But what I take away from this course most of all, is how we as educators can make a difference in children's live that are labeled as; "special needs".
Sunday, April 20, 2014
When I Think of Child Development.....
Throughout this course I have learned so many valuable lessons that ran deeper than child development itself. While obtaining my Associates degree we often discuss children's developmental domains their levels, and skills, but not much about the underlining issues or affects that can hinder such developments, in this course we really touched on environmental, and social barriers, we even went in depth in discussing the positive/negative impact that technology has on young children!
But what I take away from this course most of all, is how we as educators can make a difference in children's live that are labeled as; "special needs".
But what I take away from this course most of all, is how we as educators can make a difference in children's live that are labeled as; "special needs".
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Testing for Intelligence?
Just recently my 10 year-old daughter was sent home with a letter talking about a type of intelligence assessment mandated by North Carolina school board officials. After receiving the notification explaining the how the test were conducted, as well as my daughters percentile placement, I suddenly realized that although my daughter does well academically, not placing high in percentile would really mess with her self confidence and possibly motivation to continue being successful.
Intelligence and achievement test focus on cognitive skills, abilities, recalling, and problem-solving. Although I understand certain assessments are necessary in pinpointing the level of development each child is at, as well as areas they need to work on, however, I feel as though there is all ready pressure placed on the children and teachers in terms of the End of Grade testing, measuring for intelligence will add extra stress, as well as place negative message to the child that he/she is not smart in comparison to other children across the board they have never met.
Throughout this year I have been really interested in learning about the South/West African cultures. Just recently, I read an article that talked about how schools in South Africa have an integrated approach to early child development, the school try to provide rich learning experiences from children birth to school-age, however the children's performance levels are much lower than other countries. The reasons for the low achievements are due to poor school attendance, missing adolescents, lack of running water, school violence, and a severe lack of resources to provide libraries and text books.
The type of assessment that measures the children's abilities is known as the; Annual National Assessment. This type of assessments measures children's numeracy and literacy skills.
As I stated before, there are assessments that can be a strong tool for educators to help children in all of their developmental domains, such as High Scope assessments, and Teaching Strategies.
Tests that are designed to help and not hinder students can help build their self confidence and motivation to continue to work hard,and also certain assessments can help detect any learning delays early on, so that services can be provided.
Reference:
UNICEF South Africa- Education and Adolescent Development. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/education_344.html
Intelligence and achievement test focus on cognitive skills, abilities, recalling, and problem-solving. Although I understand certain assessments are necessary in pinpointing the level of development each child is at, as well as areas they need to work on, however, I feel as though there is all ready pressure placed on the children and teachers in terms of the End of Grade testing, measuring for intelligence will add extra stress, as well as place negative message to the child that he/she is not smart in comparison to other children across the board they have never met.
Throughout this year I have been really interested in learning about the South/West African cultures. Just recently, I read an article that talked about how schools in South Africa have an integrated approach to early child development, the school try to provide rich learning experiences from children birth to school-age, however the children's performance levels are much lower than other countries. The reasons for the low achievements are due to poor school attendance, missing adolescents, lack of running water, school violence, and a severe lack of resources to provide libraries and text books.
The type of assessment that measures the children's abilities is known as the; Annual National Assessment. This type of assessments measures children's numeracy and literacy skills.
As I stated before, there are assessments that can be a strong tool for educators to help children in all of their developmental domains, such as High Scope assessments, and Teaching Strategies.
Tests that are designed to help and not hinder students can help build their self confidence and motivation to continue to work hard,and also certain assessments can help detect any learning delays early on, so that services can be provided.
Reference:
UNICEF South Africa- Education and Adolescent Development. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/education_344.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)