Building Quality Early Childhood Assessment: What Really Matters?
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Building Quality Early Childhood Assessment: What Really Matters? A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY ANN ELISE BAILEY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dr. David Johnson, Advisor August, 2017 © Ann Elise Bailey 2017 Acknowledgements I must start by thanking the members of my committee. To Dr. Jean King, I am grateful for your support, the sharing of your knowledge and expertise, and your encouragement to delve deeper into evaluation theory. To Dr. Richard Krueger, who taught my favorite course on using storytelling in evaluation, I appreciate all the guidance you gave to me throughout this process. I have been honored by the kind words you have said to me over the years and I love hearing your stories. To Dr. Christopher Watson, my colleague and friend, I value your input, your thoughtfulness, your editing skills, and your unending support. Finally, to Dr. David Johnson, I am so very grateful that you said yes when you had every right to say no. Your support, encouragement, and patience have been nothing short of wonderful. I hope that I can pay forward all the kindness that has been shown to me by this committee. This dissertation would not have been possible without the Head Start teachers who were so giving of their time, their energy, their knowledge, and their expertise. I simply cannot thank you enough for sharing your personal stories with me. I would also like to thank the Head Start directors, education coordinators, and disabilities specialists who offered their time to help me with my research. The Head Start Program always has and always will hold a special place in my heart. To my colleagues at the Center for Early Education and Development, I appreciate all the encouragement and the listening you have done, especially during the final stretch. A special thank you to Karen Anderson for your amazing transcription work and all of your support. Coming back to CEED has been one of the best choices I could have made. I look forward to our future work, helping make the world a better place for young children and the people who care for them. To my colleague, friend, and mentor—Dr. Karen Storm—you have taught me so much about evaluation, professionalism, and perseverance. Thank you for your unending guidance, support, sense of humor, and friendship. You have made an enormous impact on my life and I can only hope to be more like you when I grow up. To my other dearest friends—Amy GN, Beth, Bob, Cindy, Deb, Grace, Greg, Heidi, Jen, Joy, Katharine, Rob, and Tina—there are no words for how important you are in my life, nor are there enough words to let you know how much your words of encouragement, your kicks in the pants, your laughter, and your love have meant to me—during this process and always. To my amazing and much-loved family, I know that I am blessed beyond measure to have you all in my life. You constantly and consistently show me love, compassion, kindness, honesty, intelligence, and how to laugh at both the funny and sometimes painful parts of life. I do my best not to take that for granted. This accomplishment is special because I have all of you to celebrate it with me. I am so very proud to be your daughter, your sister, and your aunt. Thank you for being there every single step of the way. I love you and I really like you. i Dedication “You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else.” ~John Irving I dedicate this dissertation to all of the life-long learners in my family. This culture was built and instilled by my grandparents –Herbert H. Bailey, Mary L. Bailey, Lloyd M. Gire, and Norma L. Gire, and modeled and encouraged by my parents, Colin and Linda Bailey, and my siblings—Sarah O’Toole, David Bailey, and Patrick O’Toole. I will be forever grateful and proud to be part of this legacy. ii Abstract This research explored the knowledge, skills, and strategies early childhood teachers possess related to implementing curriculum and authentic assessment. Research suggests that early educators rate their knowledge of curriculum and authentic assessment and their implementation of both as excellent. Despite these self-reported, high levels of knowledge, researchers have established that early childhood authentic assessment is implemented inconsistently and often incorrectly. The purpose of this research was to determine what specific curriculum and authentic assessment skills and strategies have the greatest chance of improving the consistent implementation of early childhood authentic assessment. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to answer two research questions: (1) What curriculum and assessment skills and strategies influence the successful implementation of assessment within an early childhood educational environment; and (2) What components of the assessment cycle (i.e., observation/data collection; data analysis; data interpretation; hypothesis development; modification/ implementation of individualized instruction based on the assessment data; reporting) are perceived as having a greater likelihood of improving instruction and outcomes for young children? To answer these questions, interviews were conducted with 13 Head Start lead teachers across three different Head Start programs in Minnesota. Twelve of the teachers interviewed chose to participate in one of three different focus groups. The teachers who participated in the focus groups also completed a 19-item, Likert-scale authentic assessment rating scale on the extent to which they used specific authentic assessment skills. iii The interview and focus group data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis, which aided in identifying themes across the data. Sample means were calculated for each of the 19 items on the authentic assessment rating scale. A total of thirteen themes were identified; nine related to research question one, and four related to research question two stated above. The results of the analysis demonstrate that teachers rated their knowledge of curricula and authentic assessment as high, but also reported that their knowledge of early learning and K-12 standards was lacking. Teachers acknowledged that the professional development they receive from their employer had a greater impact on their assessment practices than information they received in their college classes. All teachers mentioned using small groups to implement the curriculum and individualize instruction. Time and competing priorities are reportedly the greatest barriers to implementing authentic assessment with fidelity. The teachers identified on- site coaching, greater sharing among peers, and additional classroom personnel as the supports most desired. All teachers identified high quality observation as the most important authentic assessment strategy. Teachers differed in the methods by which they collect observational data (e.g., checklists, notebooks, iPads, sticky notes, etc.), but all agreed that observations were the most important. Using the authentic assessment data to individualize instruction was also identified as important to the assessment process. Teachers acknowledged that they rarely, if ever, engaged parents in collecting authentic assessment data. They do, however, regularly share and discuss assessment results. Finally, teachers noted that despite conducting formal authentic assessment three times per school year, they also iv conduct informal assessments every day and make “in the moment” instructional decisions based on the information they observe during instruction. This research adds to the literature by identifying the specific strategies and skills early childhood providers use when conducting authentic assessment. This information can be used to focus professional development efforts, especially for those providers new to the field. Further research is needed on the assessment skills and strategies used by those in other early care and educational environments to expand these findings. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. i Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 5 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................... 6 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions ................................................................ 7 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 8 Definition of Terms ......................................................................................................... 9 Overview of Dissertation .............................................................................................