Assessing Children

For many years early childhood educators have been discussing problems with curriculum and teaching methods in terms of developmental appropriateness. Part of the problem for developmental appropriateness is related to the assessment of young children.

The purpose of assessing a child may be to:

• determine progress of a developmental achievement
• make appropriate decisions
• diagnose a learning problem
• help in curriculum decisions
• serve as a basis for reporting to parents
• assist a child with assessing his or her own progress

The decision to assess a child should be discussed with the parent, teacher, and any other staff member that needs to be involved. The group may or may not the child to be assessed, but the group should keep in mind the importance of the child receiving early intervention if necessary. Assessment is an important aspect of teaching and learning. In early childhood the focus should be on building the child's confidence and desire to learn. Assessments provide information on the learning progress of the child.

I know that at the school I work at the teachers use 2 different types of assessments. One of the assessment tools is used to measure the child's social and emotional behavior. This assessment will let the educator and parent know if the child have any behavior problems. The other test is to determine if the child is developing at the appropriate age. The child can score pass, rescreen, or refer. If a child is scored a rescreen the teacher have 60 days to rescreen the child and if the child scores a rescreen again or a refer the child must be referred for special needs services. If a child score a refer from the initial test the child is automatically referred to the local public school for further evaluations for special needs services. The parent have the right to refuse the child being referred. If the parent determines that there is nothing wrong with their child and do not want them referred the parent will have to sign documentation stating he or she do not want their child referred. What happens with this child? The child will not receive services that he or she may need and when this child does transition to public school and the problem was never addressed this child could get lost in the system and fail all test. This child could end up being labeled and placed in a remedial classroom. This is why I stress to my parents the importance of getting their child assessed at an early age and to start the services before the child transition to public school. For example, I have a child in my program who was referred for his speech, the mother said that there is nothing wrong with her sons speech and refused to have him evaluated. This year the same issue came up and the little boy's speech has gotten worst. The mother still refuse to have him evaluated and she said that they told her mother the same thing about her and she speaks fine. This is not true because I have conversations with this parent often and I can barely understand what she is saying most of the time.

The part of the world I chose to research is Africa. Developing milestones can be different depending on your cultural. In many countries in Africa Western tests are used to assess children. Western test are not culturally appropriate for some African populations and cannot assess if those children are developing normally. For example, activities such as preparing breakfast or using a utensil may be frightening to a African child living in a rural area. These children are not use to using forks or knives while eating. Some of these children may have never seen a book and it would be difficult for them to pass an assessment that ask them to pick objects that match. Test being culturally sensitive have been an issue in America as well for many years. Some people believe that some test are bias and do not assess all children in the world.

Reference:
Refining the milestones: assessing child development in Africa. Retrieved from: http://blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2010/08/11/refining-the-milestones-assessing-child-development-in-africa/

http://www.waldenu.edu