Bridging
Assessment for Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms, PreK-3
- Jie-Qi Chen - Erikson Institute
- Gillian Dowley McNamee - Erikson Institute
Foreword by Samuel J. Meisels
The activities cover diverse curricular areas, including English and literacy, visual arts, mathematics, sciences, and performing arts. Each activity is described in terms of the standard components of early childhood curricula: (1) the key concepts and skills in specific content areas; (2) the materials, procedures, and strategies for implementation; and (3) extensions to further teaching opportunities
The assessment process provides information on what young children know, but in a context and format that give teachers the ability to adjust their instructional approach to improve children's learning opportunities.
"Blends holistic authentic assessment with purposeful, specific assessment experiences that are also child- and classroom-friendly."
"Unique in that it offers a way for teachers to examine both the content and the process of young children's learning. It also offers a more comprehensive assessment of the whole child by looking at multiple areas of skills and development."
"A unique and valuable offering to teachers interested in being lifelong learners. Places emphasis not only on assessment of content areas, but even more on the learning/teaching process and how to smoothly link the assessments to planning and implementing curriculum."
"Not only explains the reason for the assessment process, the research base, and current trends in assessment practices for early childhood, but also offers easy-to-use assessment tools that address the whole child."
"Fifteen activities across five curricular areas provide guidelines for 'bridging' observations of children to classroom teaching practices, helping teachers assess development, effective learning techniques, and helping them to predict future learning techniques and trends."