Assessing for Teaching with Young Children / Ann E. Boehm.

A criterion-referenced instrument, Inventory of Cognitive Skills and Visual-Motor Functioning, was devised to evaluate a prekindergarten program for economically disadvantaged 4-year-olds. The Inventory, administered to each child at the beginning and end of the preschool experience, provided specific information in: (1) knowledge of body parts, colors, shapes, and numbers; (2) information from pictures; (3) story comprehension; (4) picture comprehension; (5) concept knowledge; (6) following directions consisting of multiple parts; (7) copying shapes; (8) gross motor coordination; and (9) rating of responses during assessment. The assessment resulted in more precise classroom planning and better knowledge of the developmental level of the age group. An important part of criterion-referenced assessment is task analysis, or breaking down skills into their component parts. The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts illustrates the task analysis approach. Fifty concepts are tested to determine which present difficulty for individual pupils. With the test, teachers or specialists can identify individual strengths and limitations and group patterns, all of which can be used in classroom planning. Instructional procedures need to carry the task analysis further by tapping the many levels of concept learning and application, from concrete to abstract. (KM)

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