What is assessment in the Early years?
Assessment in early years is a process of observing and recording what children know, understand, and are able to do to support their learning and development:
Purpose
Assessment helps teachers understand how children learn and develop and plan learning experiences that meet their needs. It also allows parents and carers to understand their child’s progress and how they can help.
Process
Assessment involves observing children as they play and interact and recording information about their development, knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This information can include annotated photographs, children’s drawings, recorded conversations, and learning stories. Therefore, children’s artwork and writing should be dated, and the children’s names should be visible. This is a form of assessment.
Benefits
Assessment can help identify children with special educational needs. This can also mean children who are constantly on the go and cannot stay at one activity for a length of time. The benefits of the assessment ensure that children are making progress. It can also help teachers and supervisors improve their teaching and support children’s progress.
Best practices
Effective assessment should be ongoing and not take too much time away from children. It should also be based on the Supervisor’s understanding of child development and what they want children to know and be able to do.
Early childhood assessment is a tool used to gather and provide educators, parents, and families with critical information about a child’s development and growth.
The child must understand that this process is to learn more about how they learn and is not about finding what is “wrong” or “different” about them. Having the child accept the process and be willing to cooperate will make the assessment easier for all parties involved.
Ongoing assessment
Ongoing Child Assessment is a process in which the Supervisor/teacher staff systematically observe and record information about the child’s level of development and/or knowledge, skills, and attitudes to determine what has been learned, improve teaching, and support children’s progress.
Why is it essential to assess a child’s needs?
Assessment is about building a picture of children’s strengths, interests, abilities and needs and using this to support and plan for their future learning and development.
Why is observation and assessment important in early childhood?
Through observation and assessment, we can become aware of what children know and can do and use this information to ensure that what we provide and how we interact are closely linked to their abilities and needs.
Accelerated Christian education assessments
The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum uses various assessments to evaluate student progress, including Diagnostic tests.
- ACE diagnostic test these tests cover basic skills normally mastered before high school. When weak areas are evident from the testing, the appropriate gap PACEs are prescribed to strengthen specific weaknesses. After completing the gap PACEs, the student progresses at his performance level.
- PACEs: Students complete at least 70 PACEs per academic year, 12 PACEs per level for each subject. Each PACE includes review activities called “Checkups” and a final ” Self-Test ” test.
- Termly tests: Students take termly tests to assess their progress.
- Formative tests: Workbooks include formative tests to assess student progress.
- End-of-workbook tests: Students take separate tests at the end of each workbook.
- External assessments: Senior students take external assessments in a variety of subjects, including science, social studies, music, speech and drama, sport, extended writing, Bible, art and design, and IT.
- International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE): Students can take the ICCE, which is available at three levels. The ICCE is accepted by some universities as an alternative to GCSE and GCE.
The ACE curriculum is a Bible-based program that integrates biblical principles and character values into all aspects of the curriculum.
Parents must know that assessment is a tool to help their children develop and have the right learning tools. It is not a punishment or a stigma used to hold their child back. One size does not fit all, and therefore, different methods may be needed to assess. Let’s all work in partnership to get the very best out of our children and ensure that they enjoy school life to the full, which will, in turn, produce well-rounded adults for future generations.
Mrs A Baidoo
Principal/Owner
Elim Springs Academy
