Hannah Grieb

Allie Carley

Haley Burns

EC Professional Review

Introduction

We completed an assignment in which we conducted interviews with three different early

childhood professionals. We gained their thoughts and opinions on how assessment helps them

in their respective classrooms, on the standardized and nonstandardized instruments they are

using, and how assessments play a role in planning curricula and teaching. We each asked a set

of ten questions, three of which we came up with as a group, and took notes as answers were

provided.

Summary of Interviews

Hannah interviewed Sarah Chandler, a 1st-3rd level montessori teacher at Beverly Hills

Academy. She is a bachelor of science in art education, has a provisional certificate in visual

arts, three levels of Montessori credentials, and has her masters degree from Central Michigan

University in curriculum and instruction. She has 25 years of professional experience and is well

versed in the world of education. Hannah chose to interview her because of her vast experience

in the classroom and her passion for providing the best possible education she can for her

students. She also chose to interview her because she is working in a setting that she is not very

familiar with, and was curious how assessment was used within a Montessori classroom.

Sarah Chandler broke down the use of assessments in her classroom by first introducing

what assessments were used, when they were used. She explained that there are several

diagnostic tests given at the beginning of the year and sometimes right before school starts. She
said that these tests help place students into smaller learning communities that they utilize

throughout the year. These include tests for reading, phonemic awareness, segmentation,

auditory processing, phonics, and spelling. She then talked about her use of formative

assessments, including time/math fact sheets in which they need to score 80% or more on. She

also mentioned a few formative assessment strategies including 3,2,1, oral summarizing,

Nothing What I Learned, and 10 Things I learned. She mentioned that she likes these

assessments because when she minds misconceptions among them, she knows what to reteach.

She then touched on summative assessments, saying that it was mostly just spelling tests that she

implemented in her classroom. Also, the Albensi tests, which place them into specific work

cards, where they are given a summative assessment upon completion. Afterwards she explained

their schools use of standardized tests. Her school uses Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which she

finds reliable because it does not change from year to year. They use practice tests for that in

December and dont use the data for anything other than knowing what to recover throughout the

year. The actual test for that is given in April, and she explained that some of her students are at

a disadvantage for that because their English proficiency is not as high as others, as they speak a

different language at home. Later, Sarah talked about how they do not use technology at all for

assessment, but do email results to parents. One thing that really stood out to Hannah was that

she talked about how she held a specific review session for parents so that they know how to

understand the results they are receiving. Lastly, she talked about the biggest challenge with

assessment being that there are a multitude of factors that can affect a young childs performance

on any given day, and that is something that is very hard for parents to understand. She thinks

assessment is important but shouldnt be the primary focus of a childs education.

 Allie interviewed Renee Baur, a kindergarten teacher at Ebeling Elementary in Utica

Community Schools. She received her bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Wayne

State University, with her teaching major being English. She also has a Minor in Early

Childhood Education, along with the ZA Endorsement. After that, she obtained her Masters

degree from Saginaw Valley State University in Elementary Education. She has been teaching

for twenty years, with eighteen of those being in kindergarten. Allie wanted to interview her

because of the similarities between the degree that Renee obtained, and the degree that Allie is

working toward, and she wanted to see what using assessments might look like in her future

classroom. Additionally, Allie has known Renee for quite some time, but has never had the

opportunity to learn about her experiences as a teacher.

Renee started the interview by identifying twelve different assessments that she regularly

uses with her students, including: Rigby (Reading Levels), NWEA, Number ID, Letter & Sound

ID, Color ID, Shape ID and Drawing of Shapes, Rhyming, Blending, Segmenting, Counting to

100, Numbers Sets to 30, and Concepts About Print. Some of these assessments are performed

on a daily basis, while others are performed three to four times per year, or more, depending on

the individual children. Renee uses the information gathered from the assessments to group

children based on their learning levels, and provides assignments that adhere to their needs.

