What do you think the dancers were thinking about in the very fast part of the music?
Therefore planning for the assessment of groups and individual children should reflect a systematic, comprehensive approach (NAEYC, 2005). Assessment of young children is most effective when it is curriculum-basedthat is, aligned with learning standards as well as the goals and content of the curriculum and used to modify activities and practices to advance the development of each child (Gullo, 2006). In general, assessments are categorized either as formative if they document ongoing development and progress or summative if they are administered at intervals, such as end-of-year reports used to confer with a child’s family.
Some widely used programs, such as Creative Curriculum and High Scope, offer integrated, curriculum-based assessment systems with tools, schedules, and guidance for teachers that are also aligned with state early learning standards. In elementary schools, assessment systems are driven by national and state standards and typically include a balance of formative and summative assessments (often standardized tests) that measure overall achievement at the end of a school year. Independent or private early childhood programs may design their own assessment systems, such as the one displayed in Table 12.1, designed by an NAEYC-accredited program to meet the standard for assessment. This example of an assessment system for a preschool program provides a timetable that indicates when and how assessment information is collected, communicated, organized, and applied.