6.4 How Observation and Assessment Inform Teaching
6.4 How Observation and Assessment Inform Teaching
Brenda Boyd Brown, Ph.D.
Effective teachers understand that observation and assessment are very important in curriculum development, implementation, and teaching. Observations and assessments are essential to help inform teaching practices and guide learning activities. They are a looking glass into the child’s physical abilities, interests, strengths, and learning and should be used to inform what the educator does next.
Through observation, an educator can determine if the content planned for the children was absorbed, if a child is struggling developmentally in any areas, or if the teaching strategies effectively support students’ learning and can provide information for sharing with families about child growth and development.
Having well-planned, intentional, developmentally appropriate daily activities gives teachers solid information about scaffolding children’s learning and developing curriculum for their classroom. Scaffolding is providing support and guidance to children as they learn new skills and gradually removing the support as children learn the skills.
To illustrate how a teacher might use observations to impact curriculum choices for an individual child, reconsider the scenario presented in the work sampling document of Holly’s engagement in a measurement activity (see Figure 6.9).
Holly uses art to capture her learning. In a measuring activity, Holly must find three objects: one longer than her shoe, one the same length, and one shorter than her shoe. She found that Blueberry (Gavin’s stuffed bear) was the same length as her shoe. After writing Blueberry on the data collection chart, Holly drew this picture of him.
This behavior, observed in a natural environment as children are engaged in play, provides the teacher with a wealth of information about the child’s learning, development, and interests. This observation and authentic assessment give a snapshot of what is happening in the classroom. They can give the teacher information about Holly’s interests and development that could inform future activity plans for Holly and the classroom in general.
Using the narrative attached to the work sample in Figure 6.8 as an anecdotal record, Holly’s teacher used this observation to plan how to scaffold her learning. Table 6.2 shows an example of a curriculum plan tied to the observation.
| Identify child’s interest | Holly has been using art to represent her learning and has shown some interest in mathematics concepts (i.e., non-standard measurement) |
|---|---|
| Identify curriculum or assessment content area: | Art and cognition |
| Part of the daily routine: | Art table during choice time |
| Description of planned learning experience: | Children will utilize the art media provided to create representations of groups of objects and associate that group with a numeral. |
| Consider children’s developmental levels: | Holly showed an ability to measure objects using standard measuremen