In this Pre-K Teach & Play podcast episode, I offer five alternatives to an approach to early childhood assessment, which tends to favor fear, punishment, and standardized testing.
The alternatives (aka solutions) are offered as a counter to making high-stakes decisions based upon scores, which are often biased and invalid.
Specifically, I highlight five courageous steps to conversations that change education. We start at the systems level and make our way to the building or agency level, and then we land in the classroom, where we often, to be honest, have the most power and control.
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Oh, and I’ve created two things for you. The first is a printable that illustrates the solutions discussed in this episode. The other is a downloadable handout to help you determine what you can control.
Enter your name and email below to receive both immediately.
Episode #4 Transcript Below (click here to download copy of transcript):
| Kristie: | Hi fellow Early Childhood Solutionaries. This is Kristie, and in today’s episode, I’m talking to you about alternatives. Solutions, if you will, to what I see as an approach to assessment that really favors fear, punishment, standardized tests, and even making high stakes decisions that are based on biased scores, which often lack validity and reliability.
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| I’ve also created a quick printable for you, and this printable illustrates all of the solutions I’ll be talking about today. You might want to pause this recording and download the printable at prekteachandplay.com/podcast4. It might help guide and help you follow my flow in terms of the solutions. Let’s dive in. Together, let’s explore what can be done.
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[00:01:00] |
What can be done about this current approach to assessment, which is often anything but authentic and play-based. As we identify these solutions, we are going to start at the systems level, and we’re going to work our way to the building or agency level, and then to the classroom, where we often, to be honest, have the most power and control. Oh, and by the way, if you’ve ever felt like you were banging your head on the wall more than you were making a change, download our “What We Can Control” handout, again, at prekteachandplay.com/podcast4, that’s the number 4. It will help you prioritize where you can really make a change, where you can really make an impact.
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| Speaking of impact, is often at the systems level where we really seek the most change, but have the least amount of power and influence. We’re going to talk about solutions at the systems level, but they’re really things about being aware, being involved, and being an advocate, they’re not always things that will lead to a direct or really, an immediate change that we may desire.
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| [00:02:00] | For example, at the systems level, we can be aware of our rights, we can be aware of the rights of families that we serve, and in particular, as it relates to current assessment practices, we can be really aware of the opt-out movement. We can also stay involved, and we can ask good questions. We can be inquisitive, we can be curious. We can ask, “How are the data that I’m sharing out at the district level being used? Who has access to the data? Do families know what the data are being used for?” To the extent possible, we can also advocate for change. Often, we might feel that our voice is so singular and so small, that we can’t make a change, but when we join forces with our professional organizations, with our colleagues, we can really start to make a difference. For many of us, that professional organization would be the Division for Early Childhood. This is a place where we can join our voices, speak with one voice, and really begin to advocate for a change.
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| [00:03:00] | Once we move from that outer level, that outer ring of systems level, what are some solutions as they get closer to the inner circle, to where we have more impact, more power, more influence? That middle ring is really at the building or agency level. The solution that I’m going to offer up at this level is really having courageous conversations.
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[00:04:00] |
I first heard about courageous conversations when I read an article that was called, “It Takes Courage To Make Schools Better“. In this article, the author outlines this notion of courageous conversations. Any time that we feel that a certain practice should stop, maybe should start, or where resolution is needed, he calls upon us to have a courageous conversation. For example, if we feel that there is a need to change current assessment practices, let’s say that we’re concerned about the assessment tools that we’re required to administer, and we’re worried that they lack in strong evidence base for the population for which we’re using it. We feel that there is and there are some data to suggest that it’s a distraction from instruction, and most importantly, we’re concerned about the impact that the assessment tools are having on our ability to be play partners, to build the brains of children, to support them through a loving relationship.
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| Let’s say that might be something we’re concerned about. How do we have these conversations? Pretty tough, right? Here’s a few steps that build upon the article that I read, again titled, “It Takes Courage To Make Schools Better”. Just sort of think if these five steps help you move in the direction of being able to have a courageous conversation at the building or agency level.
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[00:05:00] |
First, you identify the issue or the practice that you feel should be stopped, should be started, or where resolution is needed. An example we’re doing here, it’s that we’re worried about the actual assessment tools, because the way that tool is designed, the way that we have to administer it, how long it takes to administer, and so forth, have raised several concerns or may be counter to recommended practices in our field.
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| Second step is to engage in self-reflection, so we really want to start with ourselves so that we gain clarity. Where do I stand? What are my potential biases? Do I have any evidence to support this other than my opinion? Opinions can be great, but I need to have more than that, that I want to take forward in this conversation.
