Discussions

To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's Discussion link in the left navigation.

Choose a Side: Developmentally Appropriate Assessment

This discussion is your opportunity to take a position about developmentally appropriate assessments. Remember what Jaruszewicz (2013) says about informal assessments: "Informal assessments match curriculum goals, actively involve children and families, focus on change and growth over time, and occur in real time in the classroom or care setting" (section 12,2, para. 11). To prepare for this discussion, review the Week Three Instructor Guidance and review the several commonly used informal assessments noted in Table 12.3 of the text.

Initial Post: Select one informal assessment from Table 12.3 of the text and defend why you feel it is an effective form of assessment to use in your future role. Then, as an educator, imagine you have just administered the assessment and describe how you will specifically use this measurement to make instructional decisions about curriculum. Support your choice using at least two scholarly sources in addition to the text.

Guided Response: Read several peers' responses and choose two peers who selected a different assessment than you. Compare and contrast the assessments. Your responses must address the following questions:

How are the assessments alike?

How are the assessments different?

What are the strengths of your peer's chosen assessment?

What are the weaknesses of your peer's chosen assessment?

How can both assessments inform instructional decisions?

Though two responses is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. This continued interaction will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with the topics of collaboration and play.

Developmentally Appropriate Assessment Practices

This discussion is your opportunity to write position statements and create an audio version of your statements to share with the class using the Vocaroo tool, which is a useful tool to learn because you can use it to send audio messages to students or parents in your actual practice as a young child educator! According to Jaruszewicz (2013), a primary goal of a developmentally appropriate approach to assessment is to inform practices so that the curriculum you implement matches the developmental needs and interests of the children in your classroom. According to NAEYC's (2009) guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices, the job of an early childhood educator has five connected components, as illustrated in the following image.

To prepare for this discussion, review the Week Three Instructor Guidance and required readings and then consider the following scenario: As part of a planning meeting, your supervisor has asked you to develop a position statement related to the NAEYC developmentally appropriate practices to assessment, including how you will foster these five areas in the classroom. Next, use the instructions below for creating your initial post and replies.

Initial Post: Create five position statements that are two to three sentences each. You will need one position statement for each of the five areas of the NAEYC developmentally appropriate approaches. Use the NAEYC Position Statements resource for support. Write your position statements in a document and then, using Vocaroo, create an audio file of these five statements. In your initial post, include the text as a transcript of your five position statements and the link to your Vocaroo recording. If you are unable to use Vocaroo, you can use any audio software of your choosing. Just be sure to either provide a link to your recording or attach the audio file to your initial post along with your message, including the text version of your statements. For help with Vocaroo, refer to the Vocaroo audio recording video tutorial about Vocaroo recordings. If you cannot create an audio file, please inform your instructor by email about the reason why.