Week 4 Discussion 15656 Unread Replies 5656 Replies Your Ini

Week 4 Discussion 15656 Unread Replies5656 Repliesyour Initial Dis

Week 4 - Discussion unread replies.5656 replies. Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Performance-Based Assessments Chapter 6 examines the purpose of authentic assessment, as well as the pros and cons of using authentic assessments with children. Imagine that your program, school, or center has adopted performance assessment to measure a child’s growth. Your supervisor has asked you to create a letter for families explaining performance assessment. In your letter, you must address the following: At least two reasons why using performance assessment with children is a reliable method of measuring growth. At least two typical concerns associated with performance assessment and how you will address those concerns. At least two different performance assessments that you will use in the classroom and why you will use these assessments. Post your letter to the discussion forum.

Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ responses. Respond to at least two of your peers by providing feedback on their letter. Remember to make sure your feedback is professional. When providing feedback to your peers about their letter, be sure to consider the following points: What are the overall strengths of the letter? Be specific. Are there any points that were not considered in the letter that you think would be beneficial to include? What is another type of performance assessment that you believe your classmate should consider including in their letter? Justify why you believe they should include this assessment. Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. Remember, continuing to engage with peers and the instructor will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic.

Week 4 - Discussion unread replies.4545 replies. Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Diagnostic Assessments “At its core, a diagnostic assessment is a detailed investigation of children’s strengths and skill gaps that permits targeted intervention.” (Howard, V. F., & Aiken, E., 2015, p. 282). Informal diagnostics assessments can and should be developed by professionals who work with young children. This allows them to observe how and what the child is learning so they can make informed decisions about how to help the child.

One way to do this is by developing a learning activity that allows you to determine where the child is struggling with a particular skill. “Diagnostic assessments fall into two types: informal or teacher developed, and formal standardized instruments, which are professionally developed and commercially available.” (Howard, V. F., & Aiken, E., 2015, p. 282) For this discussion we will be focusing on the informal, or teacher developed, diagnostic assessments. To begin, choose a child from Developmental Checklists Birth to Five.

This must be a different child than the one you chose for your Week 3 assignment. Once you have chosen a child, you will need to identify an area of need for the child based on the checklist. Then, include the following as your initial discussion post: Based on your own observation, identify the child’s perceived area of need based on the checklist. Describe an activity you would do with the child based on the child’s area of need. Include enough detail so that someone else could repeat the activity on their own. (e.g., If you use the checklist for 12- to 24-month-olds and it states that they cannot sort shapes or colors, your activity would contain elements such as naming colors and shapes, identifying colors and shapes, and finding examples of shapes.

From completing these activities, you would be able to determine where the child’s struggles are with sorting shapes and colors). Explain how using this activity would allow you to be able to determine the child’s specific struggles in this area of need. Be specific. Discuss how you used your knowledge of developmental milestones to assist you in creating this informal diagnostic assessment activity. Guided Response: Review several of your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two of your peers Respectfully provide feedback to your peer regarding the activity they shared. Provide suggestions for materials or further activity ideas that might help to address this need as well. Though two replies is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. Remember, continuing to engage with peers and the instructor will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. Search entries or author

Paper For Above instruction

The discussions for Week 4 encompass various approaches to assessment and understanding child development within early childhood education. Central to these discussions are authentic assessment methods, performance assessments, and diagnostic assessments. These tools are vital for educators seeking to gauge children's growth accurately and to tailor instructional strategies accordingly.

Explanation of Performance Assessment to Families

Dear Families,

Our educational program has adopted performance assessments to better understand and support your child's growth and development. Performance assessments are valuable because they provide a comprehensive picture of a child's abilities through real-world tasks, allowing us to observe skills in naturalistic settings. Firstly, performance assessments are considered reliable because they evaluate a child's developmental progress in authentic contexts, reflecting their ability to apply skills in meaningful ways (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). For example, a child's ability to complete a story sequencing activity or demonstrate problem-solving through a hands-on project offers us tangible evidence of their cognitive and fine motor skills.

Secondly, these assessments are dynamic, often involving ongoing observation, which captures the child's learning process over time. This continuous observation helps us to track progress more reliably than a one-time test score (Gömölő & Watt, 2020). They also promote a more holistic view of development, including social-emotional, language, and motor skills, which are essential at this stage of childhood.

Addressing Concerns about Performance Assessments

While performance assessments are beneficial, common concerns include the potential for subjective interpretation and variability in assessment administration. To address these concerns, we ensure that assessments are standardized through clear rubrics and multiple observers, which enhance reliability and reduce bias (Popham, 2018). Additionally, our staff is trained to administer tasks consistently and to interpret results objectively. We also communicate openly with families about the assessment process, clarifying that these are developmental observations rather than formal tests, which helps alleviate concerns about fairness or accuracy.

Performance Assessments Used in the Classroom and Rationale

In our classroom, two performance assessments frequently used are the “Child-Directed Portfolio” and “Performance Checklists.” The portfolio allows us to collect various pieces of a child's work over time, such as drawings, writing samples, and photographs of projects, providing insight into their progress and interests. This ongoing collection supports personalized instruction and allows us to observe developmental milestones in a broad context (McAfee et al., 2016).

The second assessment, Performance Checklists, involves teachers observing children during activities and noting specific skills or behaviors aligned with developmental stages. For example, whether a child is able to sequence three-step directions. These checklists are practical, quick to administer, and provide dependable data when completed by trained staff (Miller & Almon, 2019). Together, these assessments help us tailor instruction, identify needs early, and celebrate each child's unique growth journey.

Conclusion

Overall, performance assessments are reliable tools for assessing child development when implemented thoughtfully. They foster a holistic understanding of a child's abilities and support individual learning pathways, which is fundamental in early childhood education.

References

• Darling-Hammond, L., et al. (2017). Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Routledge.
• Gömölő, L., & Watt, H. M. G. (2020). Authentic assessment in early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28(3), 376-391.
• Popham, W. J. (2018). Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know. Pearson.
• McAfee, O., et al. (2016). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. NAEYC.
• Miller, S. P., & Almon, J. (2019). Nature and Nurture in Early Childhood Education. Routledge.