Assessment
Assessment
The following definitions represent authoritative views on assessment in the field of early childhood education:
"Assessment is the process of observing, recording, and otherwise documenting the work children do and how they do it, as a basis for a variety of educational decisions that affect the child. Assessment is integral to curriculum and instruction." (National Association for the Education of Young Children & National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education, 1990)
"Assessment is the process of gathering information about children in order to make decisions about their education. Teachers obtain useful information about children's knowledge, skills, and progress by observing, documenting, and reviewing children's work over time. Ongoing assessment that occurs in the context of classroom activities can provide an accurate, fair, and representative picture of children's abilities and progress." (Dodge, Jablon, & Bickart, 1994, p. 181)
"Assessment involves the multiple steps of collecting data on a child's development and learning, determining its significance in light of the program goals and objectives, incorporating the information into planning for individuals and programs, and communicating the findings to parents and other involved parties." (Hills, 1992, p. 43)
In writing about appropriate assessment of young children, Shepard (1994) distinguishes between the terms assessment and test, although technically they have the same meaning. She reserves test for "traditional, standardized developmental and pre-academic measures" and uses the term assessment to refer to "more developmentally appropriate procedures for observing and evaluating young children" (p. 206). Further, she states:
"While test and assessment cannot be reliably distinguished technically, the difference between these two terms as they have grown up in common parlance is of symbolic importance. Using the term assessment presents an opportunity to step away from past practices and ask why we should try to measure what young children know and can do. If there are legitimate purposes for gathering such data, then we can seek the appropriate content and form of assessment to align with those purposes." (p. 206)
