This brief provides policymakers and practitioners with a comprehensive overview of the purpose, characteristics, uses, and types of Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs). It emphasizes the importance of high-quality KEAs in guiding instructional practices and assessing developmental progress in young learners. It highlights that high-quality KEAs…

Most practitioners and scholars agree that critical and reflective early childhood and elementary teachers are foundational for children's holistic growth and development. Yet current policies focused on elevating testing and performativity are contributing to student and teacher anxiety and alienation. This book offers a counternarrative to…

Written by one of the leading experts on assessment, the new edition of this book offers a clear explanation of the role of assessment in the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), and step-by-step guidance for those working with children from birth to five on making and recording observations in practice. Updated throughout, the second…

The paper describes approaches used to assess preverbal or nonverbal orthopedically handicapped infants. The first section describes a conceptual approach to development that differs from the normative approach. The conceptual development model emphasizes developmental structures rather than successive cumulative acquisitions of behavior. This…

This brochure provides information to educators about the Alaska Kindergarten Developmental Profile, which is prepared for each child entering school. The profile includes developmental information in the areas of physical well-being and motor development, language and literacy development, personal-social development, thinking and cognitive…

The article describes procedures for developing and evaluating the pretend play of mentally handicapped children and provides illustrative case studies on the use of the observation scheme to evaluate children's progress. (SBH)

This compendium, a deliverable for "Assessments for Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning with Preschool/Elementary-School Children," focuses on tools to assess the social and emotional learning (SEL) of preschool and elementary school students (i.e., five- to ten-year-olds), along with aspects of the contexts in which they learn and…

A list of successful art activities that teachers had used with special education children were presented. Additionally, discussion groups reported on defining the terms associated with art therapy and the goals of art education. Recommendations for continued program meetings on the finer issues of special education were included. (RK)

This instructor's guide, which is part of the training materials used in the Child Development Associate (CDA) National Credentialing Program, outlines coursework for a 6-month CDA seminar. The guide begins by describing the background, purpose, and curriculum design of the CDA Professional Preparation Program. An overview of the field experiences…

Assessment of children's abilities and knowledge, their approaches to learning, and their strengths, needs, and interests is expected in most early childhood programs. However, many early childhood educators are unsure of how to assess young children's development and learning. This straight forward booklet will help increase understanding of…

The Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment--Deaf Model is an assessment process for deaf or hearing impaired children (6 months to 6 years). A team of professionals and parents observes the child during a play session and documents skills and behaviors. The team then uses the accumulated assessment information as a basis for developing…

Presented is a form which uses an ecological approach to the assessment of emotionally disturbed and behavior-disordered children and their families. The form covers demographic information, family relationships, child's developmental and medical history, child's school history, service treatment history, typical day descriptions, and behavior.…

Developmental assessment is the process of monitoring a student's progress through an area of learning so that decisions can be made about the best way to facilitate further learning. The unique feature of developmental assessment is its use of a progress map. The progress map, or continuum, describes the development in an area of learning and so…

The purpose of this "Written Language Developmental Continuum" brochure for second through fifth grades is to provide helpful information for parents, teachers, and other adults as they work with young children to advance and refine written language (writing) competence. The brochure is intended to be a useful tool for assessing…

Under the state's Quality Schools Initiative, each Alaska school is required to take a number of steps toward improving the quality of education. This brochure provides information to educators about the first requirement of the Quality Schools Initiative: completing the Alaska Developmental Profile. This profile is completed for each child…