The first four lessons of this module provided extensive information and resources related to assessment in early childhood. You most likely found that there were many more resources than could be explored in the time you had for each lesson.
In this lesson, you and your team have an opportunity to further investigate one or two key topics that were discussed in the previous lessons. Your assignment will be to narrow down what your team wants to learn more about, select resource(s) to review and discuss as a team, and explain how what you learned will be used to improve your site's/campus's ability to implement the Assessment component of the TSLP. First, read the summaries below to review the focus of each lesson.
Lessons 1 and 2 both addressed these Action Steps:
A1. Create and maintain an observation system to document the development of children age 0–2, including language and pre-literacy development.
A2. Create and maintain an observation and assessment system to document the development of children age 3–5, including language and pre-literacy development.
Lesson 1 provided an overview of the Assessment component, including the need for schools and sites to have an observation and assessment system to collect information about children's pre-literacy development. You also learned key terms related to assessment, including reliability and validity. This lesson also discussed what you and your instructional staff need to know to establish your observation and assessment system so that it is appropriate to the ages of the children you serve.
In Lesson 2, you and your site/campus-based leadership team learned about selecting appropriate assessment tools as part of your assessment system for infants, toddlers, and children age 3–5. You also read about the major steps to consider when establishing and maintaining an observation and assessment plan for children at these age ranges.
In Lesson 3, you and your team learned about supporting your instructional staff in using the information gathered from your assessment system to plan effective care and instruction that meets the needs of all the children they serve. You learned about the importance of setting clear expectations for instructional staff to use data while planning instruction, providing professional development and guidance in using data, and setting aside time for data meetings.
In Lesson 4, you and your team learned about how you and your instructional staff can support the identification of developmental delays or special needs of the children in your care by sharing information. You learned about the role of the early childhood instructional staff in the identification process and how to establish staff expectations accordingly. This lesson also included the steps instructional staff can take to effectively communicate with families about learning and development concerns and to support children and families in the identification process.
Now, decide with your team what Action Step(s) and topic(s) you would like to take the time to learn more about. Parts 2 and 3 have highlighted key resources that you can select from to review and discuss with your team. Your assignment is different for this lesson; you can preview the questions before moving on.