Georgia
Early Learning and Development Standards:
Georgia uses a set of high-quality,
research-based early learning standards for children birth to age five called
the Georgia Early Learning and
Development Standards (GELDS). The GELDS promote quality learning
experiences for children and address the question, “What should children from
birth to age five know and be able to do?” They are a set of appropriate,
attainable standards that are flexible enough to support children’s individual
rates of development, approaches to learning, and cultural context. The GELDS
are a continuum of skills, behaviors, and concepts that children develop
throughout this time of life. They are divided into age groups and serve as a
framework for learning. The GELDS are aligned with the Head Start Child
Outcomes Framework, the CCGPS for K-12, and the Work Sampling System
Assessment.
The purposes of the GELDS are to:
- Guide teachers
who work with children from birth through five in providing quality
learning experiences;
- Guide parents in
supporting their children’s growth, development, and learning potential;
- Lay the
groundwork for applying the standards in pre-service training,
professional development, curriculum planning, and child outcome
documentation;
- Create a
“Universal Language” for all stakeholders to use regarding the learning
and development of children. Stakeholders would include parents, teachers,
pediatricians, early interventionists, policy-makers, etc;
- Raise public
awareness about the significance of the early years as the foundation for
school success and lifelong learning and the importance of the teacher’s
role in the process; and
- Support the
early identification and referral of children with special learning needs.
NAEYC
Standard 4: Assessment of Child Progress
The program is informed by ongoing systematic, formal, and
informal assessment approaches to provide information on children’s learning
and development. These assessments occur within the context of reciprocal
communications with families and with sensitivity to the cultural contexts in
which children develop. Assessment results benefit children by informing sound
decisions, teaching, and program improvement.
These assessments help teachers plan appropriately challenging
curriculum and differentiate instruction that meets each child’s needs. The
program should support learning using a variety of assessment methods, be
developmentally appropriate in all areas of development, goals should be established,
and progress monitoring should take place, as well as, parents informed of
progress.
NBPTS
Standards:
Accomplished early childhood generalists assess and document young
children’s development and subject matter knowledge. Assessment is a process
through which teachers learn about children’s social, cognitive, linguistic,
physical, and emotional development by gathering and interpreting information.
They ensure that assessment practices fairly and equitably focus on children’s
emerging capabilities. Teachers set clear purposes for assessment,
systematically and efficiently employ a variety of developmentally appropriate
assessment tools, and accurately interpret assessment data. They use assessment
results to guide teaching and learning, a process which includes communicating
assessment results in meaningful ways to children, families, and colleagues,
and includes setting instructional goals. Accomplished early childhood teachers
make assessment a daily, ongoing activity that is embedded in the routines of
teaching and learning. They know that assessment draws on insights from beyond
the classroom. Teachers observe children throughout the educational environment
and incorporate the observations of families and colleagues such as school
psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, and counselors.
Teachers use what they learn from assessment as they plan and implement
instruction.
Each of the policies and national regulations and standards for
early childhood education are all designed for performance based assessment and
what is developmentally appropriate for young learners. They are each aligned for what is best for
early childhood. My school is NAEYC
Accredited. They recommend that
assessments be used for decision-making regarding teaching and learning,
identifying children’s needs, and improving education and intervention
programs. The recommendation is for
teachers to use formal and informal screening and assessment approaches to
systematically evaluate children’s growth across all developmental domains
(Gillis, et al, 2017).
1. Purposeful Assessment. The design,
use, and interpretation of assessments must be purpose driven. Too many
negative outcomes derive from assessments of young children used for purposes
for which they were not designed; the type of inferences made from assessment
data must be determined in the context of each specific purpose.
2. Instructionally Aligned Assessment.
Assessments must be clearly and explicitly integrated into the overall system,
including curriculum and instruction; material assessed must represent the
valued outcomes on which instruction is focused. This includes reaching toward
alignment to standards or curriculum, where these exist. For classroom-based
assessments designed to inform instruction, this also encompasses alignment to
the instructional calendar.
3. Beneficial Assessment. Assessments of children
must serve to optimize learning. Time and resources are taken away from
instruction in order to assess—and historically, there has been some justification for the fear that
assessment data may offer unintended negative consequences for some children. Assessments must demonstrate solid consequential validity: the
consequence of the time and resources invested in the assessment should be
demonstrably positive for the children assessed.
Questions for colleagues:
1.
What are some approaches that
you use to assess formally and informally?
2.
How do you determine if an
assessment is purposeful and authentic?
3.
What are the benefits of
assessment based on the NAEYC Standards and the NBPTS Standards?
References:
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
Gillis, M., West, T., Coleman, M. (2017). Assessment in early
childhood. Retrieved from:
http://www.getreadytoread.org/ screening-tools/supportive-materials-for-elors/assessment-in-early-childhood
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). (2012).
Early childhood generalist standards (3rd ed.). Retrieved from
http://boardcertifiedteachers.org/sites/default/files/EC-GEN.pdf
“Standard V Assessing
Children’s Development and Learning” (pp. 60–64)
National Association for the
Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2003). Early childhood curriculum,
assessment, and program evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/CAPEexpand.pdf
