As an educator, I am required to administer benchmark assessments that measure academic growth throughout the school year. These assessments are not developmentally appropriate and do not measure the whole child. In an attempt to assess a child holistically, growth in all domains should be measured. Standardized testing results can be misleading. A child that has mastered the skills being assessed might be having a rough day (IE. tired, sick,) or may experience test anxiety and "fail" the test. In my particular classroom, where the students are native Spanish speakers, the children don't understand the directions and would benefit and be better able to show their knowledge if the directions were administered in their native language. I use informal assessment through observation and this gives me a better idea of where my children are at academically, socially and emotionally.
In Canada, a multi dimensional assessment of children in the state welfare system has begun. Children are measured in the areas of health, education, family and social relationships, identity, social presentation skills and emotional and behavioral development. I found this to be very interesting. Agencies, teachers and schools work together to assess the WHOLE child in order to gain information and provide programs that can best meet the individual needs. I think this initiative is a model that should be used not only for children in the welfare system but for all school age children. It is a multidimensional measure that I feel can provide a wealth of information about the whole child. As a teacher, the information collected from all of the above mentioned areas would be of great assistance in getting to know my students and enabling me to better meet his/her needs.
Resources:
childindicators.org/docs/61.ppt
