Assessment Planning Table

Provide specific examples and/or ideas for how you will meet each of the Guidelines for Working with Young Children in an Assessment Setting (Wortham, pg. 47).

Guidelines for Working with Young Children in an Assessment Setting	As a teacher/caregiver, I will meet this guideline by:
1. Contact the home for parental permission to conduct the assessment.	The parents or guardians must be informed of the assessment prior. They should be well aware on what the assessment will involve and any merits or demerits that may be associated with it (Wolfendal, 1998). Scheduling will also take place since the assessment may be done the child’s home or at the school.
2.  Have all materials ready before the assessment session and review procedures for administering the assessment before the child arrives.	This may require reviewing of past literatures involving the same assessment or concerned with the domain involved in terms of knowledge.  Furthermore, all materials required must be available and confirmed present before the assessment begins.
3.  If possible, be sure that the child is familiar with the environment when conducting an assessment. For very young children, the session might need to be conducted in their homes. For assessments administered to children entering a group setting, results will be more accurate if the child has been given time to adjust to the school setting. The test administrator should also be familiar to the child.	The child’s preschool teacher or another familiar face the child may be used to should administer the test. Depending on where the child will be most comfortable in, the test assessment may be carried out within the school premises or at home.  If it takes place within a school setting, the child must be perfectly comfortable with the surrounding, preferably given a minimum of a few months to get used to the environment.
4.  Before beginning the assessment session, develop rapport with the child. Engage the child in a conversation or introduce a toy before the session begins. Once the child seems comfortable, the first assessment tasks can begin.	For the best results, the child must perceive the assessment administrator as a friend and feel safe and relaxed. The administrator should therefore engage the young child in a conversation by asking her name and her likes among other things that will remove the notion that the administrator is a stranger (Achenbach, 1992).
5.  Be alert to signs of fatigue or behaviors that indicate that the child is no longer responding to assessment tasks. Take a brief break or remind the child how to respond to tasks before resuming the session.	Lack of concentration and interest to the task being done is an ideal indication that the child may be getting tired or bored with the exercise. Check whether the child is still as cheerful as he might have been at the beginning of the assessment. A brief brake will be appropriate while showing the child how interesting the assessment is in a bid to generate interest and remind him/her how to respond.
6.  Use assessment time efficiently. The child should not be hurried, but assessment tasks should be administered with little lag in time while the child is alert and attentive.	To enable the exercise to be conducted at a suitable speed, the child needs to be constantly excited about what it is he/she is doing. Include prizes such a candy to make him/her eager to complete each task and get the reward.
7.  Consider adaptations that might be needed for children with disabilities. Be knowledgeable about how tasks might be adapted within requirements for how standardized tests should be administered. If alternative procedures can be used, permit the child to respond differently to a test item. Caution must be used, however, not to change the intent of the item or the type of response that is appropriate as well as correct.	When dealing with children affected by developmental delays or disabilities, it is important to be aware of the allowances and modifications that may be required (Shepard, Kagan & Wurtz, 1998) . For example, if a child is blind, the assessor should look for a way that the activity can be done verbally without losing its original intent.

References

Achenbach, T. (1992).Child behavior checklist/2-3 years. Burlington, VT: University of     Vermont Department of Psychiatry.

Shepard, L., Kagan, S.L., Wurtz, E. (Eds.). (1998). Principles and recommendations for early       childhood assessments. Washington, DC: National Education Goals Panel.

Wolfendal, S. (1998). Involving parents in child assessments in the United Kingdom. Childhood             Education,74(6), 355-358.