NAEYC Standard 3- Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children
and Families
Title of the Artifact: Child Study: Observation, Documentation & Assessment
Description of Artifact: The purpose of this assignment was to assess my ability to employ formal
and informal assessment procedures to gather child and family information in efforts to provide
meaningful programs and curriculum (Zvalo-Martyn). I completed this assignment for my ECED
398 class.
Key Element: 3a: Understanding the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment
How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area?
The Child Study assignment demonstrates my understanding of goals, benefits and uses of
assessments because I had the opportunity of conducting my own informal and formal
assessments and observing and documenting and understanding the importance of it all. The use
of assessments when used appropriately allows the teacher and child to benefit because you as a
educator can see a bigger picture of a child that allows you to see what the child knows or
doesn’t know and a child benefit because then they are able to get the need support to be
successful learner. With the information that is gathered a teacher can then apply her knowledge
to come up with appropriate goals and strategies to support that child in reaching those goals.
While conducting my observations for this assignment I was able to gather a variety of
documentation that included anecdotal records, work samples and a physical development check
list to name a few. The informal and formal assessments allowed be to see the strengths this child
has in Language and literacy as well as areas that she needs more support in. For example,
through the use of these strategies, I was able to come up with three recommendation or goals for
the child to support her in her learning focusing on physical development and English language
development. Without prior knowledge of what the child knows or doesn’t know I would have
not know that she needed more support in her English language development.
Key Element: 3b: knowing about and using observation, documentation, and other appropriate
assessment tools and approaches
How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area?
This artifact demonstrates my competence in this area because knowing about and using
observations, documentation and other appropriate assessment tools and approaches that allowed
me to get a better picture of the child’s capabilities and her strengths. I used various forms of
observations such as anecdotal records, learning stories, collected work samples, physical
checklist and a formal assessment on literacy and mathematics to see where the child was at in
varies domains of development such as physical development, social-emotional development,
mathematics, English language development, and language and literacy. My observations also
took place in various settings such as whole group, small group, individual instruction, child selected
activities and outdoor. Through the data I collected I was able to learn about this child’s interest,
thinking process and learning development as well as her strengths and area she needs more support in.
For example, while completing my formal assessment on mathematics I was able to see that the child is
able to count up to ten objects using a one-to-one correspondence correctly.
Key Element: 3c: Understanding and practicing responsible assessment to promote positive
outcomes for each child
How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area?
This artifact demonstrates my competence in this area because through my understanding and
use of various forms of observations that I conducted I was able to practice responsible
assessment implementation and interpretation of the data I collected to make three positive
recommendations to support the child’s learning development. Through various forms of
observations such as anecdotal records, learning stories, collected work samples, physical
checklist and a formal assessment on literacy and mathematics I got to see the child’s strengths
and area that she needs more support in varies domains of development and in a variety of
settings to learn about the child’s interest and learning development. Using what I learned about
the child’s interests, and learning development I was able to develop positive outcome
recommendations for a child.
Artifact Link:
Child Study
Reference:
Zvalo-Martyn, Julianne. "Week 8 Child Study." Google Docs. Google. Web. 10 Apr. 2021.
Title of Artifact: Infant/Toddler/Special Needs and Service Plan (ITSP) and Ages & Stages
Questionnaires (ASQ-3) & Parent Conference Sheet
Description of Artifact: The forms mention above are forms we used with families to get to
know their child’s needs, strengths, and areas they need support in with the families input
in it. These are forms we used at the center I was working at last. Due to confidentiality
purpose’s the forms I provided are blank and I no longer have access to filled out ones that
I have done myself with families.
Key Element: 3d: Knowing about assessment partnerships with families and with professional
colleagues
How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area?
I chose to attach these artifacts for key element 3d because to fill out these forms I had to partner
with the children’s families to get their input on information about their child. I had to also
partner with my supervisor and colleagues in different aspect that come with these
documents. Through these assessments we are able to have a starting point of what is
needed to support the family and child in the program. It allows us to provide a positive
supportive environment for children and their families. In the program I was working at
for children 2 weeks to 24 months upon enrolling into the program need to fill out an ITSP
with the supervisor and then every 3 months after that with the teacher in the classroom
any when any changes occurred regarding the child’s diet, feeding, toileting. The ITSP that
is filled out with the supervisor is a bit different from the one we the teachers fill out with
the families. The one the supervisor filles out with the families goes in to detail. In this
form we document health information, feeding information such as is the mother
breastfeeding, what kind of formula is the child drinking, how many ounces, how often are
they asking for a bottle, depending on the child’s age we also document, what baby cereal
parent use and what Gerber baby food they have given to their child; toileting information
depending on the child’s age if their in diaper, underwear or if they are potty trained and
sleeping information such as do they sleep on own for how long, do they pat them to sleep,
or rock them to sleep just depends on the age of child. The ITSP I have attached is the one
we as teacher fill out with families every 3 months and document any changes in health,
feeding, toileting, and sleep and any other concerns the families may have. There will be
times that we will have to update the ITSP before 3 months because the child may be
drinking more ounces, has started eating baby cereal & Gerber or table food, or the family
has requested to start potty training. We also document what our responsibility as staff in
the center and what the parent’s responsibility is at home. This assessment allows us with
the families input to provide a healthy, safe, and positive environment for their child from
day one which is very important for children’s development. At enrollment time with the
supervisor families are also receive the Ages & Stages Questionaries to fill out and are they
give to us the teachers to score and meet with families to discuss the results. These are
filled out once a year unless there are concerns then they will be done every 6 months until
no concerns are noted. The Ages & Stages Questionnaires ask question about skills a child
should be able to do depending on their age. The ASQ-3 questionnaire looks at
communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social. The
ASQ:SE-2 looks at social-emotional and question about skills and behavior will vary
depends on the age of the child. When meeting with the families to discuss about the
results of the questionnaires we discuss about the child’s development, child’s strengths,
and areas of concerns based on the result of the forms filled out by parents. We also
discuss any goals the parent may want for their child. When concerns are noted or if
parents had additional goals for their child, we then develop strategies that support those
areas of concern and goals to implement at the center and at home and rescreen child in 6
months to see if their skills improved or not. These documents set the tone for us in
supporting the child and family reach their needs and goals so that they can be successful.
The family is the first and most important teacher in a child’s life. There is nobody better
than them to tell us what they need for their child and themselves to be successful.
