Assessments

It is the time of year for assessments. I have gotten to appreciate the importance of data collection over the years but I still don't really like to collect it! My school uses dibels and MAP standardized testing and I do a number of my own assessments like, letter and sound inventories, skill demonstrations and observations.
Assessing at the kindergarten level takes a lot of time because we have to meet with each child one on one in order that the child show us they have mastered a particular skill.
Once we have this information the next thing we need to do is to plan an intervention for those who have not masted the skill and to make sure the others are being challenged at an appropriate level.
I make the collection part more manageable by doing it in small chunks, assessing a few students each day. Then analyzing and planning with the data before starting the next round of assessments.
Most importantly though is using the data to drive grouping and instruction. The most comprehensive assessment in the world is useless unless the teacher uses it to give the child a better education.
Hang in there