Importance of the Assessment in Kindergarten and Its Types

Introduction

Assessment is studying a trend over a while, which involves evaluating, measuring and documenting the progress over time. Pre-kindergarten pupils have to be assessed to determine how they are progressing. When dealing with kindergarten pupils, assessment has to be informal to build their confidence and build their strengths by understanding them correctly. Pupils have different needs; therefore, the teacher has to take his/her time well and try to understand each pupil.

Five Types of Assessment Tools, Artifacts, and Documents Used

• Observation
• Performance/demonstrations
• Checklist
• Learning-log
• Conferences

Observation Assessment

Observation is the act of viewing with eyes the activities taking place and recording them. When dealing with kindergarten pupils, observation is vital in all aspects from class to outside class—taking records of every action and behavior observed in the pupil (DeLuca et al., 2019). As a teacher, there are different ways to conduct observation. Talking to pupils demonstrates the views they have in mind as well as their feelings. Listening to pupils’ ideas and feelings gives them the confidence to express themselves. The teacher can observe through active participation with the pupils or passive involvement. Passive participation is where the teacher follows how the pupils interact among themselves. All the observations should be recorded in order to refer to them in the future if needed.

Activities to be observed include: when they are alone, when with others, when playing, choosing tasks, and completing them. The advantages of the recording method are that the accuracy of information is high, and the teacher can engage the pupil if the observations were not satisfactory. Also, the pupil may not be aware that he/she is being observed; accurate information is captured in such scenarios. It also has disadvantages; the pupil may be shy in front of the teacher and fail to give information being targeted. On the teacher’s side, it requires availability and dedication towards achieving the goal of assessment. This type of assessment falls under formative evaluation since it is an ongoing process, and it is the first attempt to develop instructions. It informs and gives direction on improvement performance areas.

Educators should listen to the pupils talking to themselves and when engaging them. Observation is valid when information recorded is kept up to date and maintained. The pupils’ focus is on one or two items at a time, and proper planning is done for the observation schedule. The observation was made on the creativity and socio-emotional aspects of the pupil. Socio-emotion is the ability to control emotions and play or share ideas and interact with others. At the same time, creativity is the child’s ability to think, solve the problem, and learn. These developments can be observed and the information stored through video, photos, or notes.

Anecdotal Notes

These are short notes taken about a pupil being observed. The letters are then transferred to a book where the individual student has their page. Dating notes are made for easy tracking of progress in the future. The example used in this case was to know the behaviors of Mathew.

• Name of student: Mathew
• Observer: Teacher Ken
• 29^thMay 2020
  • piled a stuck of books
  • remained quiet, mostly
  • played alone
  • slept in the afternoon
• Name of student: Mathew
• Observer: Teacher Ken
• Date: 12^thMay 2020
  • built a car using carton boxes
  • identified an oval shape
  • played with other pupils
  • made stories with other pupils
• Name of student: Mathew
• Observer: Teacher Ken
• 10^thJune 2020
  • made stories to friends
  • counted books
  • used papers to make a boat

From the information collected, it is possible to conclude that Mathew is very creative because he is never idle; he finds something to do. It is also evident that he formulates ideas well and then puts them into practice. In addition, he can play with others and sometimes enjoy being alone. His parents were encouraged with their son’s creativity; they promised to support him in his homework and monitor his needs while at home.

Performance-Based Demonstrations

This type of assessment is applied when the pupil is tested on what he has an idea; the pupil must understand the concept. Pupils may be required to sit for a short examination at the end of the term to see if they have mastered the idea of mathematics or science (Duncan et al., 2018). After the discussion of shapes and color in class, the teacher can ask pupils to identify various colors and shapes. The pupil is supposed to demonstrate to the class how he/she understands the colors and shapes. The learning log technique is used in this kind of assessment. The learning log is taking record while the student is going on with the task assigned. The teacher will take notes and observe if the pupil understands the instruction given. Notes can be taken, recordings, and even videos for further decision making. In this type of assessment method, the pupil can show his/her interest by demonstrating it. Also, it has the challenge that it may not bring out an accurate picture of the pupil. The pupil can get tensed and fail to demonstrate his/her knowledge perfectly.

