Pre-School Assessment

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Pre-School Assessment

Assessment in education and especially in a pre-school setting is an important part of understanding learners and helping them through the different issues they face daily. Pre-school is a sensitive part of the learning process, and this is where the most care is needed to make a strong person intellectually. If the thinking faculties are not properly stimulated, a person may not get the advantage of getting to understand some concepts when they are young. Some of the concepts in assessment at this level include observation, interpretation, evaluation, among others. This paper discusses these concepts concerning teaching pre-school children.

Interpretation and evaluation are related in that both are concepts in the assessment process. For preschoolers, a written exam is not always possible, and therefore observation is mainly used in trying to understand them. It means that the instructors spend a lot of time watching the young children see what they are mostly attracted to and, through this decision, the best teaching method is employed (Whitebread et al., 2009). The observations are usually discussed, and most of the time, the parent is involved if it is something of concern. This can be referred to as the evaluation process. When a student is observed trying to be creative and bring things into place, it can be assumed that they are organizers or something of that kind.

On the other hand, interpretation means forming an opinion about something. In a pre-school set up, the teachers might form an opinion about a child, which is referred to as interpretation of the assessment observation. Evaluation does not involve a personal opinion of the issues, while interpretation allows for a subjective opinion. There are some concerns that some teachers are not professional enough, and therefore, there are some questions that should be answered before a person can be given the freedom to interact and observe the kids. For example, is the instructor trained in dealing with little children? Can the instructor emotionally control themselves in case the children become annoying? Is the instructor able to observe kids and their different abilities? What kind of kids is being watched? Are they from the same social status?

These questions would be answered, and if answered correctly, the instructor gets a chance to interact with the kids. For example, the instructor must be trained fully enough to work with children without losing temper for them to be beneficial to the kids. The instructor should be able to clearly understand kids and try to engage them to assess their abilities and how these can be applied in studies then later in real life (Whitebread et al., 2009). The instructor should also observe the kids understand the different concepts taught.

If an observer is not clear on what is being observed and for what reasons, there is always a great chance that the fruitfulness of the observation will not be quantifiable or understandable. Therefore, teachers must have an objective before they begin their observation to focus and come up with results. If an observer does not have a clear purpose in mind, they will likely make one up. If they find it difficult to observe, they will make another one; they keep making new objectives until observation time is up and they have not made any important observation.

Reference

Whitebread, D., Coltman, P., Pasternak, D. P., Sangster, C., Grau, V., Bingham, S., … & Demetriou, D. (2009). The development of two observational tools for assessing metacognition and self-regulated learning in young children. Metacognition and learning, 4(1), 63-85.