Choosing the Proper Assessment Scenarios

Purposeful assessment drives instruction and affects learning. Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. Purposeful assessment practices help teachers and students understand where they have been, where they are, and where they might go next (Guiding Principle 3: Purposeful assessment drives instruction, 2016). Assessment provides educators, parents, and families with critical information about a child’s development and growth. Assessment can Identify children who may need additional support and determine if there is a need for intervention or support services ("Early Childhood Assessment: Resources for Early Learning", 2017).

This is 4-year-old Henry’s first being in a school setting. During the parent/teacher conference his teacher expressed to the parents that Henry needs guidance to start tasks as well as to complete them. His parents share that they believe he is underachieving. He tends to avoid fine motor skills, particularly drawing and writing, and seems to have difficulty managing Lego blocks. He finds it hard to socialize appropriately with other children, and will sometimes have outbursts of temper, particularly when frustrated, and cries frequently. His parents were given behavioral advice from an agency partnered with the school and started in an occupational therapy program to help with fine motor and perceptual skills. Now 5 years old, Henry’s parents are reporting that things have worsened. He is not completing task and needs more prompting to stay focused.  He is continuing to underachieve and still experiences problems with socialization, but he is very interested in geography and world political events.

Sammie is a 1st grader who lives with both parents.  She demonstrates no medical problems. Sammie has attended the same school since Pre-K.  Sammie’s teacher reports she is having problems with reading; she is not meeting the district’s reading expectations.  Sammie can read most words, but struggles decoding those she does not know. Her fluency rate is low, and she struggles with comprehension. Currently, Sammie is struggling in mathematics and spelling. Sammie met all reading expectations in kindergarten, but lagged behind until the end of the year. She does well with math skills, but fails to be successful when given word problems to solve.  Simple math sheets seem to be when Sammie scores the highest in mathematics. With modified spelling lists, she is still not successful.  She struggles spelling basic 1st grade words, and at times, misspells common sight words.

References

Early Childhood Assessment: Resources for Early Learning. (2017). Resources for Early Learning. Retrieved from http://resourcesforearlylearning.org/fm/early-childhood-assessment/

Guiding Principle 3: Purposeful assessment drives instruction. (2016) Retrieved from http://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/cal/pdf/guiding-principles3.pdf