This kind of assessment is a summative assessment. The goal is to evaluate students understanding at the end of instruction (Giske et al., 2018). To perform a summative evaluation, the teacher must prepare the pupils to make them understand all the instructions before assessment. Pupils have to build their skills before the presentation; some develop their skills while presenting, while others may get skills afterward. In this assessment, the pupil was assessed on the understanding of numerical and communication skills. The pupil was supposed to read and count the number of sticks in the table below.

Reading skills checklist Pupils Name: Mathew
	Score		Score
Run	100	Boom	100
Rat	100	Broom	95
Brush	95	Rub	100

Figure 1. Reading skills checklist.

Counting skills checklist Pupils Name: Mathew
	Score		Score
IIII	100	III	100
IIIIIII	90	IIIIIIIIII	70
IIIII	100	II	100

Figure 2. Counting skills checklist.

Reporting Pupil’s Progress

The progress of pupils is achieved when there is a partnership between the teacher and parent/guardian. Through this partnership, parents can track their children’s progress and help them improve. There are different ways a teacher can use to communicate with parents. The formal way implies meetings, presentations, giving progress reports, conferences involving teacher, parents, pupils, as well as parents’ school visits is a formal way of checking pupils’ progress (DeLuca et al., 2019). This type of meeting is not always experienced in kindergarten schools but is done once in a while. It is good to have formal meetings to discuss the children’s progress. Majorly, this type of communication is always done when the pupil has been punished; it should not be the norm (Miller-Bains et al., 2017). Parents and teachers can have a formal meeting to discuss how to improve the child’s progress.

Informal ways of communicating include: sending notes and calendars to parents, making telephone calls, sending home pupils’ work collections, as well as sharing with parents’ videos and audio cassettes of class activities. In addition, they imply inviting parents to comment on pupils’ work and sending home photos of class activities (Blessing, 2019). Parents get to understand their children’s progress daily and see how best they can improve their children’s behaviors.

Communication with parents enables the teacher to explain the program and learning expectations as well as inform them about their child’s performance. Moreover, it allows to share strategies that promote growth and share critical information about the pupil (DeLuca et al., 2019). In the process, the assessment technique used is also explained to the parent. Through communication, pupils can open up and express their feelings because they will consider the teacher as a close person to the family.

In this case, Mathew’s assessment results were sent to his parents through photos and report analysis. Meetings were held in the mornings when he was dropped at school. The parents were proud of their son and promised to support Mathew in the development of his mathematical skills by providing mathematics materials to acquire more knowledge. From the assessment, it is seen that the pupil is very sharp in numerical skills and reading. He can read correctly and in front of others, which shows that he is emotionally stable.

Conclusion

In conclusion, assessment in kindergarten is essential in building future generations. Building the pupils’ strength and giving them the confidence to explore their potential is the joy of a teacher. Combined partnership with parents/guardians enables the pupil to have a focused mind and express their feelings freely. Modern assessment tools assume that kindergarten pupils are older than they actually are; pupils are not given enough time to learn instructions. Therefore, there should be more emphasis on instruction time; pupils need enough time to understand teaching to give out their real potential. The continuous observation of kindergarten pupils gives a broader picture, which is why it should always be prioritized.

References

Blessing, A. D. (2019). Assessment in kindergarten. YC Young Children, 74(3), 6-13. Web.

DeLuca, C., Pyle, A., Roy, S., Chalas, A., & Danniels, E. (2019). Perspectives on kindergarten assessment: Toward a common understanding. Teachers College Record, 121(3), 1-58. Web.

Duncan, R. J., Schmitt, S. A., Burke, M., & McClelland, M. M. (2018). Combining a kindergarten readiness summer program with a self-regulation intervention improves school readiness. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 42, 291-300. Web.

Friend, M., Smolak, E., Liu, Y., Poulin-Dubois, D., & Zesiger, P. (2018). A cross-language study of decontextualized vocabulary comprehension in toddlerhood and kindergarten readiness. Developmental psychology, 54(7). Web.

Giske, R., Ugelstad, I. B., Torill Meland, A., Helen Kaltvedt, E., Eikeland, S., Egil Tønnessen, F., & Lie Reikerås, E. K. (2018). Toddlers’ social competence, play, movement skills, and well-being: An analysis of their relationship based on authentic assessment in kindergarten. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 26(3), 362-374. Web.

Miller-Bains, K. L., Russo, J. M., Williford, A. P., DeCoster, J., & Cottone, E. A. (2017). Examining the validity of a multidimensional performance-based assessment at kindergarten entry. AERA Open, 3(2). Web.