1. Authentic Child Assessment Session 4 Level 2 Minnesota Department of Human Services

2. Introductions Fill in your own activity here. See Trainer’s Guide for suggestions.

3. Training Objectives To review, understand, and build skills around the foundational ideas of authentic assessment, including the use of the Early Childhood Indicators of Progress To understand the history of authentic assessment and current trends within the early care and education field To gain knowledge and skills in including parents within the authentic assessment process, including sharing data with parents. To understand the purposes for and uses of authentic assessment data to inform practice To build skills around data collection, data analysis, and data reporting

4. Session 3 Review Authentic Assessment Cycle Challenges to Authentic Assessment Homework Report Out

5. Collaborating with Parents during the Authentic Assessment Process

6. Involving Families in Authentic Assessment Parents need to be included throughout the entire authentic assessment process. How might parents be included in each component of the authentic assessment process?

7. Family Assessment Portfolios A portfolio is a collection of items that celebrates the child. The portfolio includes a variety of artifacts, documentation, and reflections that are developmentally appropriate for young children and includes evidence of understanding and ability. The portfolio is a systematic collection of one’s work. This tool supports and demonstrates children’s understandings, abilities, and talents through electronic, oral, and hard copy formats.

8. Family Assessment Portfolios The Family Assessment Portfolio can be used to: empower families by involving them in the assessment process; enhance opportunities for families to communicate the information they most want early care and education providers to know; familiarize future early care and education providers with students (e.g., likes, dislikes, strengths, needs, and communication skills; and increase the likelihood that special education services and interventions will truly address a child’s most important needs.

9. What to Include... Formal and informal observational notes, checklists, frequency counts, anecdotal records Samples of children’s work (art, writing, journaling, numbers) Children’s dictations of stories, questions, and signage Photos and videos of children doing routines, acting as helpers, working on projects, and playing in all learning centers, including the outdoors Photos and videos of children’s experiments and projects (both in process and completed) Tape recordings/transcripts of children’s interactions with peers and adults, at the program and at home Photos or drawings from field trips, both at the program and at home Child-published books All About Me books Scrapbooks of children’s activities Child-made maps Annotated reading logs Participation charts noting child’s daily activities Graphs and charts of experiments and project work

10. Sharing Video

11. Parent Provider Conferences At your table, answer the following questions: What are some of your most successful relationship building strategies with families? What challenges do you face before or during conferences? What do you do if family members are intimidated and reluctant to attend? How about if they are defensive or outright hostile? What do you do when family members want to take charge and are perhaps overeager to let you know what their child is really like? How can a true partnership be facilitated?

12. Effective parent/caregiver conferences typically include: Choosing a time and place that is convenient for family members(s) and relatively free of distractions Developing an agenda in advance and sharing it with family members in advance Being aware of cultural considerations and arranging for a translator/interpreter, if necessary Being very familiar with the child’s portfolio and the items you want to highlight Starting with something positive Actively soliciting questions and comments from the family member(s) throughout the meeting Communicating with Families: Formally

13. Effective parent/caregiver conferences typically include: Sharing information about the child’s strengths and growth opportunities Discussing any concerns parents may have Discussing any special needs the child may have Sharing the child’s interests, motivations, and engagement in learning Discussing the child’s progress in all domains and agreeing upon goals for the child. Working together to formulate the next steps and planning how to meet the goals Reflecting on how the conference went for everyone Ending on a positive note Communicating with Families: Formally

14. Communicating with Families: Informally At morning drop-off At evening pick-up While family members are volunteering in the classroom By invitation/prior arrangement Through daily written summaries Through newsletters By texting On web sites Through blogs By email During phone conversations

15. Finley’s Parent Educator Conference

16. Crafting the Message As you think about sharing information with parents/caregivers, you can organize the information by answering these questions: Who is the primary audience? What do they need to know? What is the best way to share this information? What contextual information needs to be shared? How might I make this information straightforward and simple? What are the challenges I might have in sharing this information?

17. Practicing: Crafting the Message Take the data and written goals from the previous activities and craft your message to the following people: Parents Colleagues (e.g., school district staff, other family childcare providers, etc.) How is your message the same? How is it different?

18. Transition Portfolios A way to carry over children’s Family Assessment Portfolios from one program year to the next. This allows the next educator to begin the year knowing about the children and not having to start with a blank slate. Store the transitional portfolio: At the program in a safe, locked place OR With the child’s family

19. Closing

20. One completely new idea One useful idea One idea you will share with parent/friend/colleague Evaluation

21. Thank you for attending!