INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCES IN EVALUATING ACQUISITIONS AT AN EARLY AGE

<doi>10.24250/JPE/2/2022/DMF/LC

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research developed through applying an international assessment tool for development and early education. The study reveals the benefits of using a standardized assessment tool correlated with the current regulatory documents. Starting from the results obtained after the application of the batch of tests, a formative training program was created in which the correlation of the areas of development was investigated, with the indicators of the Fundamental Reference in the Learning and Early Development of Children and the tests of the evaluation tool. The research was carried out during a school year, with the target group being the preschoolers of the Preschool with extended program "Casuta Bucuriei" no. 11 Brasov. At the beginning of the school year, in the initial assessment, the IDELA standardized assessment tool was applied to a number of 10 groups with a total of 259 preschoolers, then at the summative assessment (at the end of the first semester) the application was resumed to all groups in the experiment, identifying the natural evolution of preschoolers. During the second semester, between the two moments of evaluation (summative and final), the group of preschoolers was divided into an experimental group and a control group. Preschoolers in the experimental group benefited from formative training. Following the collected results, our aim was to offer teachers a complex vision of the level of development and school preparation of preschoolers, using an innovative assessment tool. The IDELA tool (international early childhood development and education assessment of children aged 3-6.5 years), was developed following three years of testing and piloting at international level. The tool drew on a number of existing sources and tools, including the Early Development Tool, the Age and Stages Questionnaire, the Denver Multiple Indicator Set Study, the Early Childhood Development Standards from a number of countries where these were available, as well as numerous tools developed and used by Save the Children national teams.