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Table of Contents

• Welcome
• Authentic Assessment: The Case for Portfolios
• Announcements
• Research in the Primary Grades Compares Practices with Beliefs
• The Alaska Elementary Restructuring Network
• Oregon's Non-Graded Primary

Welcome to the second edition of this quarterly newsletter, which the Colorado Department of Education is publishing cooperatively with the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children. CAEYC is pleased to be involved in this endeavor and to be able to model such a collaborative effort, with the Department of Education, in the area of early childhood care and education.

The feedback which both CDE and CAEYC have received about the first edition has been extremely encouraging. Requests have been received from across the country for additional copies and for permission to reprint information contained in articles. These requests have come from principals, superintendents, school boards, universities, educational organizations which focus on policy and research and, most importantly, from classroom teachers. It is these individuals, who are daily interacting with young children and facilitating their learning in the primary grades, for whom Of Primary Interest is published.

Two aspects of the newsletter have attracted considerable attention. Readers have singled out the inclusion of research about appropriate practices in the primary grades as a welcome contribution, and they have likewise commented positively on seeing a Department of Education logo and that of a state AEYC group 'side-by-side', indicating that in Colorado there is a common mission and purpose which focuses efforts on positively supporting the lives of young children and their families.

Please continue to let CDE and CAEYC know how they may more effectively meet your individual professional needs with this newsletter.

Sincerely,
Muff Stright, President
Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children

Authentic Assessment: The Case for Portfolios

Dr. Adrienne L. Herrell, of California State University, Fresno, is keenly interested in the authentic assessment of young children, particularly of those students in the primary grades. Her work includes the following definitions of portfolios and some rationales for their use in primary-level classrooms:

What Are Portfolios?

1. A work folder is a collection. A portfolio is a selection.

2. The portfolio is a selection of a student's work represented by such documents as actual samples, anecdotal records, photographs, and tape recordings.

3. The teacher, student, and parents are all involved in making selections for the portfolio.

4. The portfolio is organized to show the student's growth and includes summary sheets to document this growth.

5. Cover sheets or brief written statements should explain the selections. As students get older, they can be involved in writing these cover sheets. Young children can dictate brief statements to the teacher about why items were selected for the portfolio.

6. Portfolio items are selected to demonstrate the priorities of the student, teacher, parent, and curriculum.

7. The student’s unique interests and competencies should be documented by the items selected.

8. Summary sheets and a few examples of work should be passed on to the next year's teacher. The entire portfolio does not need to be sent.

Why Use Portfolios?

1. Portfolios reflect what is being taught in a teacher's classroom, rather than someone else's idea of what is appropriate for that teacher's students.

2. Portfolios enable teachers to share information about student performance without interpretation of scores. Rubrics are used to reflect relative performance.

3. Portfolios document a wide variety of work in many formats, and help to demonstrate complex, multidimensional tasks.

4. Portfolios contain examples of student work over time, thus providing a visual picture of growth.

5. Portfolios provide a natural medium for teacher-student, teacher-parent, teacher-student-parent discussions and goal setting.

6. Portfolios encourage pupil reflection and self evaluation.

7. Portfolios encourage authentic (performance-based) assessment by linking curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

The use of such authentic assessment benefits students by having teachers look at them as individuals,, benefits teachers by increasing their interaction with students and by providing ongoing validation for their efforts, and benefits parents by increasing their interaction with teachers regarding the individual progress of their children.

Research in the Primary Grades Compares Practices with Beliefs

Suzanne Kay Adams, in her doctoral dissertation (Developmentally Appropriate Practice in the Primary Grades: Classroom Practices and Espoused Beliefs of Primary Teachers, Principals, and Teacher Educators, University of Colorado at Denver, 1992), examined classroom practices and stated beliefs about developmentally appropriate curriculum and instructional methods in the primary grades.

The Study

Adams gathered data from 142 first and second grade teachers and 32 principals in public schools in the Denver metropolitan area, and from 45 teacher education faculty members in teacher education certification programs in Colorado. Analyses of the data indicated that (1) principals and teacher educators stated more developmentally appropriate beliefs than primary teachers did, (2) the frequency of some developmentally inappropriate activities suggested the continuing influence of the behaviorist orientation as a dominating force in public school curricula, (3) at times teachers' beliefs tended to be more developmentally appropriate than their classroom activities, and (4) teachers who had early childhood certification provided more developmentally appropriate activities than teachers who had elementary certification only

Reasons for Belief/Practice Disagreement

In writing about the primary teachers' lack of agreement, in her study, between their expressed theory and their actual classroom practices, Adams reviewed other research which suggests that the reasons for such incongruence include influences upon the teacher by external environmental factors. She identified the following as influences which might cause teachers to not put into practice the beliefs which they express: (1) expectations of principals, other teachers, parents, and the general public, (2) accountability mandates from the district and state requiring measurement of student achievement, (3) published materials such as basal textbooks and curriculum guides, (4) student characteristics, (5) working conditions such as material shortages, and (6) shortage of time.

