devlepmontally appropriate practices
According to Jaruszewicz (2019), a primary goal of a developmentally appropriate approach to assessment is to inform practices so that the curriculum you implement matches the developmental needs and interests of the children in your classroom. As part of our ability to effectively assess and utilize those assessments, it is important to remember that informal assessments are a key part of the assessment process in early childhood education. Informal assessments must match our curriculum goals, should actively involve children and families, focus on change and growth over time, and happen in real time in the classroom or care setting (Jaruszewicz, 2019). According to NAEYC’s guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices (2009), the job of an early childhood educator has five connected components, as illustrated in the following image:
To prepare for this discussion,
- Read Chapters 5 and 12 in your course text.
- Read pages 16–23 in the resource Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children From Birth Through Age 8 (Links to an external site.).
- Read the resource Early Childhood Assessment (Links to an external site.).
- Review the Week 3 Instructor Guidance
- Review the several commonly used informal assessments noted in Table 12.3 of the course text.
For your initial post,
- Select one informal assessment from Table 12.3 of the text.
- Discuss why you feel it is an effective form of assessment to use in your future role as an educator.
- As an educator, imagine you have just administered the assessment. Describe how specifically you will use this measurement to make instructional decisions about curriculum. Support your choices with the course text.
- Explain how you will share the assessment results with families considering the following:
- How you will communicate with them (e.g., email, phone call, etc.).
- How you will explain the results.
- The ways your approach is inclusive of family, culture and individual differences.
