Monday October 24, 2016

Practicum Journal Entry #7: Student Assessment

Over the past couple of practicum days I noticed my TA taking one student away
at a time, and working with them one on one. I learned today about the assessment she
has been doing, and what types of things are included and assessed in a kindergarten
class.
My TA has been testing a new type of assessment this year called Early Years
Evaluation. I was able to see an outline of this assessment, and witness some evaluation
going on in the classroom today. There are a few different categories to the testing which
include some basics like being able to identify letters in the alphabet, categorizing
objects, identifying the purpose of an object, and more. Most of these seemed normal and
unsurprising. However, there was also a physical category, which I found very
interesting. Some of the activities in the physical category include being able to balance
on one foot for eight seconds, and the childs ability to do a two foot skip. (For this they
were evaluated on how well they skipped down the hallway.) I know when I was younger
I did have a separate gym class and was assessed in it, but these activities were surprising
to me. My TA mentioned today that the people behind this testing are claiming there is a
correlation between a developed core and the childs ability to read. When I first heard
this it sounded ridiculous to me, but I am very eager to see how it plays out in the
classroom I am in, and if this is the case with the kindergarteners I have been working
with.