Shanker Blog » The Challenges Of Pre-K Assessment - 0 views
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Jeff Bernstein on 07 Apr 12First, it should be noted that researchers are almost unanimous in their caution about this subject. There are inherent difficulties in the accurate assessment of very young children's learning in the fields of language, cognition, socio-emotional development, and even physical development. Young children's attention spans tend to be short and there are wide, natural variations in children's performance in any given domain and on any given day. Thus, great care is advised for both the design and implementation of such assessments (see here, here, and here for examples). The question of if and how to use these student assessments to determine program or staff effectiveness is even more difficult and controversial (for instance, here and here). Nevertheless, many states are already using various forms of assessment to oversee their preschool investments.