Running Head: CHILD STUDY: OBSERVATION, DOCUMENTATION & ASSESSMENT

Child Study: Observation, Documentation & Assessment

Megan Grable

Brandman University

Intentional Reflective Teacher

ECED 398

Professor McFerran

February 14, 2020

CHILD STUDY: OBSERVATION, DOCUMENTATION & ASSESSMENT

Initial Description

I selected to work with LV. She is an energetic and happy one-year-old girl, who attends

the Marion Forsman Boushie Early Learning Center in their Early Head Start Program. She often

will nonverbally ask teachers to read books to her and will sit and listen to several of the same

stories in one sitting. She is currently working on learning how to jump up and will practice

several times a day. She has a few preferred playmates that she engages with more than others.

From the information given by the teachers and her mother, she will sleep well at school but

likes to get up very early when at home. She will often engage in songs and art activities when

they are available. LV is the youngest of four children, she has three older brothers ages 14, 6,

and 3. She is the only girl in her family. The family lives in the next town over in a single-family

home. All three of her older brothers received speech services when they attended the Early

Learning Center previously. Her mother is an early Head Start Teacher in a different classroom

and her father works on the local Naval Base. I selected this child because I already had a

relationship with the mother and felt comfortable asking her if I could do my study on her. In

addition, the teacher mentioned to me that mom was concerned that LV may have a speech

delay, similar to her older brothers.

Methods

I used a variety of observation and assessment methods while studying LV. I looked at

these observations through the lens of the Creative Curriculum for Preschool Developmental

Continuum Assessment which in 2011 was recreated into an assessment tool, Teaching

Strategies Gold, for birth to early school age. On the website for Teaching Strategies Gold, they

talk about what the continuum looks like now, “Our objectives for development and learning
CHILD STUDY: OBSERVATION, DOCUMENTATION & ASSESSMENT

span from birth through third grade. They enable teachers to see children’s development and

learning along a progression across the whole of the early childhood years.” (TS Gold, 2011)

Over 38 objectives, the teacher can track where children are in ten different domains of

development; Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy, Mathematics, Science

and Technology, Social Studies, Arts.

I used a variety of observation methods. I completed a learning story of LV, which

allowed me to see all the different skills she was mastering during one singular activity and how

many domains of development she was strengthening. My favorite to use is anecdotal records.

Taking a small snippet of a child’s day and looking at exactly what the child is doing at that

moment and what that means for the child’s development. I also took pictures of LV as she

engaged in activities, as well as samples of her work with writing and art. I completed a checklist

for her physical development using the TS Gold on-the-spot form which looked at Traveling,

Balancing, Gross Motor Manipulations, Use of Fingers and Hands, and Use of Writing and

Drawing Tools as well as the Physical Child development Checklist which is more

comprehensive. In the book, The Intentional Teacher, Epstein talks of how we must use a variety

of assessment tools, “Effective Teachers know how to collect, administer, interpret and apply the

results of assessments as they plan learning experiences for individual children and the class as a

whole, and to monitor individual and group progress.” (Epstein, pp. 7) In the framework of TS

Gold, I will be focusing on her Physical, Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Social-Emotional

and Scientific Development.

Analysis (2-3 pages)

CHILD STUDY: OBSERVATION, DOCUMENTATION & ASSESSMENT

Use the data you collected to describe what you learned about the child and the child’s

learning. Be sure to address the child’s strengths in Physical Development, Social/Emotional

Development and THREE other learning domains. Compare their strengths to the CA Learning

Foundations in each domain.

Use Level two headings to format each of your 5 learning domain sections. Example:

Physical Development

This child had the following strengths in physical development….

Social-Emotional Development

This child had the following strengths in physical development….

Mathematics Development

This child had the following strengths in physical development….

Scientific Development

This child had the following strengths in physical development….

Langauge and Literacy

This child had the following strengths in physical development….

Recommendations (1-2 pages)

Based on your analysis, guidance from the CA Curriculum Frameworks, strategies from

the Epstein text, other resources and best practices, you will write at least three recommendations

according to the instructions. Use a minimum of three paragraphs and format each

recommendation with a level 2 heading.

CHILD STUDY: OBSERVATION, DOCUMENTATION & ASSESSMENT

Recommendation 1

Recommendation 2

Recommendation 3

Reflection (1 page)

Reflect on your learning from this investigation. Be sure to include the following level 2

headings.

What I have learned about collecting data about children’s progress

What I have learned about analyzing data

What I have learned about making data-based decisions to guide children’s learning

What you have learned about your own interests, skills and knowledge

Artifacts (multiple pages)

In this section, include the following. Be sure to eliminate any information that may reveal this
child’s identity. Label each artifact and provide a brief explanation.

● Anecdotal records and learning stories across settings and domains

● Work samples
● At least one checklist; provide a brief explanation of the checklist
● At least one formal assessment; provide a brief explanation of the assessment

You may have to insert scans, photos or pdfs into this section. You may have to copy and paste.
Just be sure that your scans and photos are large enough to be read.
CHILD STUDY: OBSERVATION, DOCUMENTATION & ASSESSMENT

References

Epstein, A. S. (2014). The Intentional Teacher: Choosing The Best Strategies For Young
Children’s Learning. Washington (D.C.): National Association for the Education of
Young Children.

Our 38 Objectives. (2011.). Retrieved from https://teachingstrategies.com/our-

approach/our-38-objectives/

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,

volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,

volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,

volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy