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 child
observation, documentation, and other forms of assessment are central to the practice of
all early childhood professionals. They know about and understand the goals, benefits,
and uses of assessment. They know about and use systematic observations,
documentation, and other effective assessment strategies in a responsible way, in
partnership with families and other professionals, to positively influence the
development of every child. (NAEYC, 2010)

Brief Description of Evidence:

As part of my ECED 233 Emerging Literacy course in the spring of 2014, I assessed a
child on his concept of print. I let him choose a book and then asked him several
questions about it, such as the structure of the book, the difference between a word and
a letter, and other questions. Depending on the answers he gave me, I totaled his score
and then everything was tallied at the end and his final score told me if he was on track
for his age. I also used several other assessments to check fine motor skills.

Analysis of What I Learned:

As a result of completing this project, I learned that assessments are best done multiple
times on a consistent basis. If this is done properly, then one should see growth in the
childs development. If assessments are not done regularly then one might see growth
but there is the chance of a problem that could have easily been fixed, but was missed
due to lack of subsequent assessments. Unfortunately I was unable to do this
assessment multiple times with the same child.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC

Standard:
This artifact demonstrates my competence on the NAEYC Standard 3, Observing,
Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families, by demonstrating
that I am capable of observing a child while he works and documenting what I see while
using a specific type of assessment. After completing this assessment I worked with the
childs mother and teacher to set up a plan to help the child learn as well as reach the
same level as his classmates. I can use this form of assessment in my classroom in
future years quite easily. I believe that if I do this several times a year in my class, as
opposed to just the once with one child, I can help my students become better learners
and prevent potential problems my students my have.