The Need for Early Childhood Certification

Adams discovered no difference in the developmental appropriateness of their beliefs about curriculum and instructional practices, between primary teachers with certification in early childhood education and those primary teachers with elementary certification only. Teachers with early childhood certification did, however, provide more developmentally appropriate activities in their classrooms. Her finding supports the recommendation of the Association of Teacher Educators and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) that specialized early childhood teacher certification standards, which are separate from existing elementary certification, be established for teachers in programs serving children from birth through eight years of age.

Implications for Teacher Education Programs

Because primary teachers who have specific early childhood training and credentialing are more likely to overcome the external environmental factors which cause beliefs to not be put into practice, Adams found the following implications to be important for teacher education programs:

1. Teacher education programs need to consider the existing beliefs of prospective teachers and to challenge developmentally inappropriate beliefs by giving preservice teachers objective data regarding child development and learning in the primary years.
2. Teacher education programs need to assist prospective teachers in making the link between theory and practice so that teachers can translate developmental theory into practical everyday teaching practices.
3. Teacher education programs should provide preservice teachers various opportunities to observe efficient and manageable classrooms utilizing a child-centered approach. Observing such classrooms in operation may encourage beginning teachers to resist the perceived efficiency of the use of workbooks and direct instruction approaches as more efficient ways to teach basic skills.
4. Preservice teachers need training and hands-on practice with child-centered instructional practices in order to operationalize their beliefs -- to translate child development principles to classroom practice.
5. Early childhood teacher certification standards should be established by state boards of education and other certifying agencies to ensure that certified early childhood teachers in programs serving children from birth through the primary grades understand the unique developmental characteristics of young children and the implications for curriculum and instruction. Such certification should be separate from existing elementary and secondary certifications (pp. 177- 178).

Implications for the Role of the Principle

In order to promote developmentally appropriate curriculum and instructional methods for the primary grades, Adams found that elementary principals: (1) should undergo certification programs that emphasize the development of children ages six to eight and the instructional methods and curriculum appropriate for these ages, as opposed to older elementary school children; (2) should hire teachers with early childhood certification for the primary grades; (3) should assist primary teachers in identifying their educational beliefs and philosophical foundations; (4) need to be willing to offer in-class support to help teachers unlearn safe and comfortable ways of teaching and to replace them with developmentally appropriate practices; and (5) must "facilitate the process of modifying teachers' theories-in-use by encouraging opportunities for self examination and self improvement." such as release time for attending workshops, reading and discussing research, observing other teachers, engaging in peer coaching, and sharing curriculum and instruction ideas with one another.

While current theory of mathematics instruction accentuates the child's construction of number concepts through hands-on experiences, achievement tests measure knowledge of numerals.

- Suzanne Kay Adams

Implications for School Districts and State-Level Policy Makers

Adams found that her research also had implications for policy-makers who may indeed be removed from the primary grades, but working in positions from which they can influence the quality and quantity of support for these early childhood teachers:

1. Results of this study support the contention that the behaviorist-learning theory perspective which dominates upper grades, along with recent emphasis on "back to basics," on demands for acceleration from parents, and on improved standardized test scores, result in teachers adopting instructional approaches that are incompatible with research-supported knowledge about how young children learn and develop.
   
2. Principals and teachers need to be empowered through site-based management to implement a development tally appropriate primary program in each school. While being required to meet broad district goals and performance measures, schools should have the authority to determine their own instructional policies, to decide how best to group students for instruction, to organize instructional time, and to select and use textbooks and other instructional materials which are consistent with developmentally appropriate beliefs about how young children learn and prosper.
   
3. Group-administered, standardized, multiple-choice achievement tests should be restricted before third grade. Programs which are mandated to use a standardized test of children's progress for program evaluation or accountability purposes should employ a sampling method to eliminate the need to subject all first and second grade students to a testing procedure. Testing of young children must recognize individual diversity (gender, Culture, socioeconomic status). Standardized tests should be avoided in multicultural/multilingual communities if they are not sensitive to cultural diversity or bilingualism.
   
