124 Future Forwards: Exploring Frontiers in Education
One obvious way the use of the tool has led to individualized learning has
been teachers analyzing weekly reports, and reports generated at the
end of checkpoint periods to see exactly where students fall along the 38
objectives for development and learning. So for example, in Picture 1C, a
teacher notices that a 3. 5 year old child is working towards the learning
objective ‘listening and comprehending increasingly complex language.’
The teacher has observed the child and has evidence of the child
identifying familiar people, animals and objects when prompted on a
number of occasions. A next step for this child will be to respond to
specific vocabulary, simple statements and questions. In practical terms,
the teacher could plan to be a part of the child’s guided play in the block
area in the coming week and intentionally use specific vocabulary related
to building. In this example, the tool has allowed the teacher to be very
intentional in her plan for instruction and will allow her to be able to track
progress for this student's growth and development in comprehending
language. There may be other students who are working on the same
skill. The teacher might target a small group of students or individualize
the instruction for just one student.
The impact of documenting observations and assessments about
students in this way has been profound. Teachers are fluent with
expectations and a deep understanding of what is developmentally
appropriate. Having data logged over time also helps to paint a picture of
students who appear to not feature within the widely held expectation
for a given learning objective. This is an important data point when
talking about supporting students in early childhood. It helps educators
to zoom in on a skill and create a plan for support while being able to look
at other areas the child is within the widely held expectation band.
Picture 1B
