning include:
Exploration
Bridging
Understanding
Authentic programs
Talent development
The Project Approach
The terms project-based learning and inquiry-based learning are
used interchangeably.
Teachers and children develop activities together. The project
approach enhances:
Self understanding;
Investigation skills;
Cooperative learning;
Appreciation for cultural diversity.
Peer collaboration is an important component when using the project
approach. A checklist is often use to document how a group works
together.
The Project Approach
The project approach uses webbing, which is a graphic organizer.
Webbing helps children:
identify what they know about a
topic;
and
additional information they would
like to learn about a topic.
Children document their learning using posters, stories, etc.
Reggio Emilia Approach
The Reggio Emilia approach includes the child, his parents, teachers, school leaders
and the community.
The Reggio Emilia approach focuses on:
Symbolic representation as children explore their environment;
Expressive, communicative, and cognitive languages (e.g., drawing,
words, painting, etc.);
Curriculum based on child, teacher, and family interests;
Engagement in long-term projects that promote engagement in
learning and child development.
Assessment takes place through documentation. Both documentation panels
and portfolios ( see page 325) are used to document progress, display learning and
promote reflection.
Referral for Special Services
Response to Intervention (RTI) is used to refer children for
special services. The child study is used by teachers to document
observations, along with evidence of the child’s performance on
specific outcomes.
Tier I intervention takes place in the classroom with teachers.
Tier II often includes services such as speech
and language therapy, occupational therapy, play
therapy, etc., and other special
services to the family.
Teacher’s Role in the Referral Process
When RTI is used to refer children and families for special services,
teachers:
Observe children in the classroom;
Suggest ways to modify the curriculum;
Suggest ways to modify the instructional process;
When other professionals (e.g., speech therapists, psychologists, physical
therapist) are ready to conduct diagnostic assessments, the teacher
arranges for proposes the best time for the assessment to occur.
Play-based Assessment
Play-based assessment takes place when the teacher observes
children at play in order to judge the social/emotional, cognitive, language,
and physical development of a young child.
Play-based assessment can help teachers plan for individual children
and/or for all children in a program.
Referral Continuum
Referral for special services follows the continuum below.
Teachers observe and interact with the child while making
adjustments to the learning environment, the curriculum,
and approaches to instruction.
The teacher consults with parents seeking suggestions and
insights to help the child participate successfully.
The RTI process is initiated. If modifications are not
successful, intensive intervention may occur.
Assessment is conducted by a specialist, who will suggest
additional modifications in the preschool classroom or
special services.
At this level, parents, teachers, and specialist may decide
to remove the child from the regular classroom to an
environment that will better serve his/her needs.
Referral Continuum
Assessment results are used to decide on intervention modifications at
each stage of the continuum
If suggestions do not work, other intervention modifications or strategies
are tried until something works.
Formal Identification for Special Education
Special provisions for assessment, evaluation, and initial and
subsequent evaluations are made when children are identified
for special education (see pgs. 331-332).
Formal Planning and Documentation
By federal law, special needs infants and toddlers must have and
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and older children must
have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
The IFSP or IEP documents:
Records of goals
Interventions
Results/outcomes of interventions
Planning for special needs children may include:
Modifications to the curriculum in the typical classroom (see pgs
332-333).
Transition from Preschool
Collaboration between preschools and kindergartens are important since 81% of
children entering kindergarten have attended preschool or child-care programs.
Preschool reports to kindergarten teachers should describe the children’s preschool
progress in term of broad developmental categories that serve as a foundation for
knowledge and skills acquisition.
Preschool teachers can help parents with the transition in terms of
assessment by:
- Providing them with information about the use and misuse of tests
- Helping them understand and expect kindergarten assessment issues such as
screening, entrance age, readiness and entry-year kindergarten programs.
What Next?
 Review Section X of the Early Childhood Assessment Study Guide. Can
you explain each of the concepts and terms listed?
 Reflect on the various instructional approaches use in preschool
learning environments. Is there one approach that appeal to you more
than any of the others?
 Connect with one teacher who teaches special needs children in a
typical classroom and one who teaches special needs children in a
classroom with all special needs children. What are the specific
instruction and assessment issues faced by each teacher in their
specific teaching-learning environment?