Experts tell us that young children should be assessed “appropriately” or “developmentally," but what does that mean?  It can mean using performance assessments like portfolios rather than paper and pencil tests. These brief articles offer practical information on meaningful assessment methods for early childhood classrooms.

The Portfolio and Its Use: Developmentally Appropriate Assessment of Young Children

by Cathy Grace

The subject of children's achievement and performance in school, and even before school, has received increasing public attention during the latter 1980s and early 1990s. A general consensus for assessment reform is reflected by the volume and variety of professional literature on various methods of assessment and the number of states that are seeking alternative means to evaluate students.

Educators use the term authentic assessment to define the practice of realistic student involvement in evaluation of their own achievements. Authentic assessments are performance-based, realistic, and instructionally appropriate (Pett, 1990). One method of authentic assessment is to assemble and review a portfolio of the child's work.

The portfolio is a record of the child's process of learning: what the child has learned and how she has gone about learning; how she thinks, questions, analyzes, synthesizes, produces, creates; and how she interacts—intellectually, emotionally and socially—with others. Arter and Spandel (1991) define the portfolio as a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits to the student, or others, her efforts or achievement in one or more areas. According to Meisels and Steele (1991), portfolios enable children to participate in assessing their own work; keep track of individual children's progress; and provide a basis for evaluating the quality of individual children's overall performance. Wide use of portfolios can stimulate a shift in classroom practices and education policies toward schooling that more fully meets the range of children's developmental needs.

Components of the Young Child's Portfolio

The portfolio can include work samples, records of various forms of systematic observation, and screening tests. Engel (1990)  emphasizes that "work samples meet the need for accountability while recognizing and supporting individual progress." They keep track of a child's progress—in other words, they follow the child's success rather than his failure. Teachers and parents can follow children's progress by reviewing children's writings, drawings, logs of books read by or to them, videos or photographs of large projects, tape recordings of the children reading or dictating stories, and so forth.

During systematic observation, young children should be observed when they are playing alone, in small groups, in large groups, at various times of day and in various circumstances. Systematic observation must be objective, selective, unobtrusive, and carefully recorded (Bertrand and Cebula, 1980). Ideally, a portfolio includes observations in several or all of the following forms:

Anecdotal records. Anecdotal records are factual, nonjudgmental notes of children's activity (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1991). They are most useful for recording spontaneous events. They should be cumulative, revealing insights about the child's progress when they are reviewed sequentially.

Checklist or inventory. The checklist or inventory is one of the easiest tools for recording children's progress. It should be based on instructional objectives and the development associated with the acquisition of the skills being monitored. In general, observations should be based on regular activities, not on specially designed or contrived activities.

Rating scales. Rating scales are appropriately used when the behavior to be observed has several aspects or components, such as a child's success at following directions in different situations.

Questions and requests. One of the most effective and easiest means of gathering information is to ask direct, open-ended questions of individual children. Open-ended requests such as, "I'd like you to tell me about this," elicit samples of the child's expressive language ability. Asking children about their activities also often yields insights into why they behave as they do.

Screening tests. Screening tests are used to help identify the skills and strengths that children already possess so that teachers can plan meaningful learning experiences for their students. Findings of screening tests and developmental scales should be considered with work samples and other, more subjective, material that the teacher assembles in portfolios. The assessment information revealed by such instruments is not appropriately used for grading, labeling, grouping, or retaining children.

Portfolio Authenticity

Decisions about what items to place in a portfolio should be based on the purpose of the portfolio. Without a purpose, a portfolio is just a folder of student work. The portfolio exists to make sense of children's work, to communicate about their work, and to relate the work to a larger context (Arter and Paulson, 1991; Paulson and Paulson, 1991). According to Murphy and Smith (1990), portfolios can be intended to motivate students, to promote learning through reflection and self-assessment, and to be used in evaluations of students' thinking and writing processes.

In early childhood education, portfolios should contain a statement of purpose and a wide variety of work samples, including successive drafts of work on particular projects. Children should be involved in choosing items to preserve so that they can analyze their work themselves.

