Deck 12: Observing, Recording, and Assessing

Question 1

The NAEYC advises early childhood professionals to use formal approaches for assessment and to avoid the use of informal approaches.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Observation can help an early childhood professional create an emergent plan for learning, detect problems in physical development, and help children with social-emotional conflicts.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Record keeping allows an early childhood professional to see patterns that are not always evident through observation and reflection alone.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Compared to anecdotal records, running record observations are lengthier and more detailed.

Question 5

Event sampling is another name for the time sampling method of record keeping.

Question 6

Photographs, sound recordings, and videos can be an especially effective tool for capturing the processes of children's play and work.

Question 7

Developmental checklists are useful ways to record a child's abilities, and they also are a good tool to use as a report card for the child's developmental progress.

Question 8

Mapping and environmental checklists are similar in that they both give information about how the environment is used by children.

Question 9

Your text recommends a diagnostic and prescriptive approach to assessing children.

Question 10

To be an effective assessment tool, portfolios need to cover all areas of development.

Question 11

A comprehensive program assessment evaluates a program in terms of how well it meets the needs of the children and their families, the administration and the staff, as well as the community.

Question 12

According to the author of your text, when dealing with a child who 'pushes your buttons,' the best tactic for taking the power out of button pushing is to be consistent in your response.

Question 13

The author of your text suggests that observation, record keeping and assessment are all one synchronous process.

Question 14

NAEYC's Program Standard 4 states that early childhood programs should

A) use ongoing, systematic, formal, and informal assessments of children's development.
B) protect children from illness and injury.
C) provide appropriate and well-maintained indoor and outdoor physical environments.
D) recognize the primacy of children's families, and create collaborative relationships with them.

Question 15

Preschool teacher Sam Farouk keeps records of his students' actions and activities in order to more effectively plan curriculum for the children as individuals as well as for the group. Another term for Farouk's record keeping is

A) assessment.
B) documentation.
C) observation.
D) measurement.

Question 16

The story of preschool teacher Cathy presented in your text demonstrates which point about observation, record keeping, and assessment?

A) They are really one synchronous process.
B) They take up a good deal of time.
C) They are a series of formal, independent steps.
D) They require a good deal of specialized knowledge and equipment.

Question 17

According to the text, a synchronous process of observation, record keeping, and assessment accomplishes all but which of the following goals?

A) It allows adults to gain insight into the way children's understanding works, and where their interests lie.
B) It helps children make connections and gain continuity in their mental processes.
C) It helps children gain continuity and make connections in their activities.
D) It allows adults to understand children's internal motivation for completing activities.

Question 18

Juanita Martinez works in a college-based child care program. Each day, part of Juanita's job is to jot down things that have happened with each child (e.g. snippets of conversation, poems the child made up, a story the child told). To facilitate this, Juanita carries around 3 x 5 index cards. Which method of record keeping is Martinez utilizing?

A) running record observation
B) journaling
C) event sampling
D) anecdotal records

Question 19

Early childhood education major Fawnia Farley wants to use a running record observation to assess one child at the site of her internship. To be successful, what should Fawnia focus on?

A) taking notes with whole, complete sentences since these will serve as her report
B) capturing a variety of the child's work samples
C) making quick, brief notes that she will write up immediately after the observation period
D) collecting detailed descriptions of the child's behavior at 10-minute intervals

Question 20

What is the focus of record keeping in the event sampling method?

A) to capture a blow-by-blow description of events during a predetermined observation period
B) to record everything that happens before, during, and after a particular incident
C) to record specific events and activities from a particular child's day
D) to capture how a specific child moves around in her/his environment

Question 21

Regarding the use of journals as a record-keeping device, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) When children are able to write, they should be encouraged to contribute to their journals.
B) Journals can be used for infants and toddlers as well as for preschool and school age children.
C) In addition to drawings or photographs, journals usually contain anecdotal records; however, they rarely include running records or incident reports.
D) Journals are best described as a two-way tool because both parents and early childhood professionals contribute to them.

Question 22

Pauline is designing a developmental checklist for four-year-olds as a project for her early childhood education class. Which of the following is NOT an appropriate domain by which to organize her checklist?

A) psychosocial.
B) gross motor.
C) individuality.
D) physical.

Question 23

Family child care provider Helen Yee uses a recording method in which she uses a checklist to capture children's activities at five-minute intervals. Yee checks off whether each child was attending, participating, interacting, moving away from the group, or involved with the self. Which method of recording is Helen Yee using?

A) time sampling
B) incident reporting
C) mapping
D) running records observation

Question 24

Central Academy Preschool takes a diagnosis and prescription approach to assessing the children in its programs. Parents would be most likely to find which of the following in Central's assessment program?

A) Teachers will use a variety of methods to assess the children, which may change throughout the year.
B) Teachers, like doctors in a medical setting, will make recommendations for activities based on a child's results on an assessment.
C) Teachers will try to determine each individual child's thinking process.
D) Teachers will use portfolios.

Question 25

Your text described two program's approaches to assessment, one that was diagnostic-prescriptive and one that was authentic. According to the author of your text, these programs were similar in all but which of the following ways?

A) They both have a developmental focus.
B) They both provide a broad way of looking at children's progress.
C) They both have children's best interests at heart.
D) They both assess the whole child, looking at all three domains of development.

Question 26

Compared to authentic assessment, diagnostic and prescriptive assessment is more likely to

A) give a true picture of the child and her/his development.
B) focus on strengths rather than on weaknesses.
C) provide insight into the child's thinking process.
D) measure skills and bits of knowledge.

Question 27

Regarding assessment in the early childhood setting, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Early childhood professionals should engage in self-assessment so that they can grade their job performance and improve their weaknesses.
B) Portfolios can serve as an important tool in authentic assessment.
C) The recording methods used to assess individual children can also be used to assess the early childhood program.
D) Because self-reflection and self-assessment are important skills to learn early, children should play a part in their own assessment.

Question 28

Which of the following assessment questions would be found in a "top-down" approach to the assessment of an early childhood program?

A) Is this a warm and friendly place where each individual gets needs met?
B) What would it be like to be a two-year-old in this program?
C) How does this program fit state regulations and professional standards?
D) Is this a place to feel good about oneself?

Question 29

Which of the following statements about portfolio assessments is FALSE?

A) Portfolios are meant to document both processes and products.
B) A portfolio should focus exclusively on a child's writing and drawing.
C) A portfolio can aid a student in his/her self-evaluation.
D) Portfolios can enhance conversations between parents and teachers about a child's work.

Question 30

In program assessment, the prevailing viewpoint is often that of

A) administrators, board members, and funders.
B) the children.
C) staff members.
D) the children's families.

Question 31

Describe each of the following methods of record keeping: anecdotal records, running record observations, incident reports, journals, photos/videos, checklists, mapping, and time samples.

Question 32

Explain what a portfolio is and how it is used in authentic assessment of children in the early childhood environment.

Question 33

Compare and contrast the authentic versus the diagnostic-prescriptive approaches to assessment in the early childhood environment.