Standard #3 Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families

This standard connects with again the development of a child. Observation is more than just
observing a child, its used as an assessment tool to understand where a child is in their
academic career revealing their strengths and weaknesses. Observation directs an educator to
how we can better prepare the child developmentally. Assessing is also a great tool to use to
communicate with families engaging their support where needed.
In order to gain a more complete understanding of the many values of assessment tools I had
to become better acquainted with these tools. In order to meet that end, I utilized one of these
tools taught in CHD 165, a Physical Development Checklist, on a four year-old male. This
Physical Development Checklist assessed the development of fine motor skills in young
children. For each milestone listed I was to determine whether the child met the milestone
Usually, whether this skill was Emerging, whether the skill was Not Yet utilized, or finally
whether the skill was Not Observed. I noted my observations along with the date. Through
using this assessment tool I very rapidly came to understand a few of the great benefits these
tools provide.
Performing basic assessments at the start of a school year allows me to better understand each
childs strengths and weaknesses while simultaneously identifying possible obstacles to
learning. In addition assessments allow me, as an educator, to identify gaps in a students
knowledge base whether due to learning differences or simply a transfer from another school.
By employing assessment tools I, as an educator, am better prepared to address the needs of
each of my students as individuals, thus ensuring that, truly, no child is left behind. One of the
great benefits of assessment tools is that they grant the teacher an opportunity to understand
any potential obstacles to learning and any possible learning differences than a student may
face which, if exposed in a group setting, could cause humiliation and stall the learning process.
I plan to use assessment tools to better understand the needs of each of my students so that I
dont unintentionally expose any childs differences in a way that demeans them. If, for
example, an assessment tool demonstrates that a certain child struggles to pour liquid without
spilling I then know that we not only need to work on developing that skill, but that I should not
request that that child pour the water at snack time without assistance, thus setting that child
up for failure and halting the learning process.