Additionally, the information collected is used for completing report cards, determining whether

or not a child may need special services, and sharing the results with parents at parent-teacher

conferences or at any other time parents should be addressed. Though most of the above

assessments do not require technology use, Ebeling Elementary does use a system called eSpark,

which uses iPades to challenge children while also assessing their math and reading skills. At the

end of lessons on eSpark, children leave a summary about what they learned, which she then
watches to determine whether or not the children are working at the appropriate level. She uses

this as a type of formative assessment. Another system, called Dreambox, which is to address the

childrens math skills. One of the above assessments, NWEA, is used three times per year to

assess math and reading skills. Other formative assessments Renee uses include asking

questions, doing observations, and leading discussions. With so many types of assessment,

Renee emphasized the importance of classroom management in order to give all of the

assessments, and teach information from the curriculum; she made the statement that, patience

and flexibility in your schedule are key. In order to complete these assessments, she either

carries a clipboard around to take notes throughout the day, or conducts more formal assessments

when her students are in small groups. Fortunately, she does not feel that any of these

assessments are biased. In addition to all of the assessments that she gives, Renee is assessed

each year. She is required to set goals in her classroom, and report back to her principal. Her

principal also has opportunities to drop into her classroom at any time, or schedule an

observation time with her. Feedback is regularly provided.

Haley interviewed Liz Redmond, a first to third grade teacher at Ridgemoor Park

Montessori School. Liz graduated from Michigan State University in 2016 with a child

development and Elementary education major. Liz is a young teacher, as she has only 1 year of

professional experience. Haley chose to interview Liz because she was curious how Liz values

and uses assessment in the classroom as a new teacher. Haley thought it would be interesting to

compare a teacher that is new to the classroom versus a teacher with many years of experience to

incorporate different views and experiences on assessments. In interviewing a newer teacher,

Haley figured she could gain insight on what types of assessments were chosen and what worked

best for a new teacher when getting to know her students. As an aspiring teacher, this
information could be helpful as Haley plans for her future instruction and assessment. Haley has

also always shown interest in Montessori settings, so understanding how Liz manages and

assesses a classroom with 3 different grade levels was something that sparked her interest.

Because Hannah was also interviewing a Montessori teacher who has grades one through three,

comparing the two similar settings could provide diverse, and meaningful information.

To start, Liz shared that she uses both formal and informal assessments in her classroom.

For her informal assessments, she uses checklists, and collection of students work. Liz said that

she assesses children informally on a daily basis. As for her formal assessments, she uses the

MAP testing, NWEA testing, and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills).

Liz assesses the children formally three times a year. With the assessment information she

collects, she then is able to group students and alter lessons/activities to individual students based

on their strengths and weaknesses. Based on her data, she is also able to see which areas the

students in her class need more support in, and how to build upon their strengths. When it comes

to sharing assessment information with parents, Liz shares the student's state assessment scores

at conferences. She elaborates what the students score is in comparison to the state average for

their grade level. Liz mentioned that she is in constant communication with the parents, and is

able to contact parents via email, or can even talk to parents during drop off and pick up times.

During these times, Liz is able to share what the students are focusing on and what may be

helpful to work on at home with the parents. Liz is fortunate enough to have access to technology

in her assessment processes. She has a tablet that allows her to be able to quickly document

observations and student work. She also has an excel file for each of the students, which marks

both areas of strengths and areas of concern. The students are not the only ones being assessed,

as Liz is assessed as a professional by her principal three times per year. Of these observations
done by the principal, one is planned, and two are unplanned. These observations are spread out

during the year (beginning, middle, and end). The principle uses the Danielson Rubric to assess

Liz, as it evaluates her instruction, student engagement, and assessment. With this evaluation,

she is either given an ineffective, minimally effective, effective, or highly effective score. After

this observation, she meets with the principle and reviews the rubric and notes, ending in a

discussion on what areas were strong or needs more work. Liz explained that the biggest

challenge when using assessments is documenting all of the data while trying to teach. Like

many teachers experience, it becomes hard to make sure you are both assessing and effectively

instructing the students. Liz uses formative assessments in her classroom, as she does MAP

testing 3 times a year and DIBELS testing twice a year. Liz has students in her class who do not

speak English as their native language, so she believes that she does give assessments that are

biased against her students. With this, she gives the WIDA screener test. This test shows the

students proficiency and understanding of English. The scores from this test determine if the

students qualify for the ESL program, or if they need additional support. As Liz mentioned

above, she does feel as though assessments get in the way of her instructional time, as the

formative assessments conflict with instruction time. She explains this is because the students are

on a computer for roughly an hour at a time for 2 different tests. She believes that informal

assessments are also difficult to balance as she is trying to leave enough time for instruction and

student work time.

