Assessing Language

and Literacy in Head

Start
Pre-school: A Pilot
Project
Dr. Marjorie Madden, Dr. Susan
Browne
Literacy Studies ECE Majors

Rowan University Early Childhood

Conference
April 11, 2015

When assessing,
look at what a child
can do. Jeanne
Paratore

The Testing Administrators

Overview of the Project

Merilee Rutolo, Director of Center for Family Success,

requested outside evaluations

Head Start Centers in Camden County and Kindergarten

Standards Expectations
Selected Pine Street Head Start Center as Pilot Project
Two assessments: October 2014 and April 2015
Interpretation/Analysis Sessions
Share Findings with Pine Street Teachers

Observation Survey by
Marie Clay
Assessment Instruments
Concepts about Print
Letter Recognition
Writing vocabulary

Alphabet Recognition
Ask the student to read the letters across the line. Move the card

down so that the row being read is directly above the card Ask the
student, What sound does it make? Do you know a word that starts
like that?
As the student reads, mark your score sheet. Check the correct
column as the student responds. If the student makes no response,
put a dot. If the child gives an incorrect response, record exactly what
the child says in the IR column.
When the student has finished responding , count the number of
correct responses and fill in the score sheet accordingly.
Letter Identification: ______/54 (This includes 2 variations of a and g)
Letter Sounds: ______/26
Hearing Initial Sounds in Words: ______/26

Concepts about Print

Print awareness child understands that print carries a message

One to one correspondence -child recognizes a match between

each word read and each word printed as text on a page

Directionality child holds a book correctly and reads from left to

left to right and top to bottom (tracking print)

Letters, words, and sentences child recognizes and

distinguishes between letters, words, and sentences

Upper- and lowercase child recognizes and distinguishes

between upper- and lowercase letters and punctuation

Parts of a book child recognizes the author, title, and front and
back of a book

First and last child has knowledge of the concept of first and
last

Writing Vocabulary
Give the student a blank unlined piece of paper to write on. Note the

time. Position the student(s) so the word wall is not visible. Ask the
student to write his/her name. Then prompt as follows.
Can you write your last name? Do you have a brother or a sister? Can
you write their names? Can you write the names of any of the other
children in your class?
Now write I, a, cat. If you can write cat can you write sat, hat, fat,
mat, bat? Write is, the Continue to the end of the prompt list reading
across the page. If the student is obviously unable to write one of the
words, go on to the next one. After can, ask the student if s/he can write
man. Other words to be prompted are indicated with *.
Continue to the end of the list and then ask the student if there are any
other words s/he can write e.g. the names of other colors, other animals,
food. Allow no more than 10 minutes.

Childs Name

Alphabet
Recognition

Concepts About
Print

Yopp Singer
Phonemic
Awareness

Using Assessments to Make

Instructional Decisions

Write a profile of child

List strengths and needs

Make instructional
recommendations

Suggest teaching
strategies

Bringing It All Together!

Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Interactive Read Aloud

Interactive Read Aloud is a time when the teacher

reads a piece of quality writing aloud to the whole
class and stops at planned points to ask questions
that elicit student response.
Students learn to think deeply about text, to listen
to others, and to grow their own ideas.

Shared Writing

Shared writing is an instructional approach for

teaching writing to children by writing with them.

The idea is to teach writing through writing.
The process of writing is demonstrated by the

teacher through a write aloud process.

The teacher is the scribe while the students

contribute ideas. The pen is always in the hand of

the teacher.

Asking questions to generate

writing
What was the story about?
Was it funny? Why?

How does the Pigeon feel on this page?

After showing the last page and end pages

ask: What do you think is going to happen

next?

Make a Pocket Story

Fold 9x12 paper 1 inch from the bottom. Cut off the strip at
the fold.

Fold up 1 inch from the bottom again. Staple the sides to

make a pocket.

Draw a picture about your favorite part in the story above the
pocket.

Dictate or write a sentence about your picture on the outside

of the pocket.

Dictate or write the same sentence on the cut strip and cut
the words apart.

Put words in the pocket.

How do pocket stories

address emergent literacy
instruction?
What do you think?