Using the Portfolio in Evaluation

The material in a portfolio should be organized by chronological order and category. Since all information in the portfolio is dated, arranging the work samples, interviews, checklist, inventories, screening test results, and other information should be simple. Meisels and Steele (1991) suggest further organizing the material according to curriculum area or category of development (cognitive, gross motor, fine motor, and so forth).

Once the portfolio is organized, the teacher can evaluate the child's achievements. Appropriate evaluation always compares the child's current work to her earlier work. This evaluation should indicate the child's progress toward a standard of performance that is consistent with the teacher's curriculum and appropriate developmental expectations. Portfolios are not meant to be used for comparing children to each other. They are used to document individual children's progress over time. The teacher's conclusions about a child's achievement, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and needs should be based on the full range of that child's development, as documented by the data in the portfolio, and on the teacher's knowledge of curriculum and stages of development.

The use of portfolios to assess young children provides teachers with a built-in system for planning parent-teacher conferences. With the portfolio as the basis for discussion, the teacher and parent can review concrete examples of the child's work, rather than trying to discuss the child's progress in the abstract.

Conclusion

Appropriate assessment of young children should involve the children themselves, parents, and teachers. The portfolio method promotes a shared approach to making decisions that will affect children's attitudes toward work and school in general. It frees the teacher from the constraints of standardized tests. Finally, using portfolios in assessment allows teachers to expand the classroom horizon and enlarge each child's canvas. Thus, the teacher can focus on the child and develop an intimate and enduring relationship with him.

For More Information

Arter, J., and Paulson, P. Composite Portfolio Work Group Summaries. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1991.

Arter, J., and Spandel, V. Using Portfolios of Student Work in Instruction and Assessment. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1991.

Bertrand, A., and Cebula, J. Tests, Measurements, and Evaluation: A Developmental Approach. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1980.

Engel, B. "An Approach to Assessment in Early Literacy." In C. Kamii (Ed.), Achievement Testing in the Early Grades: The Games Grown-ups Play. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1990. ED 314 207.

Grace, C., and Shores, E.F. The Portfolio and Its Use: Developmentally Appropriate Assessment of Young Children. Little Rock, AR: Southern Early Childhood Association, 1991.

Meisels, S., and Steele, D. The Early Childhood Portfolio Collection Process. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, 1991.

Murphy, S., and Smith, M.A. "Talking about Portfolios." The Quarterly of the National Writing Project. 12 (Spring, 1990): 1-3, 24-27. EJ 429 792.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Alternative Program Evaluation Ideas for Early Childhood Programs. Portland, OR: Author, 1991.

Paulson, P., and Paulson, L. "Portfolios: Stories of Knowing." In Claremont Reading Conference 55th Yearbook. Knowing: The Power of Stories. Claremont, CA: Center for Developmental Studies of the Claremont Graduate School, 1991. ED 308 495.

Pett, J. "What is Authentic Evaluation? Common Questions and Answers." Fair Test Examiner 4 (1990): 8-9.

Other Resources

Calkins, A. (1991). Juneau Integrated Language Arts Portfolio for Grade 1. Juneau, AK: Juneau Borough School District, 10014 Crazy Horse Dr.

Koppert, J. (1991). Primary Performance Assessment Portfolio. Mountain Village, AK: Lower Yukon School District, P.O. Box 32089.

Mathews, J. (February, 1990). From Computer Management to Portfolio Assessment. The Reading Teacher, pp. 420-21.

Paulson, P.R. (1991). Pilot Composite Portfolio: Developmental Kindergarten. Beaverton, OR: Beaverton, OR: Beaverton School District, P.O. Box 200.

Villano, J. & Henderson, M.C. (1990). Integrated Language Arts Portfolio. Fairbanks, AK: Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, P.O. Box 1250, Fairbanks, AK, 99707.

This publication was funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. OERI 88-062012. Opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

Practical Ideas on Alternative Assessment for ESL Students

Many educators have come to recognize that alternative assessments are an important means of gaining a dynamic picture of students' academic and linguistic development. "Alternative assessment refers to procedures and techniques which can be used within the context of instruction and can be easily incorporated into the daily activities of the school or classroom" (Hamayan, 1995, p. 213). It is particularly useful with English as a second language students because it employs strategies that ask students to show what they can do. In contrast to traditional testing, "students are evaluated on what they integrate and produce rather than on what they are able to recall and reproduce" (Huerta-Macias, 1995, p. 9). Although there is no single definition of alternative assessment, the main goal is to "gather evidence about how students are approaching, processing, and completing real-life tasks in a particular domain" (Huerta-Macias, 1995, p. 9). Alternative assessments generally meet the following criteria:

* Focus is on documenting individual student growth over time, rather than comparing students with one another.

