6.2 Assessment
Brenda Boyd Brown, Ph.D.
What is assessment and what are its characteristics? Assessment in educational settings is “the systematic collection, synthesis, and use of data to make educational decisions about a child or a group of children” (Stone-MacDonald et al., 2018, p. 2). This definition implies a process that includes collecting and interpreting information to plan and guide educational experiences for children. This definition is helpful because it identifies a few characteristics of assessment that are especially important in early childhood. Following is a list of these characteristics.
- Assessment is ongoing. Assessment is not a test that happens at a single point in time, providing one snapshot of a child’s development. Thus, test and assessment are not synonymous terms. A test can be a part of an assessment, but a single test differs from an assessment that is broader and lengthier than a single test.
- Assessment requires revisiting the collected information. The educator does not just collect numerous observations, never to return to them. Instead, the educator reviews the information gained through observation and other methods to create a summary or to synthesize an understanding of the child. The process of collecting information, reviewing it, and then using that synthesized result will be discussed later in the chapter.
- Assessment has a purpose. An educator uses the synthesized information to make decisions (for example, how to guide behavior, what curriculum to plan next, how to facilitate a child’s learning). Sometimes, those decisions are made long after the child has been observed, as in the case of planning future curricula. In other cases, the assessment may happen at the moment, as when the educator, while observing a child, chooses to insert themselves or some material or equipment into the child’s play for learning or development purposes. Nevertheless, whether one makes the decision immediately or in the future, assessment should always serve a specific purpose.
Gathering assessment information or data can happen in a few ways. In early childhood education, observation will be the primary method. Observation is a critical tool in the early childhood educator’s tool kit. However, the assessment may also include administering a standardized test (valid, reliable, and age-appropriate), interviewing an essential adult in a child’s life about their development or behavior, and collecting work samples of children’s writing, drawing, building, or language.
From the New York State Education Department. [Name of article/document.] Internet. Available from [specific webpage on State Education Department Website]; accessed [date, month, year].
Permission to copy, use, and distribute materials as described above shall not extend to information housed on this website that is credited to other sources, or to information on websites to which this site links.
Types of Assessment
Observation is an essential tool for a