Evaluating young children can be a challenge since evaluation tools have to be productive. Schools offer evaluation programs for the young kids which helps teachers in curriculum and even the teaching methods used. A mistake made during the evaluation can pose a problem on the child growth. Those with the knowledge in early childhood development are involved in evaluating tools and approaches that can be in evaluating the children.
There are a number of factors that have to be considered before carrying out an evaluation on young children. Cultural and linguistic differences have to be given key consideration before making an evaluation. Qualitative and quantitative methods are important when considering the evaluation methods. Various methods can be used in carrying out the evaluation; these methods include observation, interviews and also through evaluating different checklists. Different tools are then integrated in these major methods of evaluation. During the assessment different skill and abilities have to be assessed, some of the abilities include communication skill, social or behavioral skills, learning/monitory skills and also physical skills. The goals of the assessment among young children also need to be identified; some of the goals include identifying the capabilities and needs of the children, to identify whether a child has got special needs and also identifying the appropriate teaching programs.
In the assessment used, it was divided into section whereby in the first section the children are supposed to answer questions based on three answers which are yes, no and unable to assess. The questions are used to assess the behavior of the young children, and there is a total score .The questions do not evaluate the behavior of the children when they are ion school but also when they are at home. With the total score being 100, the score is rated from below average to average with those scoring above 70 having a score which is above average. A score of between 35 to 69 is the average score while below that is classified as below average. The questions also test on the activities that the young children love engaging in most. There is the social assessment test which is both theoretical and practical. The young children are taken into a room where there are a lot of activities such as games and storytelling which take place, there are those who do not engage in any of the activities, this is an indicator that they face challenges in social interaction. Physical assessment is also made through engaging the children in physical activities such as games and other activities such as modeling. A wide range of activities are available for catering for the different needs of the children. There are also assessments based on the leadership responsibility of the young children. Some of them start developing leadership and self-initiative when they are very young, such kind of abilities should not be underestimated since they help tutors to understand the children better. Some tools involve physical interaction with the assessment tools, in testing the cognitive ability of the children; they are presented with tools such as football and other toys that they describe in relation to what they learn in class. Students are assessed on their ability to identify colors, doing simple calculations, creating different models and also creating new words on puzzles.
The evaluation tools are effective, and they provide evaluation results that are not only used by the teachers, but also by parents and other stakeholders involved. The total scores are aggregated depending on what each evaluation test was testing. The behavior tests can be used to improve the social ability of the students while other tests such as health and development tests can be used to improve the growth and development of the young kids. For productive results to be achieved. Assessment should be done in alternate periods. This gives time for the evaluators to assess the results and give a well detailed conclusion. The assessment discussed is done every school term so as to assess the development and whether there is consistency in the results .All the assessment tools are evaluated after a certain period to ensure they are relevant to the issue being assessed.
References
Snow, C. E. (2008). Early childhood assessment why, what, and how. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
