Set aside 10 minutes at the beginning or end of class to have students answer the following questions. Answers can be written, verbal, or completed together by small groups of students.

1. List the three main methods for gathering data on children’s individually targeted skills, and provide an example of each.
2. List the three main methods for summarizing children’s progress on individually targeted skills and an advantage of each.
3. Read the example provided below. Your task is to measure Serina’s progress over time. Outline the steps you would take to do this. In other words, on which skill(s) will you collect data, when will you collect data, how often will you collect data, and what method(s) will you use?

Example

During daily activities, Serina will manipulate a variety of objects/toys/materials that require use of both hands at the same time, while performing different movements. She will manipulate three different objects/toys/materials once a day for 2 weeks. For example, Serina will button clothing, thread and zip a zipper, and/or cut out shapes with curved lines.


Activity 2: Create a Rubric

Using Figure 5.10 in Chapter 5 as a guide, have students create a rubric for a skill or process that is important to young children’s development and that can be aligned with state and agency standards. For example, have students develop a rubric to monitor children’s play development, problem solving/conflict resolution skills, mobility, and/or participation in group activities.

After the student(s) selects the behavior of interest (e.g., play, feeding self, participation), decide on the number of levels/categories for which progress will be monitored (e.g., 3-, 4-, or 5-point rubric). Students should label each category (e.g., novice, apprentice, proficient, mastery) and list specific descriptions of identifiable performance characteristics (i.e., the degree to which a particular level is met in terms of child performance). See the template below.

Target skill/process: _____________________

Have students read one or more of the resources found in Table 5.6 in Chapter 5 regarding visual analysis. Then, using the “Before, During, and After” reading strategy, have students prepare for a large-group discussion (face to face or online) about the strengths of the various types of visual analysis (e.g., documentation panels, graphs, photographs, portfolios). An explanation of the reading strategy can be located at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/
learning/lr2befor.htm.