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| Third step is to consider the perspective of others. Why do they promote what I see as a bad practice, or why do I feel like they’re standing in my way toward something that is more efficient or more effective? Do I have any evidence that supports these assumptions, or am I just imagining the boogeyman, meaning that many of my assumptions are based in fear?
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| [00:06:00] | The fourth thing is to consider what motivates others. Why would they even be interested in having a conversation with me? Why would they want to change? Why would they want to stop, start, resolve? What would they need in order to convince them or motivate them not only to be part of this conversation, but to ultimately lead to the change that I see is needed?
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| The final step, the fifth step is to start the courageous conversation with a trusted colleague, or maybe even a mentor, so that you can play out your evidence, play out your logic, play out your concerns in a way that’s sort of a safe environment. It’s not someone who’s going to have counter arguments right away, and that will let you systematically then move to having that conversation with others on the inside and the outside of this system.
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[00:07:00] |
That brings us to the classrooms level, this most inner ring, if you will. These solutions are pretty straightforward, meaning they’re not complicated, and they’re certainly not as complicated as some of the things that we’ve already mentioned in terms of the building or agency level, and certainly not as complicated as the systems level. Sometimes there are things that we may forget that we have a say over or have control over and need to exert the influence, the impact, the power, if you will, that we do have in that inner circle where we can control our own behaviors, our own actions, our own interactions with children.
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[00:08:00] |
There’s three things that I wanted to bring up and solidify or bring back to our awareness. The first is that we always should prioritize engaging in authentic assessment. If you’ve ever read one of my other blogs, or listened to another podcast, you know that by authentic assessment, I mean familiar people in familiar settings doing familiar things with familiar objects. When we don’t do those things, it’s against what we know, from a research base, from a professional recommendation place, and from a place of wisdom, that we won’t really get at what children truly know and can do when we do anything but authentic assessment. We really need to prioritize, not just advocate, but prioritize that we engage in authentic assessment as often as we can. Again, if that’s one of the practices that we feel like needs to stop, or change in some way, we can then begin to move to these outer circles to get change. Whenever possible, when we have a say, when we have an option, when we have some choice, we prioritize engaging in authentic assessment.
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[00:09:00] |
The second thing that we can do inside this inner circle, is always see ourselves as a play partner. Even if we’re engaged in more conventional testing, maybe it’s something that is standardized to some degree, or just feels like it’s so time consuming unless I bring kids to a table and ask them one by one, because I just can’t manage. Really try and do it in such a way that you’re a play partner. Try to be curious about the child. Try to be interesting. Try to be engaging. All those things that a fabulous play partner would do, try to always do that, even when you’re in the mist or neck deep or head deep into a practice that you don’t quite agree with, or a practice that feels much more conventional, much more standardized. Wherever you can, always see yourself as a play partner. Always see that you are being curious, that you’re aiming to connect, that you are getting those neurons to fire, that you’re addressing joy and enthusiasm in what you’re doing, not just trying to get answers from a kid.
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[00:10:00] |
The third thing that we can do when we’re in that innermost ring, is that we can really establish strong alliances and strong partnerships with the families that we serve. All too often we see early education as an okay thing to outsource. It’s okay to pick kids up on the bus and never interface with the families, it’s okay for families to drop off kids and never interface with us. We can say we’ve got a blog. We can say we have a newsletter. We can say we’ve got a communication notebook, but what are we really doing to ensure that we have strong partnerships with families?
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[00:11:00] |
This is an easy, easy way not to form partnerships, but it’s an easy way to start to speak with a bigger, louder, more critical mass voice when we do so with the families that we serve. It is their children, after all, who are being subjected to, let’s say, an assessment practice that we don’t agree with, or that we know is counter to recommended practices and the research in our field. How can we inform families, again, of their rights, again, of how data are being used, and of our concerns in such a way that we can create a stronger alliance, and a stronger partnership so that as we move forward or outside that innermost ring, we can join our voices with the voices of the families that are being served?
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| What do you think? Do you think it’s possible to shift our current approach to assessment? As always, I’d love to come to your district, to connect with you, to train with you, to encourage other inspired educators, particularly around this notion of authentic assessment. Feel free, anytime, to contact me on kristiepf.com to invite me to come speak at your next conference or professional development event. Also, don’t forget to access the printable from today’s episode and the “What We Can Control” downloadable. Both can be found at prekteachandplay.com/podcast4.
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| Thank you Solutionaries, for all you do, to help children thrive in school and in life.
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