Mindes, G., & Jung, L. A. (2015). Assessing young children (5^th ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN 13: 978-0-13-351923-5

Paley, V. G. (2000). White teacher. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 13: 978-0-674-00273-9

Other required readings/articles will be provided within the course materials.  Please see the Resources and Materials page of the course.

Introduction to various facets of assessing young children, including considerations of children who represent cultural, cognitive, and linguistic differences. Evaluation and administration of assessment instruments and interpretation of results, and educational recommendations are included. Prerequisites: ED103 and concurrent enrollment in ED333 and ED337.  2 hours.

Upon successful completion of the course, each participant should be able to:

1. Explain the role of the early childhood educator in assessing children's development and developing appropriate education programs. *(CMU 3.a, 3.b, 3.c) (ECEC 4.1, 4.3, 6.4) (DESE Teacher Standards 7C1, 7C2, 7C3, 7C4, 7C5, 7C6)
2. Explain recommended state guidelines for screening, assessment, and educational programming. (CMU 3.a, 3.b, 3.c, 3.d, 5.a, 5.c, 5.d) (ECEC 7.1) (DESE Teacher Standards 1C1, 1C4, 1C5, 3C1, 7C1, 7C2, 7C3, 7C4, 7C5, 7C6)
3. Implement informal child study techniques to identify children's abilities in the areas of cognition, perceptual motor development, language (receptive and expressive), sociomoral development, etc. (CMU 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 3.a) (ECEC 4.1, 4.3) (DESE Teacher Standards 1C3, 2C3, 4C2, 7C1, 7C2, 7C3)
4. Review and analyze a constructivist approach for observation, assessment and instructional planning. (CMU 1.b, 1.c, 2.b, 3.a., 3.b., 3.c, 3.d) (ECEC 1.3, 4.1, 4.3, 6.4, 6.8) (DESE Teacher Standards 1C2, 1C3, 2C1, 2C5, 4C1, 4C2, 4C3, 7C1, 7C2, 7C3, 7C4, 7C5, 7C6)
5. Identify, review, and evaluate several formal assessment instruments most commonly used in early childhood education.(CMU 1.b) (ECEC 4.1, 4.3) (DESE Teacher Standards 4C2)
6. Develop educational programming founded on the integration of typical child development knowledge, child study techniques, and screening/assessment information.(CMU 1.b, 1.c, 3.a, 3.c, 3.d) (ECEC 1.4, 2.3, 4.1, 4.3, 6.4,.6.8) (DESE Teacher Standards 1C3, 2C1, 2C5, 4C2, 7C1, 7C2)
7. Communicate informal and formal observations of children's development, both orally and in writing, and design recommendations for programming to parents and other professionals.(CMU 4.a, 4.b, 4.c) (ECEC 3.2, 3.5, 4.2, 6.4) (DESE Teacher Standards 6C1, 6C2, 6C4)