EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SERIES Leslie R. Williams, Editor ADVISORY BOARD: Barbara T. Bowman, Harriet K. Cuffaro, Stephanie Feeney, Doris Pronin Fromberg, Celia Genishi, Stacie G. Goffin, Dominic F. Gullo, Alice Sterling Honig, Elizabeth Jones, Gwen Morgan Understanding Assessment and Evaluation in Early Children with Special Needs: Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Lessons for Early Childhood Professionals DOMINIC F. GULLO MARJORIE J. KOSTELNIK, ESTHER ETSUKO ONAGA, Negotiating Standards in the Primary Classroom: BARBARA ROHDE, & ALICE PHIPPS WHIREN The Teacher's Dilemma Developing Constructivist Early Childhood CAROL ANNE WIEN Curriculum: Practical Principles and Activities Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World: RHETA DeVRIES, BETTY ZAN, CAROLYN Multicultural Education for Young Children, HILDEBRANDT, REBECCA EDMIASTON, & 3rd Edition CHRISTINA SALES PATRICIA G. RAMSEY Outdoor Play: Teaching Strategies with Young The Emotional Development of Young Children: Children Building an Emotion-Centered Curriculum, JANE PERRY 2nd Edition Embracing Identities in Early Childhood MARILOU HYSON Education: Diversity and Possibilities Effective Partnering for School Change: SUSAN GRIESHABER & GAILE S. CANNELLA, Eds. Improving Early Childhood Education in Urban Bambini: The Italian Approach to Infant/Toddler Classrooms Care JIE-QI CHEN & PATRICIA HORSCH with LELLA GANDINI & CAROLYN POPE EDWARDS, Eds. KAREN DeMOSS & SUZANNE L. WAGNER Educating and Caring for Very Young Children: Let’s Be Friends: Peer Competence and Social The Infant/Toddler Curriculum Inclusion in Early Childhood Programs DORIS BERGEN, REBECCA REID, & LOUIS TORELLI KRISTEN MARY KEMPLE Young Investigators: Young Children Continue to Reinvent Arithmetic— The Project Approach in the Early Years 2nd Grade, 2nd Edition JUDY HARRIS HELM & LILIAN G. KATZ CONSTANCE KAMII Serious Players in the Primary Classroom: Major Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Empowering Children Through Active Learning Education: Challenges, Controversies, and Experiences, 2nd Edition Insights, 2nd Edition SELMA WASSERMANN JOAN PACKER ISENBERG & Telling a Different Story: MARY RENCK JALONGO, Eds. Teaching and Literacy in an Urban Preschool The Power of Projects: Meeting Contemporary CATHERINE WILSON Challenges in Early Childhood Classrooms— Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic: Strategies and Solutions Implications of Piaget’s Theory, 2nd Edition JUDY HARRIS HELM & SALLEE BENEKE, Eds. CONSTANCE KAMII Bringing Learning to Life: The Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education Managing Quality in Young Children’s Programs: The Leader’s Role LOUISE BOYD CADWELL The Colors of Learning: Integrating the Visual MARY L. CULKIN, Ed. Arts into the Early Childhood Curriculum Supervision in Early Childhood Education: ROSEMARY ALTHOUSE, MARGARET H. JOHNSON, A Developmental Perspective, 2nd Edition & SHARON T. MITCHELL JOSEPH J. CARUSO & M. TEMPLE FAWCETT A Matter of Trust: Connecting Teachers and The Early Childhood Curriculum: Learners in the Early Childhood Classroom A Review of Current Research, 3rd Edition CAROLLEE HOWES & SHARON RITCHIE CAROL SEEFELDT, Ed. Widening the Circle: Including Children with Leadership in Early Childhood: Disabilities in Preschool Programs The Pathway to Professionalism, 2nd Edition SAMUEL L. ODOM, Ed. JILLIAN RODD (Continued) Early Childhood Education Series titles, continued Inside a Head Start Center: Moral Classrooms, Moral Children: Creating a Developing Policies from Practice Constructivist Atmosphere in Early Education DEBORAH CEGLOWSKI RHETA DeVRIES & BETTY ZAN Windows on Learning: Diversity and Developmentally Appropriate Documenting Young Children’s Work Practices JUDY HARRIS HELM, SALLEE BENEKE, BRUCE L. MALLORY & REBECCA S. NEW, Eds. & KATHY STEINHEIMER Changing Teaching, Changing Schools: Bringing Reggio Emilia Home: An Innovative Bringing Early Childhood Practice into Public Approach to Early Childhood Education Education–Case Studies from the Kindergarten LOUISE BOYD CADWELL FRANCES O’CONNELL RUST Master Players: Learning from Children at Play Physical Knowledge in Preschool Education: GRETCHEN REYNOLDS & Implications of Piaget’s Theory ELIZABETH JONES CONSTANCE KAMII & RHETA DeVRIES Understanding Young Children’s Behavior: Ways of Assessing Children and Curriculum: A Guide for Early Childhood Professionals Stories of Early Childhood Practice JILLIAN RODD CELIA GENISHI, Ed. Understanding Quantitative and Qualitative The Play’s the Thing: Teachers’ Roles in Research in Early Childhood Education Children’s Play WILLIAM L. GOODWIN & LAURA D. GOODWIN ELIZABETH JONES & GRETCHEN REYNOLDS Diversity in the Classroom: New Approaches to Scenes from Day Care the Education of Young Children, 2nd Edition ELIZABETH BALLIETT PLATT FRANCES E. KENDALL Making Friends in School: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in “Real Life” Promoting Peer Relationships in Early Childhood CAROL ANNE WIEN PATRICIA G. RAMSEY Experimenting with the World: The Whole Language Kindergarten John Dewey and the Early Childhood Classroom SHIRLEY RAINES & ROBERT CANADY HARRIET K. CUFFARO Multiple Worlds of Child Writers: Quality in Family Child Care and Relative Care Friends Learning to Write SUSAN KONTOS, CAROLLEE HOWES, ANNE HAAS DYSON MARYBETH SHINN, & ELLEN GALINSKY The Good Preschool Teacher Using the Supportive Play Model: Individualized WILLIAM AYERS Intervention in Early Childhood Practice The War Play Dilemma MARGARET K. SHERIDAN, GILBERT M. FOLEY, NANCY CARLSSON-PAIGE & DIANE E. LEVIN & SARA H. RADLINSKI The Piaget Handbook for Teachers and Parents The Full-Day Kindergarten: A Dynamic Themes Curriculum, 2nd Edition ROSEMARY PETERSON & VICTORIA FELTON-COLLINS Visions of Childhood DORIS PRONIN FROMBERG JOHN CLEVERLEY & D. C. PHILLIPS Assessment Methods for Infants and Toddlers: Transdisciplinary Team Approaches Starting School DORIS BERGEN NANCY BALABAN Young Children Continue to Reinvent Ideas Influencing Early Childhood Education Arithmetic—3rd Grade: Implications of Piaget’s EVELYN WEBER Theory The Joy of Movement in Early Childhood CONSTANCE KAMII with SALLY JONES LIVINGSTON SANDRA R. CURTIS SECOND EDITION Understanding Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education Dominic F. Gullo Teachers College, Columbia University New York and London Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 Copyright © 2005 by Teachers College, Columbia University All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gullo, Dominic F. Understanding assessment and evaluation in early childhood education / Dominic F. Gullo — 2nd ed. p. cm. — (Early childhood education series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8077-4533-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8077-4532-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Educational tests and measurements—United States. 2. Early childhood education—United States—Evaluation. I. Title. II. Early childhood education series (Teachers College Press) LB3051.G85 2005 372.12'64'0973—dc22 2004051794 ISBN 0-8077-4532-4 (paper) ISBN 0-8077-4533-2 (cloth) Printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii PART I INTRODUCING ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 1 1 Assessment and Evaluation in the Early Childhood Years 3 Parameters of Early Childhood 4 Assessment and Evaluation: Defining the Terms 6 Historical Context of Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood 9 Guiding Themes for This Book 12 2 Putting Early Childhood Assessment and Evaluation in Perspective 17 The Assessment Climate for Early Childhood 18 General Principles for Guiding Assessment and Evaluation Practices in Early Childhood 19 Purposes for Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education 22 Assessment and Evaluation as Part of the Educative Process 27 3 Evaluation from a Developmental Perspective 31 Developmental Characteristics 32 Characteristics of Learning Environments That Are Developmentally Appropriate 36 Assessment and Evaluation Considerations 38 v vi Contents PART II THE ROLE OF FORMAL ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 41 4 Formal Assessment and Evaluation Instruments 43 General Characteristics of Standardized Tests 43 Types of Formal Assessments 44 Using the Appropriate Measure 49 5 Characteristics and Uses of Standardized Test Results 51 Terminology 52 Standardized References for Tests 55 Psychometric Characteristics of Standardized Measures 57 Using Standardized Test Results 60 6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Testing 64 Advantages of Standardized Assessments 64 Criticisms of Standardized Norm-Referenced Assessments 66 Testing and School Readiness 67 Deleterious Effects Associated with the Practice of Testing 70 Inherent Dangers in the Practice of Testing 77 Becoming Informed Users of Assessment Techniques and Information 78 PART III THE ROLE OF INFORMAL ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 81 7 Informal Assessment and Evaluation Procedures 83 Advantages in Using Informal Assessment 83 Disadvantages in Using Informal Assessment 84 Direct Observation 85 Checklists 90 Rating Scales 91 Samples of Children’s Work 92 Rubrics 92 8 Assessment Using Performance-Based Strategies 95 Curriculum-Based Assessment 96 Play-Based Assessment 97 Contents vii Dynamic Assessment