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Assessment

The educational success of New York’s children is anchored in their ability to develop strong social and emotional skills, approach learning with initiative and persistence, and exhibit good physical development and health from the earliest points possible. Young children are innately curious and this drives their learning. Their engagement in learning – and especially in play and exploration as a means of learning – is paramount to their development and their success in acquiring strong skills and competencies in communication, language and literacy development, cognition, and knowledge of the world. The shifts outlined in the New York State Common Core Learning Standards necessitate curriculum driven by comprehensive, strong foundations in language, literacy, and mathematics. Both the academic progress and the developmental science of young children’s growth have been taken into careful consideration in the creation of this guidance document intended to provide guidelines for decision making with regard to curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

NYSED endorses the assessment definitions provided by the National Research Council (NRC). NRC (2008) defines assessment as any type of evaluation of young children which refers to “information from multiple indicators and sources of evidence that is organized and interpreted and then evaluated to make an appraisal.”

Assessment is typically conducted to serve one or more of the following four purposes: to inform and support instruction and learning; to identify special needs; to evaluate programs and monitor trends; and/or to make use of high-stakes accountability (Shepard, Kagan, & Wurtz, 1998).

In addition, federal and state laws have specific requirements for individual evaluations of children suspected of having a disability. (Further information regarding the evaluation of preschool students suspected of having a disability is available from the NYSED Office of Special Education. external link icon

Assessment practices fall along a continuum of strategies ranging from formal to informal. Formal assessments, defined as a procedure for obtaining information that can be used to evaluate children or programs using standardized instruments (NRC, 2008), are administered in accordance with strictly controlled conditions to allow for comparisons between individuals or groups.

Conversely, informal assessment is a procedure for obtaining information that can be used to evaluate children or programs using means other than standardized instruments (NRC, 2008). Typically referred to as “authentic” or “naturalistic” assessment, informal assessment techniques offer multiple methods of evaluating children’s achievement, attitude, motivation, and learning within real life contexts that are grounded in naturally occurring instructional activities. Informal assessment practices often include, but are not limited to, anecdotal records, structured observations, teacher and parent ratings of behavior, and work samples.

By establishing a purposeful balance between formal and informal assessment, a variety of data and evidence will be available to inform and support educational decision making (Epstein, Schweinhart, DeBruin-Parecki, & Robin, 2004).

The formal and informal types of assessment addressed in this guidance document are screening, progress monitoring, and summative (outcome) assessment.

Screening

Screening is the use of a brief procedure or instument designed to identify, from within a large population of children, those who may need further assessment to verify and developmenal and/or health risks (NRC,2008).

Section  117.1-3 external link iconof the Commissioner’s Regulations, mandate that in New York State  a diagnostic screening be conducted for all new entrants and students with low  test scores. Diagnostic screening refers to a “preliminary method of  distinguishing from the general population those students who may possibly be  gifted, those students who may be suspected of having a disability and/or those  students who possibly are limited English proficient.” Screening results should  not be used to make a final determination of a child’s special needs, nor should screening be used by itself to guide instruction. Concerns that arise  from initial screening may indicate that further evaluation of the child’s  needs, skills, and/or development is necessary. A summary of the  regulations is available in Appendix A. PDF icon (880.64 KB)

Progress Monitoring


Progress Monitoring is an assessment conducted to examine studens' academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction/ Progress is measured on a regular basis, (e.g.,monthly) by comparing expected and actual rates of learning. Based on these measurements, teaching is adjusted as needed(NRC, 2008). Section 151-1.3(b) of the Commissioner’s Regulations states that districts establish uniform quality standards for all universal prekindergarten classrooms, including both district-based and eligible agency-based classrooms. NYSED strongly recommends that teachers apply these regulatory guidelines to any progress monitoring system used throughout early elementary school as well. The regulatory requirements outline a process by which schools adopt and implement a standards-based curriculum that ensures continuity of instruction. This occurs through student-centered activities that promote the child’s total growth and development. Essential components such as background knowledge, phonological awareness, expressive and receptive language, vocabulary development, phonemic awareness, fluency, and comprehension must be present in the continuum of literacy instruction. Learning centers that promote a balance of individual learning along with small group activities are components of a balanced schedule of teacher-initiated and child-initiated learning activities and assessment opportunities. Providing instruction based on these curriculum components leads to more focused progress monitoring of student development in language, literacy, cognition, and social skills, as well as higher order problem-solving skills. For a summary of the regulations see the chart in Appendix B. The regulation can be found here SUBPART 151-1-Universal PreKindergarten. PDF icon (PDF 36.52 KB)

Curriculum Based Measures


Curriculum-Based Measurement: Effective Universal Screening and Progress Monitoring Measures for Response to Intervention Models was presented by Suzanne Bamonto Graney, Ph. D. of Rochester Institute of Technology in March, 2010. The presentation provides an overview of considerations for selecting validated, effective assessment tools for Response-to-Intervention implementation with an emphasis on Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM). Research-validated CBM tools will be introduced in the areas of early literacy and reading, spelling and written expression. Discussion of the utility of these measures will include developmental considerations from prekindergarten through high school. Practical examples will be given of CBM’s use for evaluating Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs, screening for students needing additional support, and individual goal setting and progress monitoring strategies at Tiers 2 and beyond. Participants will gain understanding of the essential features of effective RtI assessment tools as well as specific information about CBM and how it may be used to enhance the academic achievement of all students.

Curriculium Based Measurement: Effective Universal Screening and PRogress Monitoring Measures for Response-to-Intervention Models PDF icon (PDF 5.12 MB)


Curriculium Based Measurement: Effective Universal Screening and PRogress Monitoring Measures for Response-to-Intervention Models Supplemental Materials PDF icon (PDF 130.24 KB)

Summative


Summative assessment typically documents how much learning has occurred at a point in time. Its purpose is to measure the level of child, school, or program sucess (NRC,2008). At the Prekindergarten through Grade 3 level, children should be exposed to a continuum of high-quality early learning experiences that are driven by engagement, interests, and data gained from progress monitoring. If a district or school chooses or creates strong interim assessments that are aligned to the Common Core Learning Standards and the other domains of early childhood, then the cumulative nature of the interim assessment will provide valuable year-end information that can accurately measure a child’s progress against the standards. A “Summative Assessment” or “Outcome Assessment” is the process of collecting student information for the purposes of assessing whether the services, activities, or experiences offered had the desired impact over a specified period of time. For that reason, the same tool that was used to establish a baseline would be suitable for the summative assessment. Outcome results are used to measure individual student growth or the results can be aggregated to evaluate the effectiveness of the academic programs and activities. At present, children are required to take the New York State standardized assessments at the end of third grade. These summative assessments in Math and English Language Arts are high stakes, analyzing student, program, and school performance. If districts and schools develop or select other summative assessment tools to be used between prekindergarten and grade three, they do not have to be modeled after the New York State assessment, but should be rigorous. They should inform student learning, as well as program or school success beyond the time the assessment was given.