Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS

Developmentally Appropriate Assessment Practices

Celeste Riches
Brigham Young University Idaho, Spring 2016
CHILD 350

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS

Appropriate Practices

Less Appropriate Practices

Pages

Assessments are done to plan and adapt

curriculum to help each individual childs
needs, help teachers and families be aware
of their childs learning, evaluate and
improve programs, and detect disabilities
or developmental delays.
Teachers use assessments at the beginning
of the school year to detect delays in the
children. When it does identify a delay,
teachers help children receive intervention.
Major decisions in a childs life are based
from multiple assessments and tests
compiled from teachers, parents, and other
specialists.

Assessments do not have a main focus

and are only used to assess one thing
rather than many different areas in a
childs life. They take a lot of the
teachers time detracting for other
learning.
Teachers diagnose and label children
after one assessment and uses test
results to label children into groups.

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Achievement tests are used to hold

children back a grade and children are
judged on inappropriate or inflexible
expectations for where they are at
individually in academics and socially.
Assessments address physical, social,
Teachers do not think about what goals
emotional, and cognitive domains for
are important in the different learning
children. The assessments increase in focus areas and give busy work as their
on physical education, math, language and assessments. Accountability testing is
literacy, science, social studies, and the arts only focused on a few domains.
as children get older.
Assessments are well prepared and plan for There is no play for how the assessment
to make it easy for parents and teachers to
will work. The assessment plans are not
understand and use.
shared with childrens families.
Health and developmental screenings are
Teachers assume there is a problem with
done by those who have authority so the
a child and label a child when the child
authorized people can identify those
seems to be struggling. Teachers
children who need more diagnostic
diagnose their students without
assessments.
authority.
Information on the children is collected
Information is collected randomly and
throughout the year at regular intervals.
the childs performance is only assessed
at the end of the year or project.

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Teachers have everything they need-the

time, materials and training- to complete
the assessments accurately.

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Assessments are consistent with the

development goals and learning goals of
the children and the main curriculum.

Teachers are stressed and cannot

provide the needed time to the
assessments and is not adequate for the
assessment requirements.
Assessments do not use the curriculum
goals and do not included skills and
methods used in the classroom.

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DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS

Teachers use assessments to help tweek
their curriculum and plan their activities
using the results. They use the results to
help promote childrens learning in
specific areas.
Assessments are used in combination with
the childrens typical activities. Teachers
take record of what the children are doing
and use that information to help in their
reaching individual children. Teachers
make different observations throughout the
year and check them frequently.
Teachers know what each child can do
individually while collaborating with other
teachers. Teachers pay attention to how
children participate in groups.
Assessments are used for acceptable
purposes and yield reliable information
across different ages, cultures, languages,
and more. Assessments demonstrate
validity and reliability when identifying,
diagnosing, and planning for children with
disabilities.
Teachers observations are included in the
assessments to give an example of the
childrens work which is separate from
other assignments.
Assessments are used according to childs
background information and teachers use a
variety of tools to help children
demonstrate their knowledge in different
ways.
Teachers get information from families
about what the child can do at home.

Teachers share information about the child

back and forth with families. Families are
informed occasionally how their child is
performing.
Teachers exchange information about each
child with other teachers the child will
work with. This helps with the transitions
children make.

The teachers are not accountable for

what the children are doing. Teachers
dont use the results to help in their
teachings.

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Assessment results go into a folder and

are forgotten about. Teachers use
quizzes or weekly tests to tell what a
child is doing wrong and forgetting
about what they are doing right.

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Children are only assessed as

individuals. Teachers miss opportunities
to gather information when children are
in groups or receiving adult support.
Test results are used to lable children
and the information is not used to give
information about the childrens
progress The materials are used before
being checked for validity and
reliability.

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Teachers use different methods that are

used for older children that are not
appropriate for the current age.
Assessments are administered separate
from the childs typical activities.
Assessments assume childs background
knowledge and the methods teachers use
prevent children from being able to
show what they know.

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Teachers do not talk to families about

childs knowledge.

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Families are not informed and teachers

only give information about the child to
parents through grades or report cards.
Assessment information is not used to
help children though transitional
periods.

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DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS

References
Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood
programs: Serving children from birth through age 8. 3rd edition. Washington, DC:
NAEYC.