When I Think of Child Development

When I think of child development I think about the potential each child has to grow and develop to his/her full potential. In this video, Vivian Gussin Paley does a beautiful job explaining the importance of allowing children to develop through imaginative play. She also explains the enormous role each parent and educator has in helping our children to feel loved and valued. When a child is loved and supported, his/her future is full of endless opportunities!

Child Assessment

What is the most effective way to measure children’s minds and abilities? The answer to that question is widely debated. In the United States, standardized tests are frequently used to measure children’s academic achievement. However, many experts believe that standardized testing does not effectively measure whole child development.

According to Edutopia:

“A knowledge-based, highly technological economy requires that students master higher-order thinking skills and that they are able to see the relationships among seemingly diverse concepts. These abilities -- recall, analysis, comparison, inference, and evaluation -- will be the skills of a literate twenty-first-century citizen. And they are the kinds of skills that aren't measured by our current high-stakes tests. In addition, skills such as teamwork, collaboration, and moral character -- traits that aren't measured in a typical standardized tests -- are increasingly important. Businesses are always looking for employees with people skills and the ability to get along well with coworkers.”

I agree that assessing skills such as teamwork and collaboration could positively benefit our young children. Rather than focusing on standardized testing, there are other methods that could better measure the “whole child.” Performance based assessments allow children to do tasks that are meaningful and engaging. Some schools include student portfolios and presentations to measure student understanding. Rather than filling in the circles to multiple choice tests, students should be able to build, invent or lead a presentation to show what they know.

School-aged children around the world are assessed in different ways. I was curious of how students in Singapore have been assessed. The main purpose of testing in Singapore is determine student placement within their education system. The students are often required to memorize a large amount of information. Students here want to do well in their national exams which will greatly affect their futures. In Singapore, the top performing schools receive cash awards. This award is a big incentive for teachers.

Just tonight, I was reading in the newspaper about some schools in Dakota County (in Minnesota) that are experimenting with new school models.  These schools are using project-based learning which will allow students to progress at their own pace. In this article, a school board member named Tera Lee said “Let’s figure out how we can meet the need of students for the world we live in – not the world of 100 years ago.” Children in these schools are not grouped by age, but by academic needs.

I would love to visit one of these schools to learn more about this model of learning. I love to see schools moving away from the traditional school model as they learn how they can best meet students’ needs. 

Resources

http://www.edutopia.org/comprehensive-assessment-introduction

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/196021/chapters/What_is_Performance-Based_Learning_and_Assessment,_and_Why_is_it_Important%C2%A2.aspx

http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/SED610/Leadership/Leadership%20Reader/Assessment%20Around%20the%20World.pdf

Magan, C. (2013, December 8). Reinventing the classroom. Pioneer Press, pp. A1, A8.