Running head: APPLICATION WEEK 5 1

Application Essay week 5

Walden University

Design Curriculum Instruction and Assessment EDUC 6640J

November 30^TH, 2015

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Part 1: Assessment Plan

As a Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) teacher, assessment is much different than any other grade. In elementary and beyond, assessments are done through means of testing and papers which is a developmentally inappropriate for my Pre-K students. With this said, I assess my students knowledge, skills, and growth through informal and formal observations. As compared to the upper grades using a grading system, I use Work

Sampling Developmental Checklists that are aligned with the New York State PreKindergarten Foundation for the common core to indicate what my students have already accomplished and their future goals for the coming season (period). With the standards and developmental checklists in mind, I plan, organize, and strategize ways to reach and assess each individual student in order for them to get from a to b

(https://wsoz.pearsonclinical.com/wsoTeacherApp/teachApp/login/showLogin.html ? product=work)

Assessment is a major part of my curriculum and instruction as it is what drives my teaching practice. As mandated from the NYCDOE, I complete a developmental checklist for each of my students every December (Fall), March (Winter), and June (Spring). After completing ongoing developmentally appropriate informal and formal assessments, I complete a checklist for each student to assess their growth in the following seven domains; Personal and Social, Language and Literacy (including ELL language skills), Mathematical Thinking, Scientific Thinking, Social Studies, The Arts, and Physical Development, Health and Safety. Each domain includes specific indicators geared toward what it is students should be able to do by the end of the year. For example, on my scientific thinking lesson on creating scented play-dough adheres to the Running head: APPLICATION WEEK 5 3

following indicator under scientific thinking; “Functional Area/Performance Indicator: 1 Ask questions and begins to solve problems that arise during explorations”. Each individual student’s work, anecdotes, pictures, and videos from completing the lesson are uploaded to the system, along with other lessons from throughout the season, and are compared to the developmental checklist at the end of the season.

In terms of diagnostic assessment, bimonthly I assess my student’s work and the formal and informal observation notes (including anecdotes, pictures, and videos) in order to know what their strengths and weaknesses are in regards to their development in order to plan accordingly. I use these notes and their work to help me understand where each student is and what I need to do as their teacher to get them to their goal (to be proficient in each indicator). Using the student work, anecdotes, pictures and videos of them completing the work, I assess whether the student is “not yet”, “in process”, or “proficient” for each individual indicator. After completing all the checklists and writing goals for each domain for the individual students, I review them and make a “plan of action” as to what I need to do to get them where they need to be. In addition, I print a “Class report” which is generated by the Work Sampling System that shows me how my class is doing as whole in each domain. These class reports give me a clear visual as to what I need to do to help my class as a whole grow in each domain. Using these formal checklists and reports, I’m able to know what I need to focus more on and what skills and domains need to be reinforced.

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