DAP 5: Child Assessment
Overview
Children develop and progress at different rates, and their development and progress may follow different patterns. Understanding individual progress and rates of development helps to inform planning and implementing activities that encourage each child’s growth, development, and success.
Observation and other assessment methods, such as anecdotal records, portfolios, and checklists designed for or aligned with curriculum, are useful in monitoring children’s developmental progress. Information from various assessment tools can be used to adjust activities that offer new challenges and experiences and support children’s development, learning, and success.
Requirement
Levels 4 and 5:
School has a procedure for child assessment using tools designed for use with the curriculum, including formal and informal assessment measures, such as developmental checklists, Early Learning Assessment, portfolio development, and observation/anecdotal records.
Documentation to upload: Statement describing child assessment procedures
Build a Statement
Develop a statement about the school’s child assessment procedures. The Reflection Questions below will help you consider what the program does to capture it when creating your statement. After reflecting, you are ready to build your statement.
Reflection Questions
- How are child assessments conducted?
- Who conducts the assessments?
- How often are assessments conducted?
- What formal assessment tools are used?
- What informal assessment tools are used?
- How are the assessments or assessment tools aligned with the school’s curriculum?
After reflecting, you have the option to download and save the Child Assessment Procedures template to create your statement.
If you need more support writing your Child Assessment Statement, use Writers Tips and Prompts to find examples and get more guidance.
Next Steps
- Review the Materials Statement to ensure that it addresses all the required topics.
- Log into the Maryland EXCELS System to upload the program’s Child Assessment Procedures Statement.
- Submit for review.
Additional Resources
- Ready for Kindergarten (R4K) is Maryland’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Assessment System. Aligned with Maryland’s Early Learning Standards, R4K data informs planning to meet all children’s needs.
- Early Learning Assessment (ELA) is one of the two components of R4K, and this assessment measures the learning progress of young children across seven domains of learning.
