Assessment and Child
Assessments
Brandon Stidham
12-10-2012
ECE 354
Assessments are very important in determining how to teach our children and where they are in terms of development. There are many types of assessments that can be beneficial in helping determine how to approach the learning style of each child as an individual instead of as a whole group. While each assessment is structurally different, they can produce results which give us insight on where our children are during different stages of their lives. There are both formal and informal assessments that can be used. “Formal assessments are norm-referenced tests that have standardized, formal procedures for administering, timing and scoring. They have been “normed” or administered to a representative sample of similar age or grade level students so that final test results can be compared to students of similar characteristics. Test results indicate a person’s relative performance in the group. These standardized tests must be administered as specified in the manual to ensure valid and reliable results”(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). There is another type of formal assessment called criterion-referenced test. These type of test measure what the person is able to do and indicate what skills have been mastered. A CRT compares a person’s performance with their past performances. “In criterion-referenced measurement, the emphasis is on assessing specific and relevant behaviors that have been mastered rather than indicating the relative standing in the group”(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). Formal assessments can prove to be beneficial as far as comparing test scores over a period of time and how the child is developing over that same period. While formal assessments are useful they also have flaws in them. Standardized test can make a child feel like pressure and anxiety. In a lot of situations when a child feels like this they will not do their best on any type of assessment.
Brandon Stidham
12-10-2012
ECE 354
Assessments are very important in determining how to teach our children and where they are in terms of development. There are many types of assessments that can be beneficial in helping determine how to approach the learning style of each child as an individual instead of as a whole group. While each assessment is structurally different, they can produce results which give us insight on where our children are during different stages of their lives. There are both formal and informal assessments that can be used. “Formal assessments are norm-referenced tests that have standardized, formal procedures for administering, timing and scoring. They have been “normed” or administered to a representative sample of similar age or grade level students so that final test results can be compared to students of similar characteristics. Test results indicate a person’s relative performance in the group. These standardized tests must be administered as specified in the manual to ensure valid and reliable results”(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). There is another type of formal assessment called criterion-referenced test. These type of test measure what the person is able to do and indicate what skills have been mastered. A CRT compares a person’s performance with their past performances. “In criterion-referenced measurement, the emphasis is on assessing specific and relevant behaviors that have been mastered rather than indicating the relative standing in the group”(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). Formal assessments can prove to be beneficial as far as comparing test scores over a period of time and how the child is developing over that same period. While formal assessments are useful they also have flaws in them. Standardized test can make a child feel like pressure and anxiety. In a lot of situations when a child feels like this they will not do their best on any type of assessment.
Bibliography: Logsdon Ann. Testing for Infant and Toddler Development. About.com Guide. http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/intelligencetests/p/battelledevelop.htm. Accessed on December 10, 2012. ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. Assessments for Young Children. 1999. http://www.1donline.org/article /6040/ Accessed December 10, 2012. Sue C. Wortham (2012). Assessment in Early Childhood Education. 6th ed