A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood: Infancy to Age Eight
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Washington State A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood Infancy to Age Eight Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Dr. Terry Bergeson State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Davidson, Ed. D Chief of Staff Martin T. Mueller Assistant Superintendent, Student Support Debra Williams-Appleton Program Supervisor, Even Start Family Literacy and Early Childhood Education Development of this guide is the result of a collaboration among: Office of Superintendent for Public Instruction—Even Start Family Literacy, Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Special Education, Title I, and Curriculum and Instruction Programs Department of Early Learning Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS)—Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program Educational Service Districts—Early Childhood, Early Childhood Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction, and Migrant/Bilingual Programs. Funding Primary funding for this project is provided by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Even Start Family Literacy and Early Childhood Special Education Programs, the Department of Early Learning, and a generous contribution from Thrive By Five Washington. ©2008 Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. This document may be freely reproduced without permission for non-profit, educational purposes. Use of or reference to this document should cite: A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood; Infancy to Age Eight. Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2008. University of Washington A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood Infancy to Age Eight Acknowledgements Debra Williams-Appleton for her commitment to high quality assessment prac- tices in early childhood education; Projects like this one come to Molly Friedrichsen for her tireless, cheerful, effi cient, and competent editorial and completion only through the production assistance; and vision, expertise, and hard work Karen Walker for timely, careful, and thorough editing of multiple drafts of this of a large number of people. The document. author would like to expresses particular gratitude for the The Offi ce of Superintendent of Public Instruction expresses sincere gratitude to contributions of the following the Early Childhood Assessment Workgroup for providing dedicated guidance and expertise. Members of the Workgroup(whose names appear below) also acted as individuals: contributing reviewers and editors. Kelly Ferguson, Early Childhood Karen Woodsum, Infant Toddler Early Education and Reading, Educational Inter-vention, Department of Social & Service District 189 Health Services Mary Fischer, Early Childhood Special Ed Yonamine, Early Childhood Education and Readiness to Learn, Education and Assistance Program Educational Service District 114 Additionally, many thanks go out to Carol Hall, Early Childhood the other individuals named below who Education and School Improvement, provided fi nal review and input. Educational Service District 112 Keli Bohanon, Department of Early Dave Irwin, Migrant/bilingual, Learning Educational Service District 112 Lou Colwell, Special Education, Leslie Keller, Department of Early Offi ce of Superintendent of Public Learning Instruction Mary Perkins, Early Childhood Lexie Domaradski, Curriculum and Education, Educational Service Instruction, Offi ce of Superintendent District 113 of Public Instruction Anne Renschler, Early Childhood Keith Hyatt, Western Washington Education, Title I, Offi ce of the University Superintendent of Public Instruction Cynthia Juarez, Childcare Licensing, Karen Walker, Early Childhood Department of Early Learning Special Education, Offi ce of Superintendent of Public Instruction Joyce Kilmer, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, Debra Williams-Appleton, Early Department of Early Learning Childhood Education and Even Start Family Literacy, Offi ce of Susan Sandall, University of Superintendent of Public Instruction Washington ii A GUIDE TO ASSESSMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD Table of Contents PAGE Introduction ................................................................................1 Purpose of the Guide .......................................................................................................1 Background ......................................................................................................3 Standards in Early Childhood Education ......................................................................... 4 Goals 2000......................................................................................................................... 4 Head Start Child Outcomes Framework ..........................................................................5 Good Start, Grow Smart ...................................................................................................5 Washington’s Early Learning and Development Benchmarks .......................................6 Organization and Use of this Guide ................................................................7 Additional Readings and Resources ................................................................8 Part I: Assessment in Early Childhood .....................................11 Assessment = Getting to Know Children ......................................................11 Considerations in Early Childhood Assessment ............................................................ 12 Purposes of Assessment ................................................................................................. 14 Screening Assessment .................................................................................................... 15 Instructional Assessment ............................................................................................... 15 Diagnostic Assessment ...................................................................................................15 Assessment for Program Evaluation/Accountability ...................................................15 Methods of Assessment .................................................................................................. 15 Types and Properties of Assessments ........................................................................... 16 General Caveats ..............................................................................................................17 Figure 1: Assessment System ........................................................................................18 Additional Readings and Resources ...............................................................................19 Screening Assessments ..................................................................................21 What is Screening? ........................................................................................................ 21 Purpose of Screening ..................................................................................................... 21 Characteristics of Screening Assessments .....................................................................22 Recommended Practices in Screening...........................................................................23 A GUIDE TO ASSESSMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD iii State and Federal Requirements ....................................................................................24 School Readiness ............................................................................................................25 Potential Screening Instruments ...................................................................................26 Sample Screening Instruments ......................................................................................26 Table 1: Characteristics of Screening Assessments...................................................... 27 Additional Readings and Resources ...............................................................................28 Assessments to Inform and Monitor Instruction .........................................29 What is Assessment to Inform and Monitor Instruction? ............................................29 Purposes of Assessment to Inform and Monitor Instruction .......................................30 Characteristics of Instructional Assessments ................................................................30 Developmental Assessments to Inform and Monitor Instruction............................... 33 Assessments to Inform and Monitor Early Academic Instruction ..............................33 Figure 2: Response to Intervention (RTI) Model .........................................................34 Figure 3: Recognition and Response Model ................................................................35 Recommended Practices in Assessment to Inform and Monitor Instruction ...............................................................................36 Methods for Collecting Ongoing Assessment Information ...........................................37 Using Instructional Assessment Effectively ..................................................................38 Potential Instruments to Inform and Monitor Instruction ...........................................39 Sample Instructional Instruments .................................................................................39 Table 2: Characteristics of Assessments to Inform and Monitor Instruction ............40 Additional Readings and Resources ...............................................................................41 Diagnostic Assessments .................................................................................43