Observing the Obvious

1. Observing the Obvious Authentic Math Assessments for Young Children

2. What the Experts Say • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics “Assessment should support the learning of important mathematics and furnish useful information to both teachers and students.” • National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

3. 2 Types of Informal Assessment • Anecdotal Notes • Portfolio Work Samples Photography

4. Anecdotal Notes • Observation of a child’s actions over time • Not just for assessment • Focus on the process and the product • Contains specific behaviors, not opinions • Beneficial for ELL students • Helps develop instruction to meet individual needs • Shows patterns of growth • Observe, Reflect, Plan – teacher move

5. Portfolios • “Tells the story of a student’s effort, progress, or achievement” (Preschool Policy Matters, July 2004) • Provide credible and meaningful evidence of a student’s learning • Work samples are not “best” work of a student. They are documents showing the process and product of curriculum objectives. • Student input is valuable • Offers a record of learning over time • Allows comparisons of growth for a student

6. Picturing Growth

7. More Growth. . .More Pictures

8. More Pictures

9. Work Samples

10. Work Samples

11. Work Samples

12. Use Assessment to Drive Instruction We all agree: • Children are unique • Children develop at different rates • Children learn differently • Brains have optimal windows open for developmental stages • It takes WORK to differentiate instruction!

13. Ways to Differentiate Instruction

14. Differentiating Instruction

15. Differentiating Instruction