Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 07-30-2018 04:57 PM
    During our NAEYC diversity and equity interest forum virtual book club on Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs, I was struck by the idea of adding indicators to the process of assessing children.  We pay a lot of attention to the things we assess! 
    The authors suggest indicators such as; "Identifies own physical characteristics", "uses home language at school", "uses accurate language to describe differences", "recognizes exclusion of another child", "recognizes stereotypes about people....." and "stands up for himself and others when he notices something is unfair".  Is anyone using indicators like these?  What impact has it had on your program?  If you aren't yet using indicators that assess children's anti-bias learning, how do you think adding indicators like this might change the ways we work with young children?  I'd love to hear many people's thoughts about this.

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    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    [St Paul ] [MN]
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  • 2.  RE: Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 07-31-2018 12:45 AM
    Hello Meg,
    ino longer in the classroom, however I'm also interested in reading responses to your inquiry regarding the utilization of indicators when assessing children's anti-bias learning.

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    Crystal Darlene Sanford-Brown
    Early Childhood Consultant
    Ashance Associates
    Bloomfld Hls MI
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  • 3.  RE: Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 08-07-2018 11:40 AM
    I'm hoping more people will chime in too Crystal.  I'm hoping to use these indicators in my work this year to see what happens, but there must be people out there who've tried these and could share some thoughts about what happened.

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    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    [St Paul ] [MN]
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  • 4.  RE: Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 07-31-2018 10:56 AM

    I am not yet using these indicators that assess children's anti-bias learning and I think adding these indicators could only enhance what we assess for children's social-emotional learning.  I do wonder how parents might react to a measure of children using their home language at school.  I fully support children having a space for their home language at school and have also had experiences with parents of ESL children being more concerned about their child's acquisition of English instead of maintaining the home language in the school environment.  I figure that pointing out a child using their home language at school might either encourage families to use English more OR might help them see better how I see children using their home language as a positive thing. 




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    Sherrie Rose Mayle
    Director/Teacher
    Campbell Parents' Participation Preschool
    Campbell, CA
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  • 5.  RE: Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 08-07-2018 11:47 AM
    Hi Sherrie
    I was also wondering if tracking children's use of their home language at school would give us an indicator of how safe they feel at school.  We know that having both languages is the best thing for children.  It's kind of amazing that when parents see it as an either or thing (English or the home language) they are willing to sacrifice their own ability to communicate comfortably with their kids in the interests of their long term success.  I always try to let parents know that that's not a choice they need to make, their kids can have both languages.  Are you considering using these indicators?  
     


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    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    [St Paul ] [MN]
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  • 6.  RE: Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 08-08-2018 09:57 AM
    Hi Meg,
    Given my experiences with ESL families in my area, I wonder if there are other ways to indicate a child feeling safe at school beyond using their home language.  While I still agree that having both languages is best for children, I find that the goal for most of my ESL parents is for their children to acquire English.  I'm not sure that I will use these indicators specifically for assessment.  Probably I will use them more in debriefing assessments during parent teacher conferences in an anecdotal manner or in other parent education venues offered through our school rather than writing it down as a specific indicator on the assessment.

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    Sherrie Rose Mayle
    Director/Teacher
    Campbell Parents' Participation Preschool
    Campbell, CA
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  • 7.  RE: Documentation and Assessment using an Anti-Bias lens

    Posted 08-11-2018 04:54 PM
    Hi Sherrie,
    Just curious about why you would use them informally, rather than as a part of the formal assessment process.  I'm trying to think more about how to use these ideas most effectively.

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    [Meg] [Thomas]
    [Early childhood consultant
    [St Paul ] [MN]
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