Assessments can be short-sighted. Yes, an assessment
in school tests the child’s level of intelligence, but does it? For example, one
assessment used is the IQ test. This test will determine a child’s aptitude
intelligence. Longitudinal data has proven otherwise. Children change continuously
so low aptitude intelligence may increase because of the child’s environment or
inherited set of skills. Another assessment tool used is the achievement tests
in school. The one major flaw is that the tests do not reflect the age of the
child. Many tools are used to assess a child, but some of the problems are
children learn differently, different personalities, the environment may not
suit some children, and the stressors of taking the test, such as timed tests.
(Berger, 2013)
Everyone has their own learning method. Some people
learn visually – they must see it to comprehend it; auditory – must hear it to
understand it or a combination. Some people need examples while others can read
on their own and comprehend. Taking tests can have negative results because
some people are great at tests, but others do not do well. For example, math
definitely was not my strong learning subject until algebra was introduced, I
struggled and did horrible at tests, but in this subject and statistics, I
struggled but did better at comprehending. I like doing at your own pace
classes because each individual can work at their own pace but not everyone
does well with these classes.
I think personality has a lot to do with it also.
Just as intelligence needs to be observed, so should the emotional aspect. For
example, I am a perfectionist who strives to do well all the time. My
organization skills are okay but multi-tasking seems to be a trait I have. The
environment also needs to be assessed. A simple example is the environment of a
testing area. Some people need it absolutely quiet with no distractions while
others can cope or excel at nosy or distracting environments. Personally, I
hate quiet and timed tests; they really stress me out because I am always
assessing the time. Personally, most of the time, I do my work with children,
music, and/or TV going. It is the best time for me in my schedule so I try to
adapt. Some people with emotional problems cannot adapt. Being a perfectionist
also has its upsides and downsides. Testing young children with a stranger also
has negative consequences. I have seen a countless amount of Pre-K students do
bad on their Kindergarten testing because it was someone they did not know.
Budgets are very constricting but also very important for the school district.
The country I chose to research about child
assessment was New Zealand. New Zealand does not have a requirement for
assessment nor keeping assessments on file. According to the Ministry of
education, “informed
by assessment, planning, and evaluation (documented and undocumented) that
demonstrates an understanding of children’s learning, their interests, whanau
[family] and life contexts (Blaiklock, 2013, par 10).” The curriculum, Te Wha-riki, for New Zealand was implemented in 1996. Since its inception, the
curriculum has been highly praised due to the positive impact it has had on the
early childhood program. The assessment currently in use is Learning Stories.
Learning Stories are “narrative descriptions that teachers write to describe
and interpret the learning that occurs in particular situations (Blaiklock,
2013, par 11).” The main problem with Learning Stories is that the assessment descriptions
have not been defined correctly. So,
even though, the assessment is being used, not all the narratives are
accurately defined for proper observations.
References
Berger, K.S. (2013). The Developing Person Through Childhood
(6th ed). Worth Publishing; New York, NY
Blaiklock, K. What are children learning in early childhood
education in New Zealand? Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/ajec_index_abstracts/what-are-children-learning-in-early-childhood-education-in-new-zealand.html
Shelley, In your post you talk about the negative aspects of testing and how people need different environments to test. Do you feel that testing is necessary? And what, if anything should a child be tested on?
ReplyDeleteI agree that some young children do poorly when tested by strangers. I have seen that happen in my own classroom. What did you mean when you said "Budgets are very constricting but also very important for the school district?"
I agree that certain assessment methods can be short sighted and that different children have their own learning styles. It is true that several factors come into play when you are thinking about assessing a child holistically. Do you think there are assessment methods that can be used across the board for every child or do you think assessment should be tailored to the particular child?
ReplyDeleteHi Shelley
ReplyDeleteAssessment should bring about benefits for children. Gathering accurate information from young children is difficult and potentially stressful. Assessments must have a clear benefit—either in direct services to the child or in improved quality of educational programs.
Assessment should be tailored to a specific purpose and should be reliable, valid, and fair for that purpose. Assessments designed for one purpose are not necessarily valid if used for other purposes. In the past, many of the abuses of testing with young children have occurred because of misuse.
Shelley,
ReplyDeleteI believe all methods of assessment make errors: the errors made by formal tests are different from those made by informal or anecdotal records and documentation notes; the errors made by specific checklists of behavioral items are different from those made by holistic impressionistic assessments. Awareness of the potential errors of each evaluation or assessment strategy can help minimize errors in interpretation. It is a good idea to strive for a balance between global or holistic evaluation and detailed specific assessments of young children.
Hi Shelley, I have really enjoyed getting to know you this term. I appreciate your professionalism and your great attitude. I can tell that you care deeply about children. Best of luck! Michelle Nutt
ReplyDeleteHello Shelley, Your posts have been enjoyable to read. Thanks for sharing some interesting and in depth posts. I hope I get to learn more from you in the future. I wish you all the best. Happy Holidays :) Karina
ReplyDelete