A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood

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.

UniversityofWashington

A Guide to Assessment in Early Childhood

Infancy to Age Eight

Acknowledgements

Projects like this one come to completion only through the vision, expertise, and hard work of a large number of people. The author would like to expresses particular gratitude for the contributions of the following individuals:

Debra Williams-Appleton for her commitment to high quality assessment practices in early childhood education;

Molly Friedrichsen for her tireless, cheerful, efficient, and competent editorial and production assistance; and

Karen Walker for timely, careful, and thorough editing of multiple drafts of this document.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction expresses sincere gratitude to the Early Childhood Assessment Workgroup for providing dedicated guidance and expertise. Members of the Workgroup(whose names appear below) also acted as contributing reviewers and editors.

Kelly Ferguson, Early Childhood Education and Reading, Educational Service District 189

Mary Fischer, Early Childhood Special Education and Readiness to Learn, Educational Service District 114

Carol Hall, Early Childhood Education and School Improvement, Educational Service District 112

Dave Irwin, Migrant/bilingual, Educational Service District 112

Leslie Keller, Department of Early Learning

Mary Perkins, Early Childhood Education, Educational Service District 113

Anne Renschler, Early Childhood Education, Title I, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction

Karen Walker, Early Childhood Special Education, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Debra Williams-Appleton, Early Childhood Education and Even Start Family Literacy, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Karen Woodsum, Infant Toddler Early Inter-vention, Department of Social & Health Services

Ed Yonamine, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program

Additionally, many thanks go out to the other individuals named below who provided final review and input.

Keli Bohanon, Department of Early Learning

Lou Colwell, Special Education, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Lexie Domaradski, Curriculum and Instruction, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Keith Hyatt, Western Washington University

Cynthia Juarez, Childcare Licensing, Department of Early Learning

Joyce Kilmer, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, Department of Early Learning

Susan Sandall, University of 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

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