Evaluating Children in Preschool Programs

Teachers and administrators in Head Start, preschools, and other early childhood programs will welcome the report released August 4th from the National Research Council providing explicit guidance on the Why, What, and How of Assessing Preschoolers. As early childhood programs have continued to expand, funders of these programs have required evidence of their worth. In far too many cases, the selection and application of assessment tools have been misguided and had detrimental effects on children, teachers, and programs. Congress asked the National Research Council to develop guidance on how to identify important outcomes for children aged from birth to age 5 and how best to assess them in all types of early childhood programs.

Much of the guidance provided in the report will come as no surprise to early childhood educators. To name just two examples: “program quality should be evaluated based not only on children’s academic skills but also on their social and emotional skills” and “decisions to penalize a teacher should never rest solely on findings from assessments of students.” The report’s guidance, authored by prestigious scholars, is a gift that supports us in our individual and collective efforts to truly serve the interests of the children. Use the following link to access the News Release and Full Report: http://nationalacademies.org/morenews/20080804.html.