the languages of assessment: it’s all about children and families dr. hillel goelman the...
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The Languages of Assessment:It’s All About Children and
Families
Dr. Hillel GoelmanThe Assessment Workshop, 2008
The Languages of Assessment:
It’s All About Children and Families
The Languages of Assessment:
Words of Power and The Power of Words
in Working With Children and Families
*Dr. Jo-Anne Fiske, The University of Lethbridge, The CHILD Project
What I’ll cover in this address on the “The Languages of Assessment:
Words of Power and The Power of Words”*
1) What children can teach us about the languages of assessment in early childhood practice.
2) How the languages of assessment can help change public policy.
3) How the languages of assessment can inform our responses to current government initiatives around full-day kindergarten for 5-year olds and junior kindergarten for 3- and 4-year olds.
Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Developmental Pediatrician:
“Early child development isn’t rocket science;
it’s harder.”
According to Juanita V. Copley, writing in the Exchange
article, "Assessing Mathematical Learning: Observing and
Listening to Children," that in assessing children's math
skills we must be aware that language often carries
different meanings to young children. She offers this
example...
What children can teach us about the languages of assessment in early childhood practice:
Example # 1
"An assessor asked individual children to identify triangles
from a series of shapes. Most children could identify the more
typically shaped triangles with little problem and also give a
definition of a triangle as 'a shape with three sides.' During
her assessment, however, one of the triangles fell off the
table; and when she asked the child to identify it, she held it
up so it was standing on the point. When she asked the child
to identify the shape, the child replied that he didn't know, but
he was sure it wasn't a triangle because it 'didn't look like it.'
Example # 1
He was then asked to tell what a triangle was; and when he
responded 'a shape with three sides,' she asked him again why
the shape wasn't a triangle. Again, the child responded that it
'didn't look like it' and that, in fact, it 'needed to look like a girl' if
it was going to be a triangle. Puzzled, the assessor asked
where the child had seen triangles 'that looked like girls.' The
child pointed to the restroom door down the hall. After a quick
glance at the doors, the teacher understood the child's answer!
The girl's bathroom had a circle with a triangle under it for girl
and the boy's bathroom had a circle with a rectangle under it
for boy."
A long time ago in a universe far, far away…..
What children can teach us about the languages of assessment in early childhood practice:
Example # 2
Annie ?
In hindsight, I realize now just how helpful the Assessment Workshop would have been at that time in my life. In preparing this talk. I went back over the previous keynote addresses given by my distinguished predecessors and realized how each one of them had so much to contribute to a young, beginning professional who wanted to work with young children.
2003What We Can Learn About Assessing Young
Children from Pooh and Tigger, TooDr. Laurie Ford
From Urie Bronfenbrenner, 1977 on the “science of early
child development”:
“The science of strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults
for the briefest possible period of time.”
The importance of strength-based assessment
2004Understanding the Challenges in Assessing Young
Children
Dr. Gerard M. Kysela
Principles of family-centred practice:
• Include families in decision- making, planning, assessment and
service-delivery
• Develop services for the whole family
• Services are guided by families’ priorities
• Families have choices regarding the level of their participation
2005Assessing What we Can Versus What we Should: What are
the Important Things to Know About Young Children?
Dr. Dale Farran
• Children are always ready to learn.
• Learning begins in utero and is an essential aspect of early child
development.
• It is how children learn that is quite varied and of interest.
2006 Handle with Care: Strategies for Promoting the
Mental Health of Young Children
Dr. Nancy Cohen (The importance of)
• building trusting relationships between practitioners and children
• supporting individual characteristics and self-esteem
• fostering independence and problem-solving skills
• encouraging understanding and expression of emotions
• helping children deal with changes and transitions
2007What do Monkeys and Kindergarteners Have in
Common?
Dr. Tom Boyce
• The interaction of biology and the social environment
• The “biology of misfortune”
• Increased mental/physical health risks when under adversity and
stress
What children can teach us about the languages of assessment in early
childhood practice:Example # 3
…the power of words
The words of power and…
AndyAndy
“Andy plays perfectly well with the others – it’s others who don’t play well
with Andy”
What the Mom said to the teacher…
“Andy does not play well with others”
What the teacher probably said.
“Andy is a bad child”
What the Mom thought the teacher meant
“I am not a bad parent…”
What the Mom might have meant by saying that.