* Emphasis is on students' strengths (what they know), rather than weaknesses (what they don't know).

* Consideration is given to the learning styles, language proficiencies, cultural and educational backgrounds, and grade levels of students.

Alternative assessment includes a variety of measures that can be adapted for different situations. This Digest provides examples of measures that are well suited for assessing ESL students.

                          NONVERBAL ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

"Physical Demonstration." To express academic concepts without speech, students can point or use other gestures. They can also be asked to perform hands-on tasks or to act out vocabulary, concepts, or events. As a comprehension check in a unit on Native Americans, for example, teachers can ask students to respond with thumbs up, thumbs down, or other nonverbal signs to true or false statements or to indicate whether the teacher has grouped illustrations (of homes, food, environment, clothing, etc.) under the correct tribe name. The teacher can use a checklist to record student responses over time.

"Pictorial Products." To elicit content knowledge without requiring students to speak or write, teachers can ask students to produce and manipulate drawings, dioramas, models, graphs, and charts. When studying Colonial America, for example, teachers can give students a map of the colonies and labels with the names of the colonies. Students can then attempt to place the labels in the appropriate locations. This labeling activity can be used across the curriculum with diagrams, webs, and illustrations.

To culminate a unit on butterflies, teachers can ask beginning ESL students to illustrate, rather than explain, the life cycle of butterflies. Students can point to different parts of a butterfly on their own drawing or on a diagram as an assessment of vocabulary retention. Pictorial journals can be kept during the unit to record observations of the butterflies in the classroom or to illustrate comprehension of classroom material about types of butterflies, their habitats, and their characteristics.

                                        K-W-L CHARTS

Many teachers have success using K-W-L charts (what I know/what I want to know/what I've learned) to begin and end a unit of study, particularly in social studies and science. Before the unit, this strategy enables teachers to gain an awareness of students' background knowledge and interests. Afterward, it helps teachers assess the content material learned. K-W-L charts can be developed as a class activity or on an individual basis. For students with limited English proficiency, the chart can be completed in the first language or with illustrations.

Sample K-W-L Chart

K

Lincoln was important.

His face is on a penny.

He's dead now.

I think Lincoln was a President.

He was a tall person.

W

Why is Lincoln famous?

Was he a good President?

Why is he on a penny?

Did he have a family?

How did he die?

L

Lincoln was President of the U.S.

He was the 16th President.

There was a war in America when Lincoln was President.

He let the slaves go free.

Two of his sons died while he was still alive.

Before a unit of study, teachers can have students fill in the K and W columns by asking them what they know about the topic and what they would like to know by the end of the unit. This helps to keep students focused and interested during the unit and gives them a sense of accomplishment when they fill in the L column following the unit and realize that they have learned something.

                        ORAL PERFORMANCES OR PRESENTATIONS

Performance-based assessments include interviews, oral reports, role plays, describing, explaining, summarizing, retelling,  paraphrasing stories or text material, and so on. Oral assessments should be conducted on an ongoing basis to monitor comprehension and thinking skills.

When conducting interviews in English with students in the early stages of language development to determine English proficiency and content knowledge, teachers are advised to use visual cues as much as possible and allow for a minimal amount of English in the responses. Pierce and O'Malley (1992) suggest having students choose one or two pictures they would like to talk about and leading the students by asking questions, especially ones that elicit the use of academic language (comparing, explaining, describing, analyzing, hypothesizing, etc.) and vocabulary pertinent to the topic.

Role plays can be used across the curriculum with all grade levels and with any number of people. For example, a teacher can take on the role of a character who knows less than the students about a particular subject area. Students are motivated to convey facts or information prompted by questions from the character. This is a fun-filled way for a teacher to conduct informal assessments of students' knowledge in any subject (Kelner, 1993).

