Formative Assessment in Kindergarten

Assessments come in all shapes and sizes. Kindergarten is the beginning of a student’s evaluation process. Several things go into evaluating a student. Setting clear and achievable targets is the starting point for creating assessments. In other words, you need to determine what exactly your students should know or be able to do. Teachers are facing more and more pressure to start students off on the right level. Assessments in Kindergarten are becoming more advanced to guarantee every students starts their education process on task.

 There are many areas and types of achievement that are targeted in schools, including knowledge, reasoning, performance, product development, and attitudes. Ways to assess knowledge can be quizzes, essays and questioning. Essays and observations, the student’s ability to explain their solutions and thoughts, assess ‘reasoning. Performance is commonly assessed by rubrics and observation, whether or not a student meets certain standards. Product development is assessed by rubrics, following the guidelines and expectations. The last type of achievement is attitude. An attitude, negative or positive is assessed through observations or surveys. These achievements are easier to assess during formal assessment because of is consistent administration in the classroom. Formative assessments are on-going assessments, reviews, and observations in the classroom. Teachers use formative assessments to improve instructional methods and student feedback throughout the teaching and learning process.

 Summative Assessments are less common and are used to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional programs. These assessments are typically done at the end of the academic year or at a predetermined time. The summative assessments evaluate students on their level of success and if they have met their academic standards. There are so many resources for teachers to help with evaluating their students throughout the year. Assessments for early learners are very intimidating. Even for the older learners it is unfamiliar to them and can bring stress into their lives. It is the teachers job to reassure students of what they are doing and to simply try their best. It is also important for the teacher to make the students comfortable. Assessments have been an active process through the education system and will continue to be used to evaluate students. It is important that teachers are continuously evaluating their students using the types of achievements.

Types of achievement:

             * knowledge
             * reasoning
             * performance
             * product development
             * attitudes


   *** Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we were never able to do.' ***Peter Senge