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Definition: One form of rating scale that has items to check or mark indicating the presence of an item or behavior being observed.
Checklist
a process of large-scale assessment using standardized procedures to identify individuals who might benefit from further, more specific assessment.
Developmental Screening
the process of classroom observation and record-keeping over time and across learning modalities to keep track of children’s learning
Documentation
frequently used to define Part C of IDEA services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
Early intervention services
a written narrative documented during an observation of a child.
Running Record (not the same as used in reading assessment)
when referring to policies associated with accountability, defined more narrowly as “specific description of knowledge or skill that students should acquire by a particular point in their schooling”.
Benchmark
observations carried out during a defined and limited time frame (e.g. lunchtime) and focused on the activities and behaviors of one child.
Event sampling
formal assessment system for the evaluation of a child through the use of structured play and careful, highly nuanced observation.
Play-based assessment
evidence that documents children’s attainment of a specific level of a benchmark or standard.
Indicator
a first step in identifying, through tests, examinations, or other procedures children who may need professional diagnostic evaluation and/or intervention.
Screening
the type of assessment in which adults give clues, leads, and hints, ask questions or pose problems to see what the person being assessed can do, both with and without assistance. It builds on insights from Vygotsky and cognitive psychologists.
Dynamic assessment
a method of collecting products of and documenting the emerging processes of children’s learning.
Process portfolio
state how well a child should demonstrate knowledge and skills. They gauge the degree to which children have met the content standards.
Performance standards
a rule or guide providing the criteria by which complex performance can be judged.
Rubrics
standardized tests used to identify or diagnose children with potential learning problems.
Standardized Screening and Diagnostic Tests
an instrument administered under prescribed conditions and scored in a predetermined manner; the scores are compared to those of a representative sample of a particular population, that is a certain age, grade, geographic location, or other definable group.
Standardized Test
high-stakes tests with close links to both the curriculum and the approved standards for learning. These tests are scored showing the extent to which the student reached the standard for achievement.
Standards-based assessment
observational system involving making periodic observations after the precise duration of a preselected unit of time.
Time sampling