Overview of NJ ELAS

1. Overview of NJ ELAS

2. What is assessment? “Assessment is the basic process of finding our what the children in our classroom, individually and as a group, know and can do in relation to their optimum development and to the goals of the program.” McAffee, Leong, & Bodrova. (2004). Basics of Assessment. p. 3.

3. Purposes of Assessment • To support learning • To identify special needs • To evaluate programs and monitor trends • To make high stakes decisions

4. What is performance assessment? • Children are assessed in “real-life” situations • Documentation is collected as children work in their natural classroom environment • Teachers watch, listen, and talk with children and study the work they create

5. For young children, assessment • is an ongoing process of gathering evidence in order to make informed decisions • relies on different types of information from multiple sources

6. ASSESSMENT = 2PROCESSES • Documentation • data or evidence • Evaluation • comparing documentation to a standard

7. Effective assessment enhances teaching and learning Assessment helps teachers to: • Respond more easily to children • Make more productive instructional decisions • Meet more of children’s special needs • Identify the most appropriate learning experiences for children

8. What is the NJ ELAS? • a performance-based assessment system • for children age three through kindergarten • ongoing • curriculum-embedded • supports children’s learning

9. The Purposes: Helps teachers observe children in the natural preschool/kindergarten environment on a regular basis, collect samples of work, and record observations (throughout the year) Provides individualized child info that helps: • Adjust the learning environment • Get an accurate and meaningful picture of the child’s progress • Inform teaching and support learning • finds out what children know and can do (strengths, interests, areas of concern) • uses documentation to plan curriculum and make instructional decisions

10. NJ ELAS has 4 parts: • Age by Age Accomplishments • Documentation Forms • Child Folio • Child Profile

11. Age by Age Accomplishments • based on the NJ Preschool Teaching & Learning Expectations: Standards of Quality, and NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards • provides criteria for evaluation • organized by program (pre-k, and kindergarten) • describes levels of performance (anchors) • uses a continuous mastery continuum from emergent to competent • each expectation/standard has • questions to guide your observations • levels (emergent to competent) • “ways to look”

12. Documentation Forms • Anecdote Form • Work Sample Form • Literacy Prompt Form • Class Matrix

13. How do teachers use NJ ELAS? • Observe and document children’s learning • Daily (3-5 children per day) • During everyday classroom activities and routines • Collect, organize and reflect on documentation • During 3 collection periods • Approximately 2 and a half months • Interpret, compare and evaluate the documentation • Using the Age by Age Accomplishments • Record on the Child Profile