Teachers can also ask students to use role play to express mathematical concepts. For example, a group of students can become a numerator, a denominator, a fraction line, a proper fraction, an improper fraction, and an equivalent fraction.

Speaking in the first person, students can introduce themselves and their functions in relationship to one another (Kelner, 1993). Role plays can also be used in science to demonstrate concepts such as the life cycle.

In addition, role plays can serve as an alternative to traditional book reports. Students can transform themselves into a character or object from the book (Kelner, 1993). For example, a student might become Christopher Columbus, one of his sailors, or a mouse on the ship, and tell the story from that character's point of view. The other students can write interview questions to pose to the various characters.

                              ORAL AND WRITTEN PRODUCTS

Some of the oral and written products useful for assessing ESL students' progress are content area thinking and learning logs, reading response logs, writing assignments (both structured and creative), dialogue journals, and audio or video cassettes.

"Content area logs" are designed to encourage the use of metacognitive strategies when students read expository text. Entries can be made on a form with these two headings: What I Understood/What I Didn't Understand (ideas or vocabulary).

"Reading response logs" are used for students' written responses or reactions to a piece of literature. Students may respond to questions—some generic, some specific to the literature—that encourage critical thinking, or they may copy a brief text on one side of the page and write their reflections on the text on the other side.

Beginning ESL students often experience success when an expository "writing assignment" is controlled or structured. The teacher can guide students through a pre-writing stage, which includes discussion, brainstorming, webbing, outlining, and so on.

The results of pre-writing, as well as the independently written product, can be assessed.

Student writing is often motivated by content themes. Narrative stories from characters' perspectives (e.g., a sailor accompanying Christopher Columbus, an Indian who met the Pilgrims, a drop of water in the water cycle, etc.) would be valuable inclusions in a student's writing portfolio.

"Dialogue journals" provide a means of interactive, ongoing correspondence between students and teachers. Students determine the choice of topics and participate at their level of English language proficiency. Beginners can draw pictures that can be labeled by the teacher.

"Audio and video cassettes" can be made of student oral readings, presentations, dramatics, interviews, or conferences (with teacher or peers).

                                         PORTFOLIOS

Portfolios are used to collect samples of student work over time to track student development. Tierney, Carter, and Desai (1991) suggest that, among other things, teachers do the following: maintain anecdotal records from their reviews of portfolios and from regularly scheduled conferences with students about the work in their portfolios; keep checklists that link portfolio work with criteria that they consider integral to the type of work being collected; and devise continua of descriptors to plot student achievement. Whatever methods teachers choose, they should reflect with students on their work, to develop students' ability to critique their own progress.

The following types of materials can be included in a portfolio:

Audio- and videotaped recordings of readings or oral presentations.

Writing samples such as dialogue journal entries, book reports, writing assignments (drafts or final copies), reading log entries, or other writing projects.

Art work such as pictures, drawings, graphs, and charts.

Conference or interview notes and anecdotal records.

Checklists (by teacher, peers, or student).

Tests and quizzes.

To gain multiple perspectives on students' academic development, it is important for teachers to include more than one type of material in the portfolio.

                                         CONCLUSION

Alternative assessment holds great promise for ESL students. Although the challenge to modify existing methods of assessment and to develop new approaches is not an easy one, the benefits for both teachers and students are great. The ideas and models presented here are intended to be adaptable, practical, and realistic for teachers who are dedicated to creating meaningful and effective assessment experiences for ESL students.

                                         REFERENCES

Hamayan, E.V. (1995). Approaches to alternative assessment. "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics," 15, 212-226.

Huerta-Macias, A. (1995). Alternative assessment: Responses to commonly asked questions. "TESOL Journal," 5, 8-10.

Kelner, L.B. (1993). "The creative classroom: A guide for using creative drama in the classroom, preK-6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pierce, L.V., & O'Malley, J.M. (1992)."Performance and portfolio assessment for language minority students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

Tierney, R.J., Carter, M.A., & Desai, L.E. (1991). "Portfolio assessment in the reading-writing classroom." Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon.

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This is an ERIC Digest, developed with funding from OERI.  It is in the public domain.

This article discusses observation as a part of assessment.  

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