Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically (i.e., a commitment to “the whole child”), what, if anything, do you believe should be measured or assessed? Explain your reasoning.
If you are looking at the child as a whole, you need to look at how the child learns, what the child knows. Understanding how a child is learning and developing will help you better understand the child. I think the child’s pace of learning should be assessed. In my class I have noticed a gap in learning. There are some children who act out and will not sit for the circle time or activities. When I focus with them one on one, they are able to answer the questions and complete the project. They respond in a fast way, and even can expand upon what they were told. They should be assessed also in their developmental domains. The bio-social, cognitive and psychosocial domains.
I think that children get bored when the pace in the classroom is not fast enough for them. There is also a loss when the pace is too fast. Some children will not participate because the amount and the rate of information is too much for them to process.
I chose to focus on assessment in Wales, since my great grandparents came from Wales. I was curious to see how they assessed school aged children, and how their schooling program was. My area I grew up in has kindergarten to 5th grade, then a middle school 6th grade to 8th grade and high school is 9th grade until 12th grade.
There were very little assessments when I was in school, except for high school when they had the standardized tests they gave around 10th grade, and the SATs taken in junior/senior year.
However, in wales, they used to assess children in key stage one, and key state 2. Key stage one ended around 7 years old, and Key stage 2 ended at 11 years, and key stage 3 was at the end of 14 years. (Lingo, Primary Education in Wales, 2011)
At the end of key stage 1, teacher assessments were carried out in English, mathematics, and Science. In English, the students were scored in Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening. These were done in May.
Stage 2 was taken around 11 years of age, and core subjects included English, Mathematics, and Science.
Stage 3 was around 14 years of age; another assessment was required in English, Mathematics and Science. However, in addition to the previous two stages, English included the study of a Shakespeare play. (WorldLingo, 2011)
In Wales, early intervention uses statutory assessment. This is a detailed investigation to find out what you child special education needs are and what provision is needed to meet those needs. This is needed before a statement is written for the child. This is also different then the assessments discussed above, teachers cannot carry out this testing; only a local authority and it is the only way to determine special needs. The need for this type of assessment can only be made by a head teacher or professional working with the child. This can be done a child between the ages of 2 and 19.
Also, I found it interested in finding out that authorities do not need your consent to assess your child if they are over the age of 2. They just need to keep you informed.
(Society, 2010)
Resources
Guerri. (2011, January 3). Child and family traiing. Retrieved February 10, 2011, from http://www.childandfamilytraining.org.uk/contactus.html
Lingo, W. (2011). Primary Education in Wales. Retrieved 02 10, 2011, from Primary Education in Wales: English Language, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology, Design Technology, History, Geography, Art and Design, Music, Physical Edication and Religious Education.
Lingo, W. (n.d.). Primary Education in Wales.
Society, N. A. (2010). Statutory Assessment. Retrieved February 10, 2011, from The National Autistic Society: http://www.autism.org.uk/en-gb/Living-with-autism/Education/Primary-and-secondary-school/Extra-help-for-your-child-in-school/Extra-help-in-school-England-and-wales/Statutory-assessment-England-Wales.aspx
WorldLingo. (2011). National Curriculum Assessment. Retrieved February 9, 2011, from National Curriculum Assessment: http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/National_Curriculum_assessment
5 comments:
Cassie-I found it interesting that the teachers/officials can do assessments on children without parental consent. In some ways that would help for those parents who are not cooperative in getting their child assistance. But I can sure see it raising a rucuss in this country!
I like it when you said assess the learning pace from the child. This could help the teacher to know how fast to teach the child.
Cassie, I like your comment on how children learn at thier own pace. I see it everyday at my center and it takes patient from the teacher to recognize it and to implement activities to help the child. I also found it fascinating that in Wales they do not have to have parent permission to assess children. It would be nice if we could in America but, we know that would not go over very good with our families here.
I would have to agree with Trecy about the issue on learning about a students pace. I have some children in my class that are fast learners and it is very hard to keep up with them because the gap between the students learning styles become very wide.
I learned a lot of information from reading your post. Especially the one about the teacher not keeping the students interest while learning. I see this everyday in the classroom because the teacher teach has been teaching the same way for the last 6 months. The students are bored and have lost interest in learning because they know what to expect in the classroom. It is amazing in Wales that teachers and officials can do assessment without parents consent. This would never happen in the United States.
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