Selection and Administration of Pre-School Assessments
Introduction
Assessment in learning is a process of gathering discussing information from various sources to develop an understanding of the learner’s progress. In this paper, I considered assessments that can yield helpful insights into the development and learning of children. This process involves selecting and administering one language and one math assessment to a group of children. Among the evaluations chosen in this process are the placement and summative assessments.
Part I: Selecting and Administering Assessments
The two selected assessments are the placement and summative assessment. In the administration process, the placement assessments place the learner according to prior achievement or personal characteristics. For instance, this assessment places the learner’s accomplishments in language or math tests based on previous results. In this assessment approach, a learner’s data on the scores are collected, and they are deeply analyzed to identify the learner’s achievement and make the decision on whether the learner can proceed to the next level or not. In language, this assessment may include examining the level of student fluency, comprehension, and writing based on prior knowledge achievements and the level of instruction adherence. In a math assessment, it includes examining the learner’s ability to identify the number figure, for instance, counting numbers from 1-10 and also manipulation of these numbers.
On the other hand, the summative assessment aims at evaluating the student at the end of an instructional process. For instance, in language, the summative assessment aims at identifying the learner’s achievement at the end of the unit, such as fluency, comprehension, and writing. In math, summative assessment aims at identifying learner achievement at the end of a unit, such as counting and manipulation of numbers.
The two assessments were selected and administered to a group of ten students with five males, four females, and one with special needs. After the administration, the results on the placement assessment showed that most of the boys indicated that they achieved the required goals in the previous knowledge with the only one not meeting the target. Girls, on the other hand, showed all achieved the desired goals based on the last experience as required. Also, the one with special needs met the required goals as well as expected. On the summative assessment, the learners achieved the needed goals and success. The achievements were attributed to the fact the evaluation is offered just immediately after the end of a unit. The rationale for choosing the placement and summative assessment for the learner is because the two assessments evaluate the learner based on the previous experiences. Therefore a teacher can develop an insight on improving the learner’s level of achievement.
Placement assessment is an evaluation used to place the learner according to prior achievement or personal characteristics. This assessment is conducted through placement testing, where the learner is given a test that can evaluate the level of success on the previous knowledge administered. This assessment aims to determine the learner’s current level of skills and expertise in language, writing, and math. On the other hand, summative assessment evaluates student learning at the end of the instructional unit by comparing it against a set standard. This assessment aims to assess the student learning progress at the end of an instructional unit based on the set standards. The administration of placement assessment and summative assessment was at the end of the term and the midway of the term, respectively. Both the assessments were administered by giving out a test on language and math, ensuring that the supervision is strictly conducted. The data obtained from the administration of this assessment should be kept in a document called the compendium. “The compendium promotes reliability and validity of assessment data”(Halle, Zaslow, Wessel, Moodie & Darling-Churchill, 2011 p.5). The assessment data of the learner are essential because they are used in evaluating the learner’s achievements at a particular time.
Part II: Data Analysis to Inform Instructions
From the data collected after the administration of the two chosen assessments, the percentage of the performance of boys and girls in language varied significantly. The data showed that the girls performed well than boys in language, with most of the girls attaining at least 70 percent. Boys, on the other hand, performed averagely in language by attaining at least 50 percent. In contrast to language performance, boys performed well in math than the girls, with most boys reaching at least 70 percent, whereas girls achieved at least 50percent in math.
From this observation, the analysis indicates that girls are good in language than boys, and this suggests that the girls can grasp the literacy in fluency, comprehension, and writing as compared to boys. On the other hand, boys perform best in math as compared to girls as well. This is a suggestion that boys do well in number counting and manipulation of numbers and eventually doing well in arithmetic. The findings from the assessment administration create some insights as a teacher. The insights include how to remedy learner’s performance based on interests and the outlook from the administered assessment. Another idea is on improving the learner’s general performance in a test by focusing on the learner’s achievement at a particular time. Furthermore, the performance of the learner in early childhood development does rely on the learner’s family background. Some of the learner’s environment is poor and may not be able to provide the tools suitable for the developing child. Others have the means to develop the learners further apart from the teachers provided tools.
According to the findings, a teacher should be able to choose informed instruction to the learner that gears the learner to learn best. For instance, the direction should include the teacher involving the learner’s parent in teaching the learner on language and math practice by assembling the necessary tools that fit the level of the learner, such as the chats on numbers and language words. The teachers are also recommended to give the learners a takeaway assignment or homework assignment. This assignment should be linked to the lesson’s concept but are not directly from the experience to ensure that parents do take part in the learner’s development because they should assist their children in solving the given assignments.
Part III: Communication of the Assessment Results
The learner’s development at an early age should not be left to the teacher alone, but rather, it’s a collective responsibility of both the teacher and the learner’s parents. The assessment done to the learner is, therefore, paramount and should be shared with the learner’s parent to ensure that the responsibility becomes collective. This is because the assessment data kept in the compendium will make the learners to be engaged in the process of developing young learners. “The compendium aims to highlight areas in which childhood field is lacking information on reliability and validity of early childhood assessments”(Halle, Zaslow, Wessel, Moodie & Darling-Churchill, 2011 p.5). From here, it is now clear that the compendium is essential because it keeps reliable and valid data on the learner assessment, and the document can be assessed by the teacher as well as the parent to identify the areas that need adjustments.
The selected assessments fitted into the instructional process because the evaluations conducted to the learners surrounded the learners previous and the current learner achievement, which satisfies the instructional approaches and goals that by the end of the instructional process, a learner should be able to articulate what has been thought in that lesson. For instance, fluency and writing in language by the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to read fluently and as well be able to write. Parents are therefore recommended to give time to their children at home for them to handle the assignments given in promoting collective responsibility and appropriate assessment to the learners. The parents are also recommended to assist their children in solving problems on the assignments given to the learner where a learner may have had a complication in solving the problems.
Finally, for a learner to develop as desired, appropriate assessment should always be carried out by the teacher to check on their progress. For this to be effective, there should be communication between the parent and the teacher. Therefore, the best way for communication is by the use of compendium that has the learner’s assessment data where a learner’s parent is advised to be reporting to the school where their children are to check on their progress. With such a responsibility given to a parent, there will be efficient communication between the parent and the teacher and thus continuous support in the children’s development process.
References
Halle, T., Zaslow, M., Wessel, J., Moodie, S., & Darling-Churchill, K. (2011). Understanding and Choosing Assessments and Developmental Screeners for Young Children Ages 3-5: Profiles of Selected Measures. OPRE Report# 2011-23. Administration for Children & Families.