Words of p
ower and…
…the power of words
“I am not a bad parent…”
The languages of assessment
Some suggested communication strategies
West, Idol & Cannon, 1989
StrategyAcknowledging
Paraphrasing
Reflecting
Clarifying
Elaborating
Summarizing
Some suggested communication strategies
West, Idol & Cannon, 1989
Strategy Goal Example
Acknowledging Indicates you are listening Maintaining eye contact. “Yes…” “Uh-huh…”
Paraphrasing Provides feedback about what was said
“You’re not sure I really understand Andy”
Reflecting Focus on the speaker’s feelings
“It sounds like you’re concerned about Andy”
Clarifying Determine the speaker’s intentions
“Are you saying that Andy sometimes plays nicely?”
Elaborating Adds to what the speaker said
“And this is an issue for Andy in other situations?”
Summarizing Integrates and summarizes what the speaker said.
“So, for now we’ll watch Andy’s play and get back…
“Andy is such a bright and active kid. Did I tell you about his painting last week? He was drawing the letter “A” all over the paper! Big “A”s and small “A”s and in different colours.
“What an exciting stage he’s at…Let me tell you about another part of our day and I wonder if you can help me out a bit since you know Andy far better than I do. He came over to the block corner and asked Brian if he could play with him and Brian just said, ‘No.’
The teacher might have said something like…
“Andy asked 2 or 3 more times, nicely at first but then after the 3rd or 4th time he just kicked Brian’s block tower over. That was last Tuesday and I saw him repeat the same scene almost every day with Brian and then another girl in the class.
“I’m curious about this and I wonder if you could tell me something to help me understand what’s going on with him…”
The teacher might have said something like…
1. Assessment/observation should be based on knowledge of typical and atypical child development. What knowledge of development is the teacher drawing upon?
2. Assessment/observation should use multiple (formal and informal) sources of information. How many different observations is this description of Andy based upon? Have other people observed Andy as well? What is their view?
3. Assessment should be conducted by skilled, sensitive and objective assessors who the child knows and who the child is comfortable with. Is Andy comfortable in the classroom? With this teacher? What are the indications of his level of comfort or discomfort?
“Principles of Assessment” and AndyAdapted from Greenspan & Meisels, 1996
4. Observations should be conducted by skilled, sensitive and objective observers who understand how children interact with the human and physical environment. In what situations and with which children does Andy seem to play well and not so well?
5. The assessment/observation should include strengths as well as weaknesses of the child and the family. Has the teacher seen examples of positive, prosocial behavior? Where? And when?
6. The assessment/observation process should be collaborative. Andy’s parents should be asked to provide input into this assessment of Andy’s play behavior. How does he play at home? How does he play in other situations?
“Principles of Assessment” and AndyAdapted from Greenspan & Meisels, 1996
7. The assessment/observation process should lead to appropriate intervention. What recommendations does the teacher want to make based on this assessment of Andy? What are the short-term and long-term goals that the parents and teacher might want to develop together? What intervention plans will they adopt to try and meet those goals?
“Principles of Assessment” and AndyAdapted from Greenspan & Meisels, 1996
Words of power and the power of our words can
make a difference in early child development.
What can we learn from these three examples?
Words of power can create positive interventions and can also reflect the difficulties many children and families face.
Infant Development Program
Supported Child Development Program
AgeBirth
Early Infancy
Late Infancy
Early Toddler
Late Toddler
Early Preschool
Late Preschool 6 mo 12 mo 18 mo 24 mo 3 yrs 5 yrs
DE
VE
LO
PM
EN
T
Preschool programs
Poverty
Lack of health services
Family DiscordSocial-emotional, Physical
Cognitive, Language function
Lower trajectory: With diminished function
Care in the NICU
The languages of assessment can lead to programs that support individual, familial community and policy determinants of early child development
child
family
community
state
Heredity and prenatal environment, and early
interventionFamilial supports and stressors
Community-based programs &
supportsPolicies, priorities and funding
A new look at assessment:
not an individual child
but an entire province
A new climate is emerging that understands and appreciates the
importance of assessment as a critical component of early
intervention services.
