Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
Chapter 6
Assessment and Evaluation Through Observation
In order to understand how children learn and development, teachers need to be involved
in daily observations of the children. There are many types of observation that teachers can use
to gain information about the children, including reflective diary, time sampling, checklist, a
narrative description, as well as others. Assessing these observations helps to see if goals and
objectives are being met in the classroom environment. Evaluation judges the worth and value of
behaviors, events, programs, or teaching strategies based on what is observed. There are also
many types of assessments and evaluations from which to choose, including criterion-referenced
and norm-referenced assessments, alternative and performance assessments, and formative and
summative evaluations. All of these can assist the teacher in better understanding what is
occurring in the classroom, the changes that should be made and also improve teaching. When it
comes to choosing which method to use, there are some concerns to keep in mind, including
validity, test bias, child’s age, and the environment.
Why and How do Teachers Observe Young Children?
• One reason for observing: assess their interests, development, educational progress, and
behavior.
• At the beginning of the observational process, it is important to have a certain purpose
that is stated as a clear objective.
• Types of observations:
o Reflective diary or journal: selects a particular behavior or emotional expression
of the child and describes it and then reflects on the meaning or interprets the
behavior or expression
o Narrative description: written descriptions of general behavior
o Time sampling: seeks to quantify the number of times a specific behavior occurs
Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
• How observations influence teaching
o Helps to uncover patterns of behavior and expression in young children
o Use the information to enhance the child’s development
How do Teachers Assess and Evaluate Young Children?
• Observation, interpretation, and reflection occur over and over again at various
timepoints while teaching young children.
• Types of assessments and evaluations:
o Criterion-referenced assessments are based on some outside objective criteria or
standards and compare young children to those criteria or standards.
o Norm-referenced assessments compare young children to other typically
▪ Open-ended questions
▪ Interview
▪ Portfolios
o Performance assessments require the children to emit some type of real-world
behavior.
o Formative evaluations allow for change in the educational program or more
• Some assessments and evaluations for ethnic minorities
o Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (ages 3 to 8) is a test of cognitive
ability or intelligence.
Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
• Current research assessments and evaluations
o There are assessments that measure development in areas such as social
skills/friendships, cognitive development, competence and social acceptance,
movement, literacy, and mathematics.
o Naturalistic observation is one of the best methods for measuring social skills.
Naturalistic observation is when young children are observed without
manipulation in their naturally occurring daily routine.
o The PLAY naturalistic observation system measures social (and cognitive)
competence in preschool children. It is shown to be both reliable and valid.
How to use Effective Assessment to Improve Teaching?
• Intentional teaching is helping children learn through both child-centered and adult-
centered interactions.
• Intentional teachers purposefully and thoughtfully choose when to be child-centered or
adult centered. In fact, intentional teachers are purposeful and thoughtful in all decisions.
• Intentional teachers use formative assessment and other informal assessments to guide
their teaching of young children.
What are some Assessment and Evaluation Concerns?
Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
• Our filters are a major concern related to all categories of observation and assessment.
o Psychometrics is a statistical concern when conducting observations, assessments,
and evaluations.
▪ Reliability concerns the issue of whether or not a measure computes the
▪ Validity is a determination of whether or not a test measures the entity it
purports to measure.
• Face validity determines whether or not an assessment looks like it
measures what it purports to measure.
• Content validity establishes whether or not the material on the
o Communicating with parents takes sensitivity, patience, and understanding. You
have to consider culture, language, special needs, your own filter, and other
o Accountability and high stakes testing can be an aid in improving instructional
practices and strategies. Assessment and accountability can be utilized to make
sure that all children are treated fairly despite their race, ethnicity, socio-economic
status, or special need.
o Test bias: Observations, assessments, and evaluations can be biased whether they
are standardized or not. Even qualitative and performance-based assessments can
be biased because we observe from our filter of experience, culture, and
philosophy.
