Using Goals to Focus Observations
Goals for children’s development and learning provide a structure for framing observations. Find out about sources of goals and school readiness goals.
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Child Screening and Assessment
Screening and assessment provide valuable information about each child's interests, strengths, and needs. Screening gives a snapshot of whether the child's development is on track. Assessment is an ongoing process that includes observation and provides information about development over time. Systematic, ongoing child assessment provides information on children's development and learning. It helps inform curriculum planning, teaching, and individualizing for each child across all Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework domains.
Observation and Its Relationship to Observation-Based, Ongoing Child Assessment
One of the primary reasons for observing children is to measure and track their progress in acquiring skills and concepts in all areas of development. Learn how ongoing assessment is also a Head Start Program Performance Standards requirement.
Identifying the Lenses Through Which Staff and Families Observe Children
Learn ways to help education staff and families be mindful that many things can influence what they notice and how they interpret their observations about infants and toddlers.
Documenting Observations
In this part of Observation: The Heart of Individualizing Care for Infants and Toddlers, learn some of the more common documentation methods that education staff are likely to use.
Audio and Visual Recordings
Explore how cameras and media recorders, including smartphones and tablets, offer quick, efficient ways to document what children say and do.
Checklists and Other Print Recording Tools
Learn about using tools such as checklists, frequency counts, and participation charts to quickly record information about the occurrence of specific behaviors or skills.
Written Observations: Jottings, Anecdotal Notes, and Running Records
Learn about three ways to document observations of young children: jottings, anecdotal notes, and running records. Each has a specific use.
Writing Objective and Accurate Observation Notes
Learn strategies for helping education staff write only what they see and hear—the facts. Explore ways to avoid using words that are ambiguous, open to interpretation, describe an opinion, or communicate judgment.
A Note About Accuracy
Observation notes need to be accurate, objective, and factual. Learn how to avoid inaccurate observation notes that can lead to inaccurate interpretations or misunderstandings of what a child knows and can do.
Setting Up Systems for Ongoing Observations
Learn ways to set up a system for carrying out observations of infants and toddlers.
