CHAPTER 9 :

IMPLEMENTATION OF EARLY
CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENTS
BY: JANIE SCHUTTE
EED 280
 PREPARING FOR ADMINISTRATION

Determining and Communicating the Purpose of Assessments

Follows from Purpose: Use of assessment, circumstances of collected information, who is assessed,
technical assessment requirements, how the information is communicated
Assessments (Guided Instruction): Completed throughout the school year in classroom
observations
Assessment (High Stake): Gathered in one or few assessments, must be able to provide enough
information for important decisions
Screening Assessments: At risk for inappropriate use in determining special needs, sometimes used
in guiding instruction
Results should be shared in a sufficient time manner
Guidance must be provided regarding results at program level
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Communicating with Parents

Consent of parents and informing parents of results
Is the informed consent required? How will the parents be made aware of results?
Constant implementation with obtaining consent from parents necessary
Availability of written information for parents about planned assessments would help
to ensure that parents receive uniform information to guide them both regarding their
childrens participation in an assessment and in interpreting results when they become
available. (pg.285)
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Assessor Training
Data quality reliant on appropriate training of assessor
Certification Process: May involve interviewers administering trainee, may also require a
specific score such as 85% or above
Scoring of certification can help in recognizing any problems that might be occurring in
administration
Issues that were identified in certification process:
Nonneutral encouragement of children, coaching, failure to allow for nonverbal
responding, deviation from the script developed to standardize administration, and
errors in scoring particular items in the assessment battery.. (pg. 286)
Feedback to assessors can help with assessment protocol
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Protection Against Unintended Use of Data

Protection must be placed against any inappropriate uses of data regarding high stakes
decision making
One possibility for protection against the unintended use of data for high-stakes
decisions about children is the collection of data for a sample of children rather than for
all children in a program (with the caution that an appropriate sampling approach needs to
be developed). (pg.286)
Reports done at program level
 ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENTS
Degree of Familiarity of the Assessor to
the Child
Familiar people may influence results of
assessments and help children remain
focused and relaxed
Teacher assessors may grow frustrated in
thinking the child knows the correct
answer and not being able to praise the
child
Childrens Responses to the Assessment
Context
How long is the assessment for the child?
Limit durations of assessment, possibly into
multiple sessions
It would be valuable to examine childrens
assessment scores in light of assessor
perceptions of child comfort in order to
examine whether childrens comfort level
might be associated with higher scores.
(pg.291)
 ADMINISTRATION OF ASSESSMENTS

Administration for Children Who Are

Learning English
Will the assessment be completed in two
Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in a System of Assessment
languages? Questions the assessor must ask themselves include:
Should an aid be present?
How much more time will it require to Does the child require frequent breaks?
Are other assistive devices, such as hearing aids, working correctly?
complete assessments in multiple A possible requirement is to tape this type of assessment, to ensure DAP is
implemented for children with special needs
languages?
Teacher may require a bilingual
interpreter, and must check availability
for this
 FOLLOWING UP ON ADMINISTRATION

Guiding the Use of Information from Assessments

When designing a system of assessment, it is important to look forward in time to the point of
communicating results and to consider in advance the extent to which results are appropriate for use in
program improvement, as well as how best to summarize them so that implications for programs are clear.
(pg.297)
Assessing the Costs of Implementing a System of Assessment
What does the cost of the assessment overall look like? (In example: Cost of hiring a substitute so the
teacher can complete assessments)

Information on costs to programs can be used as input into decisions for the future about the frequency of
assessments, whether assessments are conducted universally or for a sample of children, and whether
resources need to be made available to programs to cover the additional costs of assessments. (pg.298)
 REFERENCE

Snow, C. E., & B., V. H. (2008). Early childhood assessment: Why, what,

and how. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.