ASSESSMENT

Hello Everyone,
What is the new topic? Assessment! Assessment of teacher's and assessment of our students. The data that compiled is used to advocate for funds to support Early Childhood programming. There are many discussion going on about how to assess and evaluate those who teach. Some feel test scores are the way to do. If the children's grades are good the teacher must be doing good.
Teachers will tell you that is unfair. Especially those teachers of hormone filled middle and high schoolers that can hate you one day and love you the next. Hopefully, the date the tweens/teenagers take the test they love you and are not being ostracized by their friends or their girlfriend or boyfriend hasn't dumped them. If it is a bad day for them it most likely will be reflected in their test scores. The teacher can then have bad scores reflected in their evaluation and bonus or maybe even in whether or not their contract is renewed. Yet, I'm sure everyone will agree that test scores should be considered and are indicators that the teacher is doing a good job, they might not show a clear picture of the ability of the teacher.
Early childhood professionals, however, do not agree on how to assess the children. Here in Preschool Assessments: A Look Across the States shows that not all programs assess in the same way. The many different ways listed in this article show that if programs use test scores to evaluate teachers shouldn't we assess our children with the same tool or in the least using the same strategy?
When using observation, which is developmentally appropriate, a teacher needs to have good anecdotal notes to back the level at which the child noted at. Some programs for years have allowed staff to use "observation" as its strategy, yet not require notes to back the level the child is marked or knowledge that they say the child knows. Now with technology improving, gas prices raising and funds dwindling programs find online assessment tools to be cost effective. Online programs also can give data that otherwise took many staff hours to collect. All it takes is a few clicks of a mouse and a report appears with graphs in many different formats. It also allows for management to be able to get at data from any computer anywhere. Teaching Strategies GOLD - Teaching Strategies, Inc. has a wonderful assessment tool and one that many programs have chosen. It works well with most good Early Childhood curriculum. OnlineCOR.NET - The world's most respected child assessment tool. is the HighScope version. It is also very good, yet still in the upgrade stage. The cost of these online assessment tools is high for small programs.  There are many others.
There seems to be some programs  that have decided to go with testing pre-K and Kindergarteners for ease of use for teachers and cost. They use checklists to ask children questions from. Still this is "testing" is it not? Other programs have teachers who just use checklists and rely on their memories and scattered notes to fill out assessments.
So where do you stand? How should Early Childhood professionals evaluate children? How should EC Educators be evaluated?
This is not new to education, yet never before have we tested children so young.