Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 3 Observing, Documenting and Assessing to Support Young Children and
Families
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that good documentation of
childrens assessments and learning can be important when deciding on what the child needs.
They a) Understanding the goals, benefits and uses of assessment and b) knowing about and
using observation, documentation and other appropriate assessment tools. They use this
understanding to document what the children know, what they need to learn or what they do not
understand. (NAEYC, 2010)
Brief Description of Evidence:
As part of my ECED 245 School Age Practicum course during the spring semester of
2014, I worked in a first grade classroom and completed a case study on one child. The case
study is made up of documentation of observations and assessments done in five developmental
domains; cognitive, physical, social/emotional, and creative.
Analysis of What I Learned:
As a result of completing this case study, I learned to document a variety of assessments
and observations. I also was able to communicate with the childs family and listen to their
concerns, which helped me see what areas to focus on. By observing, I was able to plan better for
what the children need, and even what would benefit him. Since I was in an a school setting, I
saw how to use multiple types of assessments and see how each one supported and benefit the
child by allowing me or the teacher to see what areas they need help in. Assessments make it
easier to visually see what areas the child struggles in and what help making planning DAP
activities to aid their learning.
How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:
This case study demonstrates my ability to work with parents and other professionals to
set goals for childrens learning and then to use assessments to see progress in their learning.
This project also shows my ability to take my results and determine what the goals the child
needs to work towards. This case study shows my capability to assess a childs development
through anecdotal notes and pictures, work collaboratively with others to set and attain goals for
the child, and reflect on the assessment as a whole. I used checklist and many assessments to
view where the child is developmentally. This case study used theories from Piaget and
Vygotsky to analyze the growth over the five month period.