Children show their understanding by doing, showing and telling. Early Learning–Kindergarten teams work together to use the assessment strategies of observing, listening and asking probing questions in order to assess and evaluate children’s achievement.
Assessment
Assessment is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a child is achieving the learning expectations. The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to facilitate the child’s continuous improvement and learning. Information gathered through assessment helps Early Learning-Kindergarten teams to determine children’s strengths and weaknesses and to adapt their instructional approaches accordingly.
Teams can better facilitate child learning and growth by:
- clearly defining the learning goals;
- scaffolding learning experiences;
- providing varied opportunities for play and practice; and
- giving meaningful feedback.
Assessment is the key to effective teaching and is the starting point for instruction in The Kindergarten Program. A well-planned program provides Early Learning–Kindergarten teams with many opportunities for ongoing observation and assessment of children’s strengths, needs and interests. On the basis of this ongoing assessment, team members should plan instruction to help children build on what they know and extend their thinking. For example, team members might pose open-ended questions, give a direction, ask a child to demonstrate a familiar concept in a new way, or encourage a child to try a new activity.
Early Learning-Kindergarten teams should also seek out and take advantage of external resources when planning their program, including opportunities for health and physical activity. These resources include potential community partners, off-site facilities and existing programs from local organizations. These unique opportunities provide children with access to additional experiences while expanding their enjoyment of and participation in a variety of physical activities and wellness initiatives.
Evaluation
Evaluation is the process of judging the quality of a child’s work on the basis of team members’ interpretations to determine the child’s progress in achieving the overall expectations.
Evaluation focuses on children’s achievement of the overall expectations. Teams must use their judgment to determine which specific expectations should be used to evaluate achievement of the overall expectations, and which ones will be accounted for in the instruction and assessment but not necessarily evaluated.
Ophea's Early Learning Resource provides teams with an anecdotal recording chart to support the recording of their observations. An anecdotal recording chart is a tool used as a method of assessment on which a team member records observations of children’s progress in and achievement of particular skills over time and in a variety of contexts.
Team members’ observations may also be captured through pictures and videos and may be supplemented by the child’s own representations.
Refer to The Kindergarten Program, for the assessment and evaluation of a child’s achievements.