6.4 How Observation and Assessment Inform Teaching
Brenda Boyd Brown, Ph.D.
Effective teachers understand that observation and assessment are very important in curriculum development, implementation, and teaching. Observations and assessments are essential to help inform teaching practices and guide learning activities. They are a looking glass into the child’s physical abilities, interests, strengths, and learning and should be used to inform what the educator does next.
Through observation, an educator can determine if the content planned for the children was absorbed, if a child is struggling developmentally in any areas, or if the teaching strategies effectively support students’ learning and can provide information for sharing with families about child growth and development.
Having well-planned, intentional, developmentally appropriate daily activities gives teachers solid information about scaffolding children’s learning and developing curriculum for their classroom. Scaffolding is providing support and guidance to children as they learn new skills and gradually removing the support as children learn the skills.
To illustrate how a teacher might use observations to impact curriculum choices for an individual child, reconsider the scenario presented in the work sampling document of Holly’s engagement in a measurement activity (see Figure 6.9).
Holly uses art to capture her learning. In a measuring activity, Holly must find three objects: one longer than her shoe, one the same length, and one shorter than her shoe. She found that Blueberry (Gavin’s stuffed bear) was the same length as her shoe. After writing Blueberry on the data collection chart, Holly drew this picture of him.
This behavior, observed in a natural environment as children are engaged in play, provides the teacher with a wealth of information about the child’s learning, development, and interests. This observation and authentic assessment give a snapshot of what is happening in the classroom. They can give the teacher information about Holly’s interests and development that could inform future activity plans for Holly and the classroom in general.
Using the narrative attached to the work sample in Figure 6.8 as an anecdotal record, Holly’s teacher used this observation to plan how to scaffold her learning. Table 6.2 shows an example of a curriculum plan tied to the observation.
| Identify child’s interest | Holly has been using art to represent her learning and has shown some interest in mathematics concepts (i.e., non-standard measurement) |
|---|---|
| Identify curriculum or assessment content area: | Art and cognition |
| Part of the daily routine: | Art table during choice time |
| Description of planned learning experience: | Children will utilize the art media provided to create representations of groups of objects and associate that group with a numeral. |
| Consider children’s developmental levels: | Holly showed an ability to measure objects using standard measurement tools but has not been exposed to the concepts of numerals to represent the number of objects in a group. This initial exposure may not be entirely successful, but using art media should draw Holly (and other children) into this activity. |
| Scaffolding strategies | Using small counting bears, teachers will model how to create a group of bears, placing some bears into a circular plastic ring. Then, select an art medium to create a picture of the group and write the number of bears, Teachers will encourage children to imitate the process, choosing their objects and the type of art media (pencil drawing, markers, paint, or chalk) to represent the group and the numeral. Number cards, showing the number of the objects and the corresponding numeral will be available to support children’s understanding of the numeral-number correspondence. Talk to children about numbers and numerals and various ways to create representations of them. |
When using observations for planning for children, remember that learning is a continuum of growth that occurs over time and at differing rates across the domains of development (Copple & Bredekamp, 2008). Thus, it is vital to remember that children may exhibit development at one level in one domain and be either ahead or behind that development in another. It is also critical to note that this authentic assessment is unlike a formal, standardized test, resulting in a cut-and-dried outcome. Instead, authentic assessment will provide rich information about a child and guide teaching practices. Expectations of a narrow and specific behavior from the child in response to curriculum based on observation would be inappropriate.
To summarize, observation and assessment are intricately connected to pedagogy or teaching. Observing children provides data from which an educator plans curriculum. Observation subsequently helps the educator assess the child’s learning from the curriculum, providing more evidence of growth and development. The data collected in observation also assists the educator in adapting the curriculum to meet children’s needs. In the scenario with Holly, the plan the teacher wrote after observing her play becomes the curriculum. Assessment will occur through another observation after the plan is executed, and the teacher can determine if the goal of playing with numerals and artistically representing them deepens and strengthens Holly’s learning. Through careful observation, documentation, interpretation, and reflection, teachers can plan and implement an effective curriculum so each child can thrive as they master major developmental milestones.
Reflection
Has your idea of how assessment can inform teaching changed now that you have finished the chapter? If so, in what ways? What questions do you have about how this process can be applied to the early childhood educator?
As an educator, watching and listening to children in an objective manner to learn about them
In education settings, the systematic collection, synthesis and use of data to make educational decisions about a child or group of children
The assistance given by the more knowledgeable other that changes in response to the child’s ability
Please look for related terms in the Glossary
An assessment approach that involves a teacher observing and documenting a child's skills, knowledge, and behavior during their everyday activities and routines
A method of formal assessment that uses standard (the same) methods of administration and scoring
Written account of observed action