Linking Authentic Assessment And Early Childhood Intervention

The only book with professional ratings and reviews of 80 widely used assessment measures for children birth-8, the new edition of this popular reference helps you select high-quality assessment materials for your early childhood program.

Meeting a crucial need, this book provides clear recommendations for authentic developmental assessment of children from infancy to age 6, including those with developmental delays and disabilities. It describes principles and strategies for collecting information about children's everyday activities in the home, preschool, and community that serves as a valid basis for intervention planning and progress monitoring. Throughout, the book emphasizes the importance of enlisting parents as partners with practitioners and teachers in observation and team-based decision making. Special features of this well-organized, accessible volume include recommendations for developmentally appropriate assessment tools and "Best-Practice Guidepoints" in each chapter that distill key professional standards and practices.

A natural progression from the authors' widely known work on assessment and programming in early intervention, LINK is a revolutionary process that hurdles traditional obstacles to selecting and using authentic assessment-intervention-evaluation procedures for young children. Pulling the best properties from well-known assessment and curriculum models, LINK identifies critical markers for judging quality and effectiveness: authenticity, collaboration, convergence, equity, sensitivity, and congruence. The authors apply this unique six-standard index to more than 50 different curriculum-embedded and curriculum-compatible assessment and intervention systems, rating and analyzing each. In addition, they explain how early childhood professionals can perform their own quality reviews and then customize the system(s) of their choice to specific populations or programs. With this essential resource in hand, early intervention team members and administrators can ensure the individualized support opportunities every child needs for healthy deyelopment.

The assessment of young children's development and learning has recently taken on new importance. Private and government organizations are developing programs to enhance the school readiness of all young children, especially children from economically disadvantaged homes and communities and children with special needs. Well-planned and effective assessment can inform teaching and program improvement, and contribute to better outcomes for children. This book affirms that assessments can make crucial contributions to the improvement of children's well-being, but only if they are well designed, implemented effectively, developed in the context of systematic planning, and are interpreted and used appropriately. Otherwise, assessment of children and programs can have negative consequences for both. The value of assessments therefore requires fundamental attention to their purpose and the design of the larger systems in which they are used. Early Childhood Assessment addresses these issues by identifying the important outcomes for children from birth to age 5 and the quality and purposes of different techniques and instruments for developmental assessments.

The debate surrounding testing and accountability in early childhood education continues, but one thing is universally agreed upon: effective observation and assessment of young children's learning are critical to supporting their development. Educators balance what they know about child development with observation and assessment approaches that both inform and improve the curriculum. This foundational resource for all educators of children from birth through third grade explores What observation and assessment are, why to use them, and how Ways to integrate documentation, observation, and assessment into the daily routine Practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive Ways to engage families in observation and assessment processes How to effectively share children's learning with families, administrators, and others Find inspiration to intentionally develop and implement meaningful, developmentally appropriate observation and assessment practices to build responsive, joyful classrooms.

Updated to reflect 10 years of evolution in demographics, research, technology, and legislation, the new edition of this bestselling textbook introduces early childhood educators to the fundamentals of six alternative assessment methods.

Margaret Carr′s seminal work on Learning Stories was first published by SAGE in 2001, and this widely acclaimed approach to assessment has since gained a huge international following. In this new full-colour book, the authors outline the philosophy behind Learning Stories and refer to the latest findings from the research projects they have led with teachers on learning dispositions and learning power, to argue that Learning Stories can construct learner identities in early childhood settings and schools. By making the connection between sociocultural approaches to pedagogy and assessment, and narrative inquiry, this book contextualizes Learning Stories as a philosophical approach to education, learning and pedagogy. Chapters explore how Learning Stories: - help make connections with families - support the inclusion of children and family voices - tell us stories about babies - allow children to dictate their own stories - can be used to revisit children′s learning journeys - can contribute to teaching and learning wisdom This ground-breaking book expands on the concept of Learning Stories and includes examples from practice in both New Zealand and the UK. It outlines the philosophy behind this pedagogical tool for documenting how learning identities are constructed and shows, through research evidence, why the early years is such a critical time in the formation of learning dispositions. Margaret Carr is a Professor of Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Wendy Lee is Director of the Educational Leadership Project, New Zealand.

The Handbook of Family Literacy, 2e, provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of family literacy of any available book. It documents the need for literacy education for children and parents, describes early literacy and math development within the home, analyses interventions in home and center settings, and examines the issues faced by fathers and women with low literacy skills. Cultural issues are examined especially those for Hispanic, African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and migrant populations. Noted experts throughout the United States, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa analyze the commonalities and differences of family literacy across cultures and families. Key features include the following. Comprehensive – Provides updated information on the relation between early childhood literacy development, parenting education, and intervention services. Research Focus – Provides an extensive review of experimental studies, including national reviews and meta-analyses on family literacy. Practice Focus – Provides a comprehensive treatment of family literacy interventions necessary for program developers, policy makers, and researchers. Diversity Focus – Provides detailed information on cultural and diversity issues for guiding interventions, policy, and research. International Focus – Provides an international perspective on family literacy services that informs program developers, researchers, and policy makers across countries. Evaluation Focus – Provides detailed guidelines for ensuring program quality and fidelity and a valuable new evaluation perspective based on implementation science. This book is essential reading for anyone – researchers, program developers, students, practitioners, and policy makers – who needs to be knowledgeable about intervention issues, family needs, program developments, and research outcomes in family literacy.