PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

The Use of Portfolio Assessment in Early Childhood Settings



The Use of Portfolio Assessment in Early Childhood Settings

Introduction

The significance and importance of assessment in early childhood education has never been as integral to the accountability of the field as it is today. With the passing of P.L 107-110 (the No Child Left behind Act of 2001), assessment of children's learning is in the forefront of the minds of school administrators, teachers, policy makers, and parents. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the passing of the No Child Left behind Act of 2001 will result in “the creation of assessments in each state that measure what children know and learn in reading and math. Student progress and achievement will be measured according to tests that will be given to every child, every year” (Wortham, 2001).

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, ongoing assessment of children's learning in early childhood education should occur primarily to determine children's curricular needs. The early childhood curriculum should be modified to match the strengths and needs of each child based on the information gleaned from the assessment data. This assessment goal may be in conflict with the stated goal of P.L. 107-110 (Shin, 2001).

When one thinks of assessment, one often thinks of the paper and pencil tests that were pervasive in their own schooling. Although this type of assessment practice may provide valid information about older children's learning, these methods are often problematic in assessing younger children's current performance status or progress. According to Gullo, the problem stems from the mismatch between the young child's developmental capabilities and the performance expected in various paper-and-pencil assessment formats as well as the mismatch between the content and strategies assessed and the content and strategies emphasized in the early childhood curriculum (Klein, 2000).

In its policy statement, NAEYC states that early childhood assessment practices should reflect and take into account children's level of developmental capabilities and performance. Early childhood professionals agree that the developmental characteristics of young children may affect their behaviour in response to assessment procedures and outcomes. These include developmental limitations in areas such as language, cognitive, and physical responses, motivational differences, children's perceptions of their performance, and their ability to generalize knowledge from one context to another.

With regard to the curriculum, the process of assessment should be consistent with the manner in which the curriculum is viewed by the early childhood education profession. Two implications are suggested related to the relationship between curriculum and assessment. First, children should be assessed within the context of the classroom as they are engaged in meaningful curriculum activities. Second, the primary purpose of assessment is to inform practice. Assessment findings should suggest to teachers how the curriculum is working for individual children (Foremen, 2000).

Given the relationship between the child's development and assessment and between curriculum practice and assessment, conventional paper-and-pencil assessment procedures are con-traindicated for children within the early childhood age span. The results of these types of assessments often do not yield the kinds ...