4. To evaluate the effect of a program on children's development and learning, multiple sources of assessment information should be used, including nonstandardized assessments such as systematic observation, checklists, anecdotal records, and samples of children’s work. Using such an assessment system also allows accountability to focus primarily on how well schools produce desired results framed in terms of individual school goals, which are compatible with site-based management approaches (pp. 178-186).

Suzanne Kay Adams' research provides a picture of early childhood education in the public schools of an urban area, and a description of the beliefs and practices which dominate the primary classrooms in those schools.  Not only has she applauded the practices she found which are beneficial for young children and their families, but she has also delineated recommendations to improve those instructional practices which are not developmentally appropriate.  Her work is a substantial contribution to the literature which calls for appropriate activities in primary classrooms.

Frank Fielden, Editor
Of Primary Interest

The Alaska Elementary Restructuring Network

As they develop a philosophical base for their restructuring efforts, schools which make a commitment to the Alaska Elementary Restructuring Network are expected to consider these four aspects of change:

• the role of the elementary school changing to that of a locus of advocacy for children, particularly focusing on the needs of at-risk children;
• an increased effort to initiate interagency cooperative efforts as a means of solving problems on the behalf of children;
• the restructuring of schools to form developmentally and culturally appropriate early childhood units for children from 4-8 years old; and
• a newly defined partnership role for parents and community working with the public school system.

Jean Ann Alter, who is the Primary Specialist at the Alaska Department of Education, can provide more specific information. Her address is:

Alaska Department of Education
801 West 10th Street Suite 200
Juneau, Alaska 99801

OREGON'S NON-GRADED PRIMARY

The Oregon Educational Act for the 21 st Century, passed by the 1991 Legislative Assembly, calls for a restructured education system to achieve the state's goals of the "best educated citizens in the nation by the year 2000 and a work force equal to any in the world by the year 2010." Ten task forces were subsequently created to explore ways to begin the reform efforts called for by the legislation and to provide direction for its implementation.

One of these task forces dealt with the topic of the non-graded primary; among its recommendations are the following:

• That it is feasible for all school districts in Oregon to implement developmentally appropriate practices in the primary program, kindergarten through grade 3.
• That the State Board of Education require all school districts in Oregon to implement developmentally appropriate practices, which may include mixed-age grouping, in the primary program, by the year 2000.
• That the term non-graded be changed to mixed-age.
• That a blend of state, federal, and local resources be identified and utilized to support increased funding for the primary program.
• That school districts form collaborative agreements with other social service agencies.
• That community based routine health services be available to children and their families at a school identified, centrally located, community site.
• That school districts identify preventive services for all children as a priority and that resources for these services be focused at the earliest possible level.
• That school districts collaborate with other agencies and child care providers to ensure that after school child care is available to all who need it.
• That assessment be continuous and ongoing, possibly including recorded teacher observations, recorded anecdotal notes, recorded student evaluations/reflections, and recorded parent evaluations/reflections.
• That there be no group administered standardized tests before 4th grade, and that statewide standardized assessment begin at 4th grade.
• That materials be concrete, real, relevant, and available to all students, and that textbooks be a resource rather than the primary means of instructional support.
• That by the year 2000 Oregon will require the early childhood endorsement for all primary program (pre-K through grade 3) teachers.
• That there be planned transition for preschool children and their families into public school primary programs.
• From the Oregon Department of Education's Non-Graded Primary Task Force Report, January 1993

The report focuses on school districts' "exhibiting leadership in collaboration with all resource and referral and social service agencies, to ensure a seamless service program to young children and their families." Such collaboration, for instance, may be with existing community providers in the area of extended school-day services and involves other human service agencies. Specific aspects of the recommendation to coordinate comprehensive health and social service to families include the provision of space for social service agencies which is "centrally located for easy access to the school community, within, or as close to the school site as possible" and the provision of community education programs, open to all parents and community members, such as parent resource libraries, parenting classes, parent support groups, and workshops.

For additional information about Oregon's primary vision and/or a copy of the Non-Graded Primary Task Force Report, contact:

Anita McClanahan
Oregon Department of Education
700 Pringle Parkway SE
Salem, Oregon 97310
(503) - 378-5585

This page last updated: December 13, 2007