How Do You Assess a Student’s Progress in Preschool?

At Stepping Stones Child Care, we believe that ongoing assessment is key to ensuring that every child is making progress and meeting developmental milestones. But what exactly is childhood assessment? And why is it so important? In this blog post, we’ll answer those questions and more. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about assessing your child’s progress in preschool.

Methods for Assessment

There are a few different methods that educators use to assess a child’s progress in preschool. These include observations, portfolios, educator ratings, parent ratings, and standardized tests. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

Observations

Observations are just what they sound like–educators observing children as they go about their daily activities. This could be during free play, while they’re working on a project, or during circle time. Observations can help educators identify strengths and interests, as well as areas where a child might need some additional support.

Portfolios

Portfolios are another way that educators can keep track of a child’s progress. A portfolio is basically a collection of work that a child has done over the course of their time in preschool. This could include art projects, writing samples, photographs, and anything else that captures what the child has been learning. Portfolios give parents and guardians an up-close look at what their child has been doing while they’re in our care.

Educator Ratings

Educator ratings are another method of assessment that is sometimes used in preschools. This type of assessment usually happens at the end of the year and involves educators rating each child on things like social skills, reading skills, and math skills. These ratings can be helpful for identifying areas where children might need more support.

Parent Ratings

Parent ratings are like educator ratings, but as you might guess, they involve parents rating their child’s progress instead of educators. These ratings usually happen at the end of the year and can give parents an idea of how their child is doing compared to other children their age.

Standardized Tests

Standardized tests are yet another way to assess a child’s progress in preschool. These tests are usually given at the beginning and end of the school year and involve things like reading comprehension and math skills. Standardized tests can give educators an idea of how much progress a child has made over the course of the year.

Assessment Tools

One of the preschool assessment tools that we use here at Stepping Stones is something called AIM observational Assessment for birth to age 5.  It is designed to support teachers in making data-driven instructional decisions to guide children toward kindergarten readiness.  This assessment provides a focus on knowledge and skills that emerge at infancy or toddlerhood, grow in complexity, and are essential for kindergarten readiness.   With the AIM observational tool, teachers collect evidence of children’s progress through observational data and artifacts.

Choose Stepping Stones Child Care Today!

As you can see, ongoing assessment is essential to ensuring that every child is making progress in preschool. If you have any questions about how we assess students at Stepping Stones Child Care in The Woodlands, TX, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our experienced educators would be more than happy to chat with you about our assessment Processes.