universal hearing screening
universal vision screening
universal dental screening
universal developmental screening
The 1st example of climate change has resulted in…
Figure 1 Number of Children Enrolled in Kindergarten Classes in British Columbia,
Selected Years from 1944 to 1969
2601,129
1,8342,680
3,8914,511
7,536
8,823
11,143
12,457
14,339
15,961
17,494
19,915
22,655
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
1944-45 1948-49 1952-53 1956-57 1958-59 1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70
Nu
mb
er
of
ch
ild
ren
The 2nd example of climate change:Free public kindergarten in 1973
Figure 2Percentage of 5-year olds enrolled in kindergarten in British Columbia,
1960-1961 to 1969-1970
12.7
21.023.4
29.631.5
35.1
38.7
41.6
48.9 49.6
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70
Per
cen
tag
e o
f 5-
year
old
s
The 2nd example of climate change:Free public kindergarten in 1973
The 3rd example of climate change:Briefing the Liberal Caucus on Early Child Development in the
BC Legislature in 2005
The benefits of high quality early childhood programs
SPEECH FROM THE THRONE
The Honourable Steven L. Point, Obcxwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl
Lieutenant-Governor
— at the —
Opening of the Fourth Session,
Thirty-Eighth Parliament
— of the —
Province of British Columbia
February 12, 2008
A new province-wide assessment
“A new Early Childhood Learning Agency will be established. It will assess the feasibility and costs of full school day kindergarten for five-year-olds. It will also undertake a feasibility study of providing parents with the choice of day-long kindergarten for four-year-olds by 2010, and for three-year-olds by 2012. That report will be completed and released within the year.”
Some of the issues we may wish to raise in regard to full-day and junior kindergarten.
Adapted from Harbin, McWilliam & Gallagher, 2000
Entitlement Programs serve all eligible children
Eligibility Serve children with diagnoses and “grey area” kids
Early identification Find children as early as possible.
Systemic Comprehensive, coordinated services/programs
Focus Family-centred
Individualization Offer individualized services
Inclusion Inclusive programs and use of community resources
Disciplines Disciplines working together to integrate services
Therapies Sufficient, integrated therapies
Transition Planned transitions from infant toddler to preschool to school.
Funding Coordinated and sufficient funding
1. Assessment/observation should be based on knowledge of typical and atypical child development. Will the assessment take into account the needs of typical and atypical children?
2. Assessment/observation should use multiple (formal and informal) sources of information. What are the different data sources the province will use to do this assessment?
3. Assessment should be conducted by skilled, sensitive and objective assessors who the child knows and who the child is comfortable with. How will early childhood professionals in different professions have input to the process?
How do the “Principles of Assessment” apply to the province’s assessment of the need for full-day
kindergarten and junior kindergarten?
4. Observations should be conducted by skilled, sensitive and objective observers who understand how children interact with the human and physical environment. Early childhood professionals have long experience in observing child growth and development – this knowledge and experience should be drawn upon in making proposed service changes.
5. The assessment/observation should include strengths as well as weaknesses of the child and the family. There are many strengths in BC at this which have been built up over many years. How will these strengths be recognized and built upon?
6. The assessment/observation process should be collaborative. The processes of research, consultation, design, implementation and evaluation should be a an ongoing and collaborative process
How do the “Principles of Assessment” apply to the province’s assessment of the need for full-day
kindergarten and junior kindergarten?
7. The assessment/observation process should lead to appropriate intervention(s). There is no “one-size-fits-all” program that meets the needs of all children. How can we plan for the diverse needs of children and families in the province?
How do the “Principles of Assessment” apply to the province’s assessment of the need for full-day
kindergarten and junior kindergarten?
We could be at a tipping point in the development of early childhood assessment
and intervention programs in British Columbia.
By next year at this time we will have the results of the feasibility study and there will
have been a provincial election.
We have a unique opportunity to use the power of our words to help influence the politics, policies and programs that will support the children and families of British Columbia.
Let’s make sure that we make the very best use of this opportunity.
The Organizing Committee
Mari Pighini, CHILD/HELP, UBC
Dr. W. McKee, PRTC, UBC
Dana Brynelsen, IDP of BC
Lorraine Aitken, Comox Valley CDA
Violet Jessen, ECEBC
Diana Elliott, AIDP of BC
Diane Tannahill, ECEBC
Tanya Brown, SCDP
Joyce Branscombe & Nicky Byres,
EventAbility
Dr. H. Goelman, HELP/CHILD, UBC
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
• The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP)
• The Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development (The CHILD Project)
• The Department of Paediatrics, the Centre for Community Child Health Research and the Faculty of Education
• My UBC students
• David Wu
• Nadav Goelman
• Sheryl Sorokin
• And last but not least…
…Caleb, who has listened to many versions of this address during many long walks.
The Languages of Assessment:Words of Power and The Power of Words
in Working With Children and Families
Dr. Hillel GoelmanThe Assessment Workshop, 2008
The Languages of Assessment:Words of Power and The Power of Words
in Working With Children and Families