Running head: UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTING RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT

Understanding and Practicing Responsible Assessment

Merissa Townsend
Pima Community College

UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTING RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT

Understanding and Practicing Responsible Assessment
It is critical that educators as well as non-educators, such as parents, be educated on the
importance of assessment and using it properly so that they can help children succeed. If
individuals are not properly educated on how to work with children, in the long run, they are
unknowingly harming the child.
Ways Early Childhood Educators Practice Responsible Assessment
Some of the ways that educators can be more knowledgeable about assessment is to take
classes on the subject. It is very important to be educated on the subject so that meaningful
assessment can be done and used to help further students success. Informing parents is
important so that they can better understand assessment and therefore help their children.
Another way educators can practice responsible assessment is to hold collaborative meetings
with other parents and colleges on assessment. A third way is to read up on the subject by using
the internet as a source or books from the library. Parents can also visit early childhood centers
and ask to sit in on an assessment with a child.
Some Ways Assessment Tools are Considered Inappropriate or Harmful to Children
Assessment tools can be harmful to children if the wrong assessment tool is used to
assess a child. An example of this is if an observer was trying to see what time a behavior
occurred and they used a frequency count instead of a time sample to record the data. This might
harm the child in the long run because the data might be interpreted wrong. A second way is
breeching confidentiality.

UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTING RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT

Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Assessment
Professional ethics requires you to act in a professional manner. You put aside your own
wishes and act in the way that is expected. This means acting in accordance with the observation
settings or site rules; being respectful of people in the setting and any people responsible for
minors in the setting; being respectful of the methods used in the setting (Bentzen, W., 2009,
p. 69). One of the most important legal and ethical concerns is maintaining confidentially.
Another is parental consent.
Another ethical issue is incorrect interpretation of observations. Observers sometimes
record what they want to see someone do in an observation and not what actually took place. An
example of this is when a child jerks a toy away from another child and the observer interprets
this act as aggression from a child (Bentzen,W., 2009, p. 73).
Current Educational Concerns and Controversies Related to Assessment
According to Wortham (2011) in December 2001 the No Child Left Behind Act was
passed. This made a difference in testing requirements for individual states. This meant that all
states had to give federally mandated tests and oversee each childs annual progress. Assessment
became a form of test taking rather than assessing children. Then in 2002, Early Childhood
Education Projects, started by President Bush stressed the importance of making education better
for young children. Although this had good intentions the federal mandate made it difficult to
address childrens individual concerns.

UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTING RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT

Effective Assessment With Diverse Children

Educators might start by pairing a diverse child with another diverse child that speaks
both English as well as that childs native language. This way both of the children learn from one
another. This is also a benefit to the educator as they can use the bilingual child to translate for
them when giving an assessment.
According to Shore (2008) teachers need to refine their instruction methods because they
often go against a diverse students cultural background. Therefore it is hard for them to learn. It
would also be in the best interest of the child to make sure that they have some form of help from
home as this will help them in the classroom as well as on assessments.
Conclusion
As a student of early childhood education, I feel it is important to practice responsible
assessment so that educators can teach children based on assessment results. Responsible
assessment includes being sensitive to cultural diversity, maintaining confidentiality, and using
responsible methods. By doing this children can become productive members of society by
giving them the means to find a job by way of an education.

UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTING RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT

References
Bentzen, W.R. (2009). Seeing young children: A guide to observing and recording behavior.
Sixth Edition. Tomson Delmar Learning.
Shore, M. (2008). Educating everybodys children. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-TeachingStrategies-for-Diverse-Learners.aspx
Wortham, S.C. (2006). Current issues and trends in assessment in early childhood education.
Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/current-issuesassessment-early-childhood/

UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTING RESPONSIBLE ASSESSMENT