I understand if there are obvious signs of a disability such as Downs Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy but on a whole I am not sure if an assessment is needed. Unless that assessment is going to be used by the teacher to guide his or her lessons. Which most are not unless the child fails.
In completing this assignment I looked up assessment in Africa and I came across an assessment used in the country of Malawi. This portion of the assessment is used to determine cognitive growth. I found this interesting because the article states that they developed an assessment tool based on their own culture.
In developing countries, poverty, poor health, and malnutrition are responsible for millions of children failing to reach their developmental potential. But because developmental assessment tools have mainly been designed and validated in western, developed countries, they contain many items that are alien to children in non-western cultures (for example, the use of knives and forks for eating and the use of specific gestures). They cannot, therefore, accurately assess whether a child living in, for example, a rural area of Africa, is developing normally. In this study, the researchers describe the creation and testing of a culturally appropriate developmental assessment tool for use in rural Africa—the Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT)—from a 162-item draft tool (MDAT Draft I) that they previously developed from Denver II, an assessment tool widely used in developed countries.
The Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT): The Creation, Validation, and Reliability of a Tool to Assess Child Development in Rural African Settings http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000273
Example of assessment.
Everything seems to be now based on an assessment of some sorts. However, we as educators know that sometimes children are labeled disabled and classified in school and it has an adverse effect on the child. So I have to honest I am not sure if all assessments are appropriated.
It is true that several factors do affect the ability of a child to attain its developmental potential. I believe all these factors should be put into consideration when intending to assess a child from a holistic view; these factors such as poor health, malnutrition tend to influence the physical, emotional, social and cognitive abilities of a child. How then do a child perform well given all these hindrances, definitely assessment of such child has to consider unique to his environment in order to ascertain the child’s learning abilities
ReplyDeleteI agree that not all assessments are appropriate and we need to act with caution when creating and implementing them. I liked the information on the country of Malawi. I think that we need to provide more assessment tools that are based around the values and culture that the child is living in.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your reluctance to use assessments at this age. In my school district we do an early childhood screening tool on all preschoolers before they enter a public preschool or kindergarten. It does take into account the child's age and attempts at getting a wide variety of information about the child. That being said I know parents say depending on their child's day or mood can cause quite a variety in the results. What I have seen though, is that many referred students are able to get intensive early intervention in order to better prepare them to be successful in school as we know more about their needs!
ReplyDeleteTarshia, I want to thank you for taking the time to share your vast information and experiences with us through your blog. I saw every post the time you took to contemplate and research important information and experiences and I really have appreciated that and feel that I have learned more of a variety that will benefit me in my leadership and the families I work with. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate everything you've done for me.
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