Analysis

When comparing the teachers, two of them, Sarah and Liz have teaching experience in

montessori schools, whereas Renees experience is only in traditional classrooms. However,

Sarah and Renee both have at least twenty years of teaching experience, while Liz is only a first
year teacher. In terms of schooling, Sarahs bachelors degree specifically focuses on art

education, while Renee and Lizs degrees focus on elementary and early childhood education.

Renee teaches the youngest children being in a kindergarten classroom, and Sarah and Liz teach

older children in first to third grade Montessori classrooms. All of the teachers explained that

assessments are used for their own planning, as well as communicating with parents. Renee and

Liz both explained that they do find it difficult balance formal and informal assessments with

instruction, while Sarah specified that she sometimes finds assessments to be challenging

because they do not always accurately represent her students abilities. Something Sarah

included in her interview that was not touched on by Renee and Liz is that she takes the time to

have a session with parents that explains how the assessments work. Additionally, Sarah and Liz

mentioned they have students in their class who do not have the same English proficiency levels

as other students in their rooms, while Renee did not. Sarah felt that some assessments are unfair

to those students, while Liz did not feel this way because her students that are not proficient

English speakers receive an additional screening test prior to some assessments. All teachers give

a similar number of assessments, and assessments that focus on similar topics as they are all

teachers in elementary level settings. Though all professionals are assessed throughout the year,

only Liz identified the assessment that her principal uses, leaving some ambiguity in regard to

how Sarah and Renee are assessed.

Reflection

We found this professional interview report to be interesting and informative, especially

after studying assessments throughout the semester. While we were able to try the different types

of assessments first hand at the child development laboratories, we found it useful to hear

professional views and experiences with assessments, as it is likely that the schools or centers we
work at will not be like the child development laboratories. After reviewing all three of the

teachers responses, we found it intriguing that the use of technology in assessment varied. It

seems as though technology today is an integral part of the classroom. With this being said,

Hannahs professional said she does not use technology for assessment besides emailing results

to the parents. Allies professional assesses with technology when using a system called eSpark

on the ipads. Haleys professional uses technology for efficient student testing, and accurately

recording data. These responses reflected that all professionals use technology resources

differently, and we thought this may correlate to the age of the professional. Overall, we gathered

that all three of the teachers use assessment to better individualize and strengthen the student's

learning experience. All professionals used the assessment data to group the children based on

their learning levels, to help create learning communities and build upon their strengths. We

learned through these interviews that different assessments work better for different teachers.

One assessment is not necessarily better than the other, as they all obtain the goal to build upon

the students strengths. It is comforting to see that there are many different ways to assess

children, and a teacher is able to personalize assessments, and do what works for them and their

classroom.
Appendix

Name of Interviewer __Allie Carley______________________________

Name of Professional __Renee Baur___________________________

Name of School/Setting _____Ebeling Elementary (Utica Community Schools)_

Type of Setting, check one: X Grade school

5. Grade or Child Age Range ______Kindergarten___________

6. Years of Professional Experience____20______

1. What types of assessments do you use in your work with young children?

Assessments that I use in my work with young children are, Rigby (Reading
Levels), NWEA, Number ID, Letter & Sound ID, Rhyming, Blending, Segmenting,
Counting to 100, Numbers Sets to 30, Shape ID and Drawing of Shapes, Color ID.
and Concepts About Print.

2. How often do you assess children?

Children can be assessed daily through observations, small group and one on one
work. They are assessed on NWEA three times a year. Rigby Reading levels and all
other of the above assessments are done four times a year or more depending on
each individual child and their needs.

3. How do you use the assessment information that you collect?

All of my stations in my classroom are differentiated, so I use my assessment information to help

differentiate each station and the children are then grouped to do work in the area of their
learning level. The assessment information is also used to help when working on report cards,
talking with parents, talking with special services regarding students that may have special
needs, and for my own personal use in my classroom.

4. How do you share assessment information with parents?

Assessment information is shared with parents at parent teacher conferences report cards and on
an as needed basis.

5. Do you use any technology in your assessment process? If so, how?

At Ebeling and all Utica Community Schools the kindergarten children use iPads through a
program called eSparks for reading and math. eSpark is constantly challenging them testing
them and changing their levels as they grow. The kindergarten children are also using Dreambox
which is a math program on the computer which also grows as the child grows. The children are
on both of these devices every day for a total of 40 minutes a day. NWEA is a computer based
assessment used three times a year to assess the children and their growth in the areas of reading
and math.

6. Are you ever assessed as a professional? If so, how and how often? What kind of
feedback do you get?

We are assessed every year. Goals are set in October. Two meetings with the principal, in the fall
and the spring, to go over goals and any observations the principal has done. The principal can
schedule appointments or just drop in the classroom. Feedback is always given regarding any of
observations in a timely manner.

7. What are the biggest challenges you have faced in using assessments?

The biggest challenges I face with assessments is sometimes finding the time to give assessments
and teaching the curriculum. When you have a classroom of 25 kindergartners and are expected
to assess them as much as we are and teach the curriculum, time becomes a factor. Sometimes it
feels like all youre doing is assessing and never finding that time to teach the materials that need
to be taught. I always manage to get it done but you need to have good classroom management,
patience and flexibility with your schedule.

8. Do you do formative assessments in your classroom? If so, which ones? Why do

you do them?

Formative assessments are done in the classroom daily through observations, questioning,
discussions and at the end of their lessons on eSpark they leave a little video message of what
they learned while they played their reading and math games. I can then go and watch their
videos to see what they say they learned. Through all of these types of formative assessments I
can then evaluate if the child is working at their ability level. This helps me to adjust their work
so that I know they are working at their ability levels.

9. Do you ever have to give assessments that are biased against your students? If so,
how do you try to counteract these biases. If not, how might you try to handle this?

I do not feel that any of the assessments that we give in kindergarten are biased against any of
our students.

10. Do you ever feel like assessments get in the way of your instructional time or
students learning time? If so, are there ways you integrate assessments into your
lessons?

As I stated in question seven, assessments can get in the way of your instructional time but is
long as you have good classroom management, flexibility and patience you can get it all done.
Many of my assessments I can do in small group work during station time and one on one during
station time. During whole group lessons you can walk the room and assess children as they are
working. There are many ways to get assessments in during your school day you just need to be
watching, listening and interacting with the children throughout your day and taking good notes
on your students as you are working with them. I always have a clipboard with all of the
childrens names where I take down notes daily.

HDFS 421 Early Childhood Professional Interview about Assessment in the Classroom
---Interview Record
Basic information
1. Name of Interviewer ______Hannah Grieb
2. Name of Professional ______Sarah Chandler__
3. Name of School/Setting _______Beverly Hills Academy__
4. Type of Setting, check one: p Child Care Center p Preschool X Grade
school p Hospital
p Early Intervention Program p Other (specify)
5. Grade or Child Age Range ________1-3
6. Years of Professional Experience____25
Bachelors of science in art education, provisional certificate in visual arts, masters from CMU in
curriculum and instruction, 3 levels of Montessori credentials.
Required questions:
1. What types of assessments do you use in your work with young children?
Diagnostic classroom assessments, grade level at the beginning of the year to place them into
small groups, IRI for reading, phonemic awareness/ segmentation/ auditory processing/ phonics,
assessment for a spelling curriculum pre test and place them 50-70 % at that level. A lot of
these given before school starts.
Formatively- I have created formative assessments that align with our language arts curriculum,
dont have to do what they score 80% or more on. Time, math, fact test (weekly 80% or more
on equation facts.) IRI given again in January, if they are at or below we test them again. Test
IRI and phonics again in June.
3,2,1 summarizer, noting what I learned, 10 things that I learned. When I find common
misconceptions, Ill reteach to that.
Albensi math and language arts at the beginning of the year. 70% or lower are placed into work
cards, when finish a section of those they are given a summative test.
Observation, questioning and response (large and small group), and portfolios.
Summative- Spelling tests weekly.
Standardized tests- Iowa test of basic skills reliable because it is old and doesnt change. Do
practice tests for these in Decemeber. Dont use that data- only practice. Actually given in April.
2. How often do you assess children?
Throughout the year.
3. How do you use the assessment information that you collect?
Diagnostic are meant to place them into small groups or individualized work plans.
4. How do you share assessment information with parents?
Diagnostics- end of September we email each parent individually the results and tell them what
we are doing to support their deficiencies. As they finish a section, do the post test and move on
we email the parents. In questions and response if we find an issue we contact the parent and ask
them to support.
Conferences in December and march. Progress Reports- december march, and junes
Standardized tests- I incorporate into scope and sequence and analyze results, adds to curriculum
mode.
5. Do you use any technology in your assessment process? If so, how?
Nope.
6. Are you ever assessed as a professional? If so, how and how often? What kind of feedback
do you get?
In the process of getting my Montessori credentials yes!
7. What are the biggest challenges you have faced in using assessments?
In early childhood, it is the results can be unreliable because there are things that affect childs
performance. In my setting, it is that parents dont understand that its just a snap shot of child in
that day. We are doing parent education to help that. Trying to get them to understand that
mistakes and the brain is growing through mistakes.

Additional Questions (ask each of the questions your learning group agreed to ask):
11. Do you do formative assessments in your classroom? If so, which ones? Why do you do

them?

Yes, above.
12. Do you ever have to give assessments that are biased against your students? If so, how do

you try to counteract these biases. If not, how might you try to handle this?

Yes, in the vocabulary section of IOWA our children are at a disadvantage because they speak a

different language at home.

13. Do you ever feel like assessments get in the way of your instructional time or students

learning time? If so, are there ways you integrate assessments into your lessons?

Yes- standardized tests. I do a board game over the material before with stuff that is similarly
worded and a pretend scantron on the board. I use it as a pre- test and it familiarizes it with what
the test will be like.

Data is important in terms of accountability but when children are being tested versus taught, it
undermines what we are doing. The national move on opting kids out of testing is a healthy
movement because the system is setup for making money for test makers and politicians, and
kindergartners should not have to worry about it- sound psych should make the decision for us.
Signed- Sarah Chandler
Hannah Grieb

HDFS 421 Early Childhood Professional Interview about Assessment in the Classroom
---Interview Record
Basic information
1. Name of Interviewer ______Haley Burns
2. Name of Professional ______Liz Redmond
3. Name of School/Setting _______Ridgemoor Park Montessori
4. Type of Setting, check one: Child Care Center Preschool X Grade school
Hospital
p Early Intervention Program p Other (specify)_____
5. Grade or Child Age Range ________grades 1,2, and 3__
6. Years of Professional Experience____1 year______
Graduated from Michigan State University in 2016, Child Development and Elementary
Education Major.
Required questions:
1. What types of assessments do you use in your work with young children?
Informal checklists, collection of work, work notebooks, formal-MAP, NWEA testing, Dibels
2. How often do you assess children?
Informally- daily Formally- 3 times a year
3. How do you use the assessment information that you collect?
Once I collect the assessment information, I alter lessons/activities to individual students based
on their strengths/weaknesses. Based on the data, I know which areas the students need more
support in and how to build upon their strengths further.
4. How do you share assessment information with parents?
At conferences I share the student's state assessment scores. I share what the students score is in
comparison to state average for their grade level. I also contact parents via email or during drop
off/ pick up times. This is when we can discuss areas we are focusing on in the classroom that
they can work on at home as well.
5. Do you use any technology in your assessment process? If so, how?
Yes, I have a tablet that I am able to quickly document any observations or work. I also keep
data on an excel file for each student which marks areas of strengths and area of concern in
alignment with their report card.
6. Are you ever assessed as a professional? If so, how and how often? What kind of feedback
do you get?
Yes, I am observed by my principal 3 times a year- one planned observation and two
unplanned. Im observed in the beginning, middle, and end of the year for 45 minutes. I am
observed using the Danielson Rubric which assess my instruction, student engagement, and
assessment and am given minimally effective, ineffective, effective or highly effective. After the
observation, I meet with my principal and we go over notes from the observation and the rubric
which states what areas were strong and what areas to continue working on.
7. What are the biggest challenges you have faced in using assessments?
Documenting all the data while teaching. It becomes hard to make sure you are both assessing
and instructing students.

Additional Questions (ask each of the questions your learning group agreed to ask):

1) Do you do formative assessments in your classroom? If so, which ones? Why do you do
them?
Yes, I do two different types of formative assessments. We do MAP testing 3 times a year
(beginning, middle, and end) and DIBELS testing twice a year.
2) Do you ever have to give assessments that are biased against your students? If so, how do
you try to counteract these biases? If not, how might you try to handle this?
Students who do not speak English as their native language are given the WIDA screener test.
This test shows their proficiency and understanding of English and the scores see if the students
qualify for the ESL program or if they need additional support.

3) Do you ever feel like assessments get in the way of your instructional time or students
learning time?
Yes- the formative assessments conflict with instruction time as the students are on a computer
for roughly an hour at a time for 2 different tests. Informal assessments are difficult to balance
enough time for instructing and working with students.