The Primary
Program: Growing and Learning in the Heartland
The Nebraska State Department of Education and the Iowa State Department of Education (1993) have adapted materials from the British Columbia Primary Program to publish this guidebook for a developmentally appropriate program of integrated curriculum and assessment. It is being implemented by numerous school districts in the two states.
The guidebook contains a full discussion of goals and objectives, lists of what to look for in observing children, indicators of progress within various domains, widely held expectations for the early school years, and many examples of forms and strategies. In addition, the staff of both state departments offer training on two compatible assessment systems: the Work Sampling System and the Child Observation Record (COR) (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 1992).
The COR, for use with children 2-1/2 to 6 years of age, is used to assess a child's behavior and activities in six categories: initiative, creative representation, social relations, music and movement, language and literacy, and logic and mathematics. The teacher scores the COR two or three times a year based on brief anecdotal records of his or her observations during the intervening period.
