ED416033 PS026296
Title: Principles and Recommendations for Early Childhood Assessments.
Author(s): Shepard, Lorrie, Ed.; Kagan, Sharon Lynn, Ed.; Wurtz, Emily,
Ed.
Author Affiliation: National Education Goals Panel, Washington, DC.(BBB28482)
Pages: 45
Publication Date: February 1998
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
Availability: National Education Goals Panel, 1255 22nd Street, N.W.,
Suite 502, Washington, DC 20037; phone: 202-724-0015; fax: 202-632-0957;
www: http://www.negp.gov; e-mail: NEGP@goalline.org
Language: English
Document Type: Guides--Non-classroom (055)
Geographic Source: U.S.; District of Columbia
Journal Announcement: RIEJUN1998
Target Audience: Administrators; Practitioners
The first
of the National Education Goals states that by the year 2000 all
children in America will start school ready to learn. Pressed by
demands for greater accountability and enhanced educational performance,
states are developing standards and creating new criteria and approaches
for assessing achievement. Calls to assess young children are also
increasing. This booklet indicates how best to craft such assessments
in light of young children's unique development, recent abuses of
testing, and the legitimate demands for clear and useful information.
Following a look at recent assessment issues and the current assessment
climate, the booklet lists general principles that should guide
both policies and practices for the assessment of young children;
these principles address benefits, reliability and validity, appropriateness
to age level and language, and parental role in assessment. The
booklet then details important purposes of assessment for young
children: (1) promoting children's learning and development; (2)
identifying children for health and special services; (3) monitoring
trends and evaluating programs and services; and (4) assessing academic
achievement to hold individual students, teachers, and schools accountable.
For each purpose, the definition, audience, technical requirements
and age continuum are listed. Recommendations for policymakers are
also presented for each purpose, and a chart outlining appropriate
uses and technical accuracy of assessments change across the early
childhood age continuum is included. The booklet then considers
combinations of these purposes that have most often occurred in
practice. Contains 33 references. (HTH)
Descriptors: Early Childhood Education; *Educational Objectives;
Evaluation Criteria; Evaluation Methods; *Learning Readiness; Preschool
Children; *School Readiness; *Screening Tests; *Student Evaluation;
Test Reliability; Test Validity
Identifiers: Developmentally Appropriate Programs; National